December 22, 2024, 3:15 pm | Read time: 3 minutes
A ruler is practical, and no household should be without one. It is often indispensable at school, for office work, and for handicrafts. Have you ever noticed the little hole? It actually has a function that has long been forgotten.
Drawing a straight line is an art that only very few people have mastered. And why should they – after all, there is a useful tool for this, namely the ruler. And this measuring tool can look back on an astonishingly long history. The name is also derived from the Latin word “linea,” which means guideline or plumb line. The first rulers were even older than those of the Roman Empire. Researchers have found a so-called measuring stick in India that is more than 4000 years old. With the introduction of the modern school system, the ruler became an integral part of it and was found in numerous school satchels – along with other utensils. And this is where the fact that a ruler has a small hole on one side comes from.
The Hole in a Tuler – This Is What It’s There for
Sure, you might think that the hole in a ruler is for the practical purpose of hanging it on a nail in the wall. But hand on heart – why would you do that? Some students also put their pencils through the hole and use them to draw circles. However, this is not the actual purpose of the hole either.
In fact, back in the 19th century, the ruler was part of every pupil’s basic equipment, alongside the slate, the stylus, and cloths for wiping the board. Some people may still remember these utensils, which were still used at school some time ago. To ensure that none of the utensils were lost, the cloth was conveniently tied to the ruler with a string, as the magazine Geo reports. And this is where a small hole in the ruler proved to be extremely useful.
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Does the Hole in the Ruler Still Have a Function Today?
Slates have not been used in schools for a long time – perhaps tablets can be seen as a logical development. This also meant that the pencil and cloth disappeared from the school bag. The ruler has remained, complete with the hole. Its actual function was forgotten, and in the meantime, the ruler was hung on the wall again – after all, things have to be tidy. However, it soon became apparent that this also entailed a certain risk of injury, which is why this practice was abandoned. In short, the hole in the ruler no longer really has a purpose these days.