HIGHLIGHTS
- A viral video shows a man firing bullets at his wife to test bulletproof glass.
- The vintage clip was shot in 1931 and documents an actual demonstration of bulletproof glass.
- The very first patent for a safety glass was filed in 1909.
the
What looks like a quirky couples therapy adaptation of Russian roulette was actually a way to test
A
Watch the
Related News
Hard to swallow: Florida woman uses spit to unlock her phone, bizarre party trick goes viral
For 73 years, passengers have been traveling for free on the Bhakra-Nangal train – Here’s why
What exactly is happening?
The black and white footage was shot in 1931, as reported on efootage.com and documents a real display of bullet resistance. “In Toledo, Ohio, bulletproof glass withstands a 25-20 rifle. A man tests it by shooting his rifle while his wife holds the glass,” reads a description on the website.
Related News
What would happen if the Earth stopped spinning? Neil de Grasse Tyson explains
Bulletproof glass had officially existed for 22 years at the time, with the very first patent for safety glass having been filed in 1909 by French chemist Edouard Benedictus. He discovered it by accident (happy) after he inadvertently dropped a plastic covered cup. Benedictus found that the glass had only cracked, instead of shattering.
More evidence of madness
This shows that the term “test” may in fact be a misnomer for this wild exercise carried out by skilled shooters, as their subjects had incredible confidence in them, or at least the protesters themselves. So a “demonstration” might be a more accurate description.
As for bulletproof glass, the term couldn’t be further from the truth. No glass is, technically speaking, bulletproof if hit hard enough and sometimes so-called safety glass isn’t even glass.
Bulletproof is the right way to describe it.
Today, there are several types of bulletproof glass, but solid acrylic sheet is the easiest to find next to traditional laminated glass.
