Yo-yos are one of the most popular toys around even after hundreds of years. The yo-yo is an incredibly simple toy. It's nothing but a spool attached to a length of string. In the hands of a yo-yoist, it can do extraordinary tricks like flying out in all directions, hovering in mid air, and then snap it back into his (or her) palm.
The yo-yo is magically brought to life, but it's actually just physics at work. Both the classic yo-yo and the sophisticated "automatic" yo-yos that have sprung up in the past few years are remarkable demonstrations of fundamental scientific principles.
Whether you’ve had the chance to pick up a yo-yo in a while, or never have played with one, then hopefully this post will inspire you to acquire this popular toy. Below are some fun facts all about this unique toy
1.
The biggest
wooden yo-yo-The "World’s Biggest Wooden Yo-Yo" can be found at
a yo-yo museum out in Chico, California. It's so big that it made it into the
1982 Guinness Book of World Records weighing a whopping 116 kilograms (256
pounds). Apparently it does work, but it takes a crane just to be able to lift
it. They also have the world's largest display of yo-yos, yo-yo memorabilia,
and awards.
2.
The yo-yo is an
ancient toy-There's a Greek vase painting from around 500 BC that shows
a boy playing with a yo-yo. That's over 1,500 years old. They made their yo-yos
from wood, metal and terracotta (a type of pottery made from baked clay).
3.
The yo-yo was
popular in old Europe-During the 18th century, the yo-yo
became very popular all over Europe, but they had their own names for it. In
Britain they called it a bandalore (or
a quiz), and in France it was
known as an incroyable (or a coblentz). There are reports of young
King Louis XVII playing with a yo-yo. Napoleon and his army had yo-yos at their
famous Battle of Waterloo. The Prince of Wales even played with them.
4.
You can become
a yo-yo world champion-There's a World Yo-Yo Contest held
every year in different locations around the world. Yo-yo players from 33
countries that are part of the International Yo-Yo Federation get a chance to
compete for the title of World Yo-Yo Champion.
Japan has dominated the contest by winning more than 75 world titles, 13
of those won by champion Shinji Saito. That's a lot of trophies.
5.
You can thank
Pedro Flores for the yo-yo-A Filipino
American man named Pedro Flores opened up a toy factory in California in the
1920s and became the first person to make modern yo-yos. They became so popular
that businessman Donald Duncan bought Pedro's company and wound up making 3,600
yo-yos a year in the town of Luck, Wisconsin. It's now known as the "Yo-Yo
Capital of the World!"
6.
Yo-yos in space-The toys
carried into space aboard the Challenger: yo-yo, paddle ball, friction-powered
toy car; flipping mouse, top, ball and jacks, gyroscopes, Slinky, and Wheelo. In 1985, the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration
(NASA) had a "Toys in
Space" project as part of their Space Shuttle Discovery mission.
They took 11 toys into space, including a yo-yo. They hoped
to see what effect microgravity (or weightlessness) would have on it. They
discovered that you could release the yo-yo, but without the downward force of
gravity it wouldn't "sleep" (that's where it keeps spinning at the
end of the string) and would come back up the string.
7.
Yo-yos were
wood until the 1960s-Yo-yos weren't made out of plastic
until the 1960s. They were originally made out of wood, which meant they had an
uneven spin because of the variations in wood density! In the 1990s, they began
to make them out of metal.
“With hacky sack, somebody brought one to
recess in sixth grade and it kind of all went downhill from there! The same
with the yoyos! One kid brought a yoyo one day and people started getting them.
I just kept at it and fo
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