National Drinking Straw Day

Ahhhhhh… Happy National Drinking Straw Day! Striped, solid, rainbow, or loopie, drinking straws make sipping your favorite summer drink even better!

Apparently, drinking straws are thought to have been invented by the Sumerians. The earliest known record of a recovered drinking straw dates back to 3000 B.C., which is pretty crazy when you think of it! But then a fellow by the name of Marvin C. Stone decided he wanted to improve upon things, and developed what is now the straw in 1888. Stone’s straw was originally made out of paper. It wasn’t until 1937 that Joseph Freidman invented the bendy straw. Who knew so much history was behind such a simple thing.

Still need another “Fun Straw Fact”? Did you know that Americans use approximately 50 million straws a day? Pretty crazy, eh? But don’t worry, there’s a nine-year-old boy willing to tackle the problem! Learn more about Milo Cress’ efforts.

For more info on the history of the drinking straw, check out:

http://www.examiner.com/article/history-of-the-drinking-straw http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drinking_straw

http://inventors.about.com/od/sstartinventions/a/History-Of-Drinking-Straws.htm