The word “scissors” comes from the Latin cisoria, meaning “cutting instrument.”

Leonardo da Vinci is often claimed to have invented scissors, but this is a myth since they predate him by millennia. Scissors are over 3,500 years old. The oldest known scissors were found in Ancient Egypt around 1500 BCE.

Early scissors were the spring scissor type with two blades connected by a flexible strip of metal.

The modern pivot style scissors appeared in Ancient Rome around 100 CE.

The town of Sheffield, England, became famous in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries for mass producing high quality scissors.

Traditional Japanese handmade scissors, called nigiri basami, use no screw and rely solely on folded steel tension.

Right handed scissors are angled so the top blade remains visible to a right handed user. Left handed scissors reverse the blade orientation and this is not just a marketing gimmick. Ambidextrous scissors exist, but they are rarely as efficient as dedicated left or right handed ones.

Most scissors pivot using a single screw, but some industrial ones use adjustable tension bolts.

Kids safety scissors use blunt ends and sometimes a negative blade angle to reduce cutting power.

Hairdressing scissors can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

Embroidery scissors are designed to be extremely small and precise.

Trauma shears are angled so medics can cut clothing safely away from the body.

Electric scissors exist and can cut fabric automatically with rotating blades.

In Greek mythology, the Fates cut the thread of life using scissors.

The Roman goddess Atropos is often depicted holding scissors to cut life’s thread.

In China, giving scissors as a gift symbolizes cutting ties, so it is avoided.