You spin me right round, baby…

Back in 1888, there was an inventor by the name of Theophilus Van Kannel. Now, Van Kannel wasn’t a particularly extraordinary man; he was a tinkerer and a gentleman, and that’s all he needed to be. But there was one thing in his life that he absolutely could not stand: awkward social moments. Specifically, he hated when he was coming to a door in a large building while someone else came at the same time. Obviously, these days, this isn’t that big a deal; whoever’s closer opens the door and you both go through. But back then, being a gentleman was almost like a constant contest; you couldn’t let anyone show you up in the manners department, lest you be less of a gentleman. Van Kannel couldn’t stand those brief psychological battles. So what did he do? Invent a new door that didn’t require holding.

Yup, the entire reason the revolving door was invented was because a dude in the 1800s hated a very specific facet of social interaction. Never mind that revolving doors actually help to keep conditioned air and air pressure in a building and save on electricity costs. No sir, it was for that one thing. And it probably would’ve worked for that one thing if not for a fatal flaw: people are too lazy to use anything besides the door they usually use. It’s unfortunate, but hey, kids love revolving doors, so that’s a net positive at least.