A lock is a mechanical device for securing a door, chest, or other receptacle so that it can only be opened by an authorized person. Most locks are opened by a key which is placed in the lock and turned. Combination locks do not use a key but rather have a cylinder that is turned to certain stops. Today, many hotels use special plastic cards with magnetic strips as keys which cause a door to open electronically when inserted in a slot near the doorknob.
The lock originated in the Near East, and the earliest known lock to be operated by a key was the Egyptian lock. Possibly 4,000 years old, this large wooden lock was found in the ruins of the palace of Khorsabad near Nineveh, the ancient capital of Assyria. The Egyptian lock is also known as the pin-tumbler type, and it evolved as a practical solution to the problem of how to open a barred door fr…
The modern age of the lock and key is usually said to have begun in 1778 in England when Robert Barron first patented his double-acting tumbler lock. Also called the multiple tumbler, this ingenious design was a major advance in lock security and established the principle of all lever locks. Barron's new lock had two tumblers, which are really levers, that had to be raised to exactly the ri…
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