The Amazing Mineral That Would Not Burn: The Story of Asbestos

According to legend, Charlemagne would amaze his dinner guests with a stunt where he would toss a tablecloth that had stains on it into the fire, then pull it back out spotless. The cloth was woven from asbestos, and the trick worked every time. Image - courtesy of Pexels.The Ancient World Believed Asbestos Was MagicThe ancient Greeks called the material ‘asbestos’, which translates to ‘unquenchable’. Many medieval European people thought that the material was the hair of a salamander. When Marco Polo visited mines in China, he was able to put an end to the mystery when he discovered that the ‘salamander hair’ was really just rock fibers.The Roman Empire used it for wrapping around lamp wicks and for wrapping the bodies of the rich before cremating them. In doing so, the ashes remained separate from those of the pyre. Pliny the Elder also wrote that the workers who made clothing from the material contracted some sort of illness. Unfortunately, there was no response from anyone…