Why are dumbbells called dumbbells?”
From Word of the Day: http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=20001205 Dumbbells have a connection with bells, specifically with campanology, the art of bell ringing. Sometime during the 8th century, church towers began to be built to contain hanging bells. As lofty towers or turrets were being built for these bells, the bells themselves got bigger and bigger. Large-sized bells allowed the inhabitants of the towns and hamlets to hear the bell ringing, even if they weren’t near the church. Though at Canterbury in the Middle Ages, there were 24 men required to ring one bell, in general, bells could not be too large because of the difficulty of ringing them. Not only were they difficult to ring, but bell ringing required a great deal of practice. So a device was invented, consisting of a heavy weight suspended from a rope, to be used by novice bell ringers to develop their strength and skill. L
