People only just realising why fridge doors are magnetic and the reason is tragic

Fridge doors are magnetic for a precise important crushed (Image: Getty)

They’re 1 of the appliances successful our kitchens we usage each time and an indispensable mode to support milk, eggs, food and effect chill and harmless to eat.

But there’s 1 portion of a fridge’s plan that has a acheronian past and regulations written successful humor - and a batch of radical are lone conscionable realising.

Fridges, whether they’re tiny portable ones, freestanding fridges oregon integrated fridge-freezers wrong cupboards successful our kitchens each stock 1 happening successful common: they’re magnetic.

The doors are held closed by magnets, which snaps them unopen with a small propulsion and means they tin beryllium pulled unfastened again with a small force, and the seal keeps everything airtight inside.

Posting connected Reddit’s Be Amazed, a poster said: “Did you know? Refrigerator doors are magnetic due to the fact that kids utilized to get trapped wrong them and suffocate.

“Before the Refrigerator Safety Act of 1956, doors could lone beryllium opened from the outside, and galore children died due to the fact that they recovered abandoned refrigerators and got stuck wrong portion playing fell and seek.”

The caller enactment required fridge manufacturers to marque definite fridge doors were openable ‘easily from the inside’.

Although the instrumentality didn’t dictate however this should beryllium done, astir manufacturers decided to power to a magnetic mechanics which would let doors to enactment unopen erstwhile you wanted them to but could beryllium opened from the wrong with a push.

The caller instrumentality led to a drastic simplification successful the fig of kids dying from being stuck wrong fridges, with the fig of deaths successful fridges dropping successful fractional betwixt 1960 and 1981.