random informational bullshit to enlighten you
The word umbrella comes from the Latin word "umbra," which means "shade" or "shadow." Used as sun shades in ancient times, they became popular as rain protection in the 1700s and have since pushed their way into high culture, low culture, and espionage. While Mary Poppins and Christo used them to magical effect-Poppins to fly and Christo to decorate valleys in Japan and California-they've also been used for more sinister purposes. The 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only depicts an umbrella with clawlike spikes that protrude from the tips of the canopy. Altered umbrellas are not only the stuff of fiction. In 1978, an umbrella was used to shoot a poisonous pellet into the leg of Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov. The world's most-analyzed umbrella may be the one connected to the assassination of John F. Kennedy. As Kennedy was shot, a man standing nearby, later known as Umbrella Man, opened his umbrella and pumped it up and down, though nary a raindrop was in sight. It's no wonder the Republican National Convention prohibited umbrellas last fall.
Of course, most users seek rain protection, not a weapon. For that, they have a panoply of choices, from cell-phone-sized umbrellas, which succumb more easily to rain and wind, to golf umbrellas, which provide good coverage, but are cumbersome and a nuisance to fellow pedestrians. Since there's no perfect umbrella, one must ask, is a fancy, expensive umbrella an "investment for a rainy day"? Or, like a pirated DVD, will a $3 Chinatown umbrella do the trick? from:
http://www.slate.com/id/2116557/
Of course, most users seek rain protection, not a weapon. For that, they have a panoply of choices, from cell-phone-sized umbrellas, which succumb more easily to rain and wind, to golf umbrellas, which provide good coverage, but are cumbersome and a nuisance to fellow pedestrians. Since there's no perfect umbrella, one must ask, is a fancy, expensive umbrella an "investment for a rainy day"? Or, like a pirated DVD, will a $3 Chinatown umbrella do the trick? from:
http://www.slate.com/id/2116557/