Glass fact: Did you know that Romans were the first to use glass windows?

Glass is an indispensable part of our daily lives. We need this amorphous solid in our doors, windows, furniture, cutlery range and much more, thanks to its classy look, ease of shaping, heat resistance, and low cost of production. Glass has been made and used by humans for thousands of years now.  

Although glass is found in nature i.e., the first manmade glass can be traced back to Mesopotamia, some 4000 years ago, in the region between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in ancient Egypt. Since the times of the Ancient Romans and Egyptians (3500BC), tiny coloured glass artefacts, pendants, beads, and stained-glass windows have been used in architecture. Mesopotamian artisans developed the technique of making glass by mixing sand, soda, and lime. Mesopotamian glass items and the knowledge of how to make them quickly spread to other regions during the Bronze Age. 

Let’s look into some fascinating facts about this truly versatile substance. 

Romans made the first glass windows 
Glass windows were first used by the Roman civilisation. They probably developed the technique of making them in Alexandria, Roman Egypt, around 100 AD. Pompeii, the Roman city renowned for its opulent way of life, had windows with thick panes of glass covering them. The windows in the bathhouse were made of thick glass and measured around 40/30 inches.  

Britishers made the first stained glass 
Stained glass windows first appeared in Britain in the seventh century. Benedict Biscop, an Anglo-Saxon abbot and saint, brought workers from France to Monk Wearmouth, near North East England, to help him glaze the windows of St. Peter's Monastery in 675 AD. Hundreds of bits of coloured glass from the late seventh century were found here. In addition, in Jarrow, England's St. Paul's Monastery (686 AD), archaeologists discovered one of the earliest known pieces of tinted glass used in a window.  

Glass isn't clear in its natural form  
Yes, you read that right. In its natural form, glass is actually greenish in colour. In order to lend glass its clear look, the iron content is reduced in the molten glass formula. 

A French king believed that he was made of glass 
Wait, what? Yes, we are talking about French king Charles VI here who ruled from 1380 to 1422. He had this strange conviction that his body was constructed with glass. Horrified at the thought that he might fall and break, this French king, dubbed as ‘Charles the Mad’, would dress himself in specially reinforced clothes which had iron rods infused in them. Also, he wouldn’t allow his courtyards come near him. Experts claim that Charles VI was probably the first case of a mental health condition known as glass delusion.  

The largest glass sculpture weighs about 18,000 kg 
Known as Fiori Di Como, this structure is the representation of a flower field. The glass sculpture has been created by American glass artist Dale Chihuly and is housed in the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, USA from 1998. This masterpiece, which translates to ‘flowers of Como’, is inspired by a flower-studded lake of Italy named Como and holds the world record for being the largest glass sculpture. Fiori di Como is composed of more than 2,100 pieces of coloured blown glass. Measuring about 65 feet by 29 feet, it weighs more than 18,000 kg 40,000 pounds and is supported by a steel structure with a weight of around 4500 kg.