The boot-lever corkscrew is the basic tool for opening wine bottles and capped bottles around the world. Like so many good things in life, it was invented by an Englishman and refined in France. In 1795, Mr Samuel Henshall, a CoE priest, received the world’s first patent for the simple “twist and pull corkscrew”. That a man of the cloth patented the first corkscrew suggests serving the Lord is a complicated business. I first encountered a boot-lever as a child.
© 2024 John Oliver
Substack is the home for great culture