The first tin cans were so thick that you had to get them open with a hammer, or other tools - unless you died of starvation first! It was only when the tins were made thinner that it became possible to have such a thing as a dedicated tin opener.
So the first tin opener was patented in 1858 by Ezra Warner of Waterbury, Connecticut. This was similar to the type of can opener that people use when camping, and was found very useful by the soldiers fighting in the American Civil War, as it allowed them to get their tins opened with the minimum of fuss and equipment.
However, the invention of the modern domestic tin opener, with the sharp wheel that goes round and round, and cuts the can, was achieved by William Lyman in 1870. An electric version of this was first sold in 1931. And so we entered the modern age of the tin opener.
So the first tin opener was patented in 1858 by Ezra Warner of Waterbury, Connecticut. This was similar to the type of can opener that people use when camping, and was found very useful by the soldiers fighting in the American Civil War, as it allowed them to get their tins opened with the minimum of fuss and equipment.
However, the invention of the modern domestic tin opener, with the sharp wheel that goes round and round, and cuts the can, was achieved by William Lyman in 1870. An electric version of this was first sold in 1931. And so we entered the modern age of the tin opener.
