It's funny how a nutcracker was initially intended to be
used solely as a device to aid in breaking the hard shell of a nut or dry
fruit. At least that was the main purpose back in the 15th century. While
nutcrackers are still has this functionality, it's more of a home decoration nowadays, synonymous with the Christmas holiday.
Fact of the day:
Did you know that humans actually began eating nuts in
the prehistoric time period?
During this time, they faced a huge problem in breaking
open the shell of the nut. Most likely, the first tool used to crack open the
nut or dry fruit was a rock, but using a rock came with a price. While it did
break the nuts shell, it also smashed the kernel, which is the edible part,
which then got mixed in with the broken shell.
With modern day technology, a simple instrument such as
the nutcracker are continually improved so that it can more effectively crack
the nut shell without destroying the kernel. Occasionally, the nutcracker still
smashes the kernel, but we definitely came a long way since the prehistoric
time period.
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