Deciding when to observe holidays isn’t always an exact science. George Washington wasn’t born on the third Monday of February, for example. Memorial Day’s precise date on the calendar shifts from year to year (it’s always the final Monday of May, in case you’d forgotten), but at least the reasoning behind it is sound: The late spring date was chosen because it was when flowers would be in full bloom. Since adorning the graves of fallen soldiers with wreaths was once the most important part of the holiday, it’s difficult to imagine Memorial Day taking place at another time of year — especially considering that it was first celebrated in the 1860s, when floristry wasn’t quite as commercially developed as it is today.

Memorial Day has always been called that.

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It was originally known as Decoration Day, due to the fact that graves were decorated with flowers. By the late 19th century, as the holiday became more widespread, the name Memorial Day gradually replaced the original moniker.

Certain aspects of the holiday’s origins are murky, but we know that in the wake of the Civil War, many different communities around the country decorated the graves of dead soldiers with blossoms and said prayers. In 1868, General John A. Logan, who led an organization for Northern Civil War veterans, chose May 30 “for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land.” Originally set aside specifically for the Civil War, Memorial Day came to encompass all military casualties during World War I. And while initially it was celebrated on a state and community-wide basis, it became an official federal holiday in 1971.

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Taxes fund many of the services we need, but no one enjoys paying them — and it’s likely that many of our ancestors didn’t, either. Governments worldwide have levied taxes for thousands of years; the oldest recorded taxes date to before 3000 BCE. But England — which relied heavily on taxes to fund its military conquests — is known for a slate of fees that modern taxpayers might consider unusual. Take, for instance, the so-called “window tax,” initially levied in 1696 by King William III, which annually charged citizens a certain amount based on the windows in their homes. Some 30 years before, the British crown had attempted to tax personal property based on chimneys, but clever homeowners could avoid the bill by temporarily bricking up or dismantling their hearths and chimneys before inspections. With windows, assessors could quickly determine a building’s value from the street. The tax was progressive, charging nothing for homes with few or no windows and increasing the bill for dwellings that had more than 10 (that number would eventually shrink to seven).

Britain taxed soap.

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The British government taxed many everyday items, including salt, candles, and beer. But its 1643 tax on soap created a lather among soapmakers and drove up prices for shoppers — many of whom turned to French soap-smuggling rings for the lower-cost suds they needed.

Not surprisingly, homeowners and landlords throughout the U.K. resented the tax. It didn’t take long for windows to be entirely bricked or painted over (much like fireplaces had been), and new homes were built with fewer windows altogether. Opponents called it a tax on “light and air” that hurt public health, citing reduced ventilation that in turn encouraged disease. Even famed author Charles Dickens joined the fight to dismantle the tax, publishing scathing pieces aimed at Parliament on behalf of poor citizens who were most impacted by the lack of fresh air. Britain repealed its window tax in July 1851, but the architectural impact is still evident — many older homes and buildings throughout the U.K. still maintain their iconic converted windows.

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Bubble Wrap is one of the 20th century’s most versatile — and dare we say most beloved — inventions. The pliable, air-pocketed sheets have been used for decades to insulate pipes, protect fragile items, and even make dresses. And that’s not to mention the fascination some people have with popping its bubbles (both competitively and for fun). But when it was first created in 1957 in New Jersey, inventors Al Fielding and Marc Chavannes had a different vision in mind for their ingenious padding: home decor. The pioneering duo hoped their creation — which trapped air between two shower curtains run through a heat-sealing machine — would serve as a textured wallpaper marketed to a younger generation with “modern” taste. The initial idea was a flop, however, and Fielding and Chavannes soon pivoted to promoting Bubble Wrap, then called Air Cap, as a greenhouse insulator (another idea whose bubble would quickly burst). 

Wallpaper was once used to keep homes pest-free.

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Flock wallpapers, known for their velvety feel and elaborate designs, were first crafted in the 17th century using leftovers from the wool industry. The thick, fuzzy panels were in part popular because installation required turpentine, the scent of which repelled moths.

It took another invention of the time — IBM’s 1401 model computer — to seal Bubble Wrap’s fate as a packing material. Under the company name Sealed Air, Fielding and Chavannes approached IBM about using the air-filled plastic in shipping containers, replacing traditional box-fillers like newspaper, straw, and horsehair. After passing the test of transporting delicate electronics, Sealed Air became a shipping industry standard. Over time, Fielding and Chavannes were granted six patents related to Bubble Wrap manufacturing, and Sealed Air continues to create new versions of the remarkable wrap — including a cheaper, unpoppable version that’s popular with cost-minded shippers (but not so much with bubble-popping enthusiasts).

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