Stairs, stairs, beautiful stairs! When you love staircases as much as we do, you know quite a lot about them. Here are some interesting tips, facts, funnies, and historical trivia about stairs.
In castles with spiral stairways, turrets etc…the stairs always ascend clockwise.
In England, the Cockney dialect use the term “apples and pears” to refer to stairs – they would say “I am going down the apples and pears quickly.”
Your stairs creak because wood swells when the air is moist and shrinks when the air is dry. When you step on your stair it’s expanding and contracting as you go.
The first stairs in history were over 6000 years ago and were wooden tree trunks fitted together.
In China the first granite stairs were used as a symbol of religious power.
The grand staircase at Buckingham Palace in London has balusters made of oak and bronze casting. The stairs were designed by John Nash at the request of King George IV.
There are seventy-two steps leading to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia. If you don’t know why this is meaningful…think Rocky Balboa!
The longest staircase in the world can be found on the slopes of Mount Niesen on the slopes of the Swiss Alps. There are 11,674 steps in all – try that Rocky!
The Burj Dubai is scheduled to open in Dubois in December and will be the tallest building in the world. It’s twisty and windy staircases are over three and a half miles long!
Prior to the installation of stairs in the White House in 1948…people navigated between different levels using ramps, ladders, pullies and winches!
The “Spanish Steps” found in Rome Italy are named so, because they lead to the official residence of the Spanish Ambassador.
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