Screwdrivers

[jenstar]

Is it true that the screwdriver was invented before the screw, and if so what was it used for? I remember reading this in one of those lists of 'amazing but true' facts but have always had my doubts...

[drochit]

Totally untrue. This site has some info. Basically screws have been in use since the5th century BC and the screwdriver was invented in the early 1800s.
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blscr
ewdriver.htm

[answerbok]

initially screws were made of wood weren't they? anyone remember woodscrews? seriously though they was wooden wasn't they..

[sft42]

I would have thought the screwdriver was first invented when someone had the idea of mixing fresh orange and vodka.

[Janetex]

Yes, sft, i agree. Prior to the invention of the screwdriver, all cocktails were shaken, not stirred.

[darth vader]

straw-clutcher but perhaps you're thinking of a corkscrew? which was invented by the ancient greeks (Archimedes to be precise)

[Janetex]

It is thought that an archimedes type screw device was used to water the hanging gardens of babylon, hundreds of years before Archimedes' invention.

[Jacob]

Archy Medes was invented????

[boozoob]

Legend has it that Archy got the idea when his wife got angry and hurled him an expletive.