Bottle

A bottle is a small storage container for liquid. Unlike casks or drums, they hold a moderate amount and are intended for short term storage of items in frequent, usually household use, although alcoholic beverages and other preserved items can be stored in bottles for years.

Bottles have been in use for centuries. The shape varies from bulbous to cylindrical, but a characteristic of bottles is a narrower neck than body.

It is important that bottles be made of materials that do not seep, and preferably ones which do not lend chemicals or tastes to the liquid contents. Glass bottles have particular significance. They are non-porous and durable, and unless cracked or broken can store items for years. Many glass bottles are now collectibles.

Bottle may also be used as an adjective, as in the color bottle green.

The earliest recorded sender of a message in a bottle was the Greek philosopher Theophrastus, considered the father of botany. Theophrastus launched his messages in bottles around 310 BCE, to himself, to demonstrate that the Atlantic flowed into the Mediterranean. Benjamin Franklin replicated this experiment to create his charts of sea currents (in particular the Gulf Stream) in the mid-1700s. Queen Elizabeth I received messages from her fleet in bottles during hostilities with the Spanish; these messages were so important that she created the post of 'Uncorker of Bottles'

The Bottle House Inn at Smarts Hill was built in 1492 during the reign of Henry VII. It was named in 1938 after extensive refurbishments, during which a large assortment of unusual bottles that were found.The Bottle House Inn

Timeline

1790: Jean - Jacob Schweppe and Nicolas Paul start manufacturing bottles in Geneva.

1767: Joseph Priestly found that the water easily absorbed the gas later identified as carbon dioxide. Priestly published his findings in a paper titled "Directions for Impregnating Water with Fixed Air".

1820- SARATOGA SPRINGS Mineral Water was first bottled and sold.

1832: John Mathews invents an apparatus for charging water with carbon dioxide gas.

1857: Henry Putman of Cleveland, Oh, invented a wire clamp retainer for cork stoppered bottles.

1858: John L. Mason patents his method of bottle closure.

1873: the ball stoppered bottle closure referred to as the "Coda stopper", was patented in the U.S. by Hiram Cold of England.

1875: Charles de Quillfeldt patents the swing stopper method of bottle closure.

1879: Charles G. Hutchinson, the son of a Chicago bottler invents a spring-type internal bottle closure known as the "Hutchinson Stopper"

1880: British milk bottles were first produced by the Express Dairy Company.

1892: William Painter patents the Crown closure.

1896: T.W. James granted patent no. 4172 for Galtee More closure:

1899: Michael J. Owens invents the automatic bottle making machine

1911: Thermos produces the first machine made glass filler.

1971 The Oregon Bottle Bill was the first container deposit legislation passed in the USA. It requires carbonated soft drink and beer containers sold in Oregon to be returnable with a minimum refund value.