Article: Lock lore: a selective history of locks and security.

Locking-type devices evolve back to the Neolithic Age, when cave dweller rolled large stones in front of entrances to ward off animals as well as to secure tools and harvested crops. However, there was a catch. If the cave dweller could move the stone, so could a thief. An enterprising dweller would fashion a wedge and bury it beneath the stone. This wedge would be known only to the cave dweller's family and friends. Hence, the first key.

How many of you have experienced this one? When I was two-and-a-half, I locked my mother and dad out of their hotel room on Catalina Island. Dad told me he was outside the door looking through the bit key hole and ...

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