The original chainsaw was invented and used by two Scottish doctors in the 1780s. Interestingly, it’s also the first Stihl chainsaw because the first wood chainsaw was invented by Andreas Stihl – the founder of the Stihl chainsaw company. Stihl also claims to have invented the first chainsaw for use by one person in 1950 – check out all the Stihl chainsaw years made for more info.
The modern-day chainsaws we’re used to seeing are mainly utilised for tree cutting. Shockingly, the chainsaw was originally invented to assist in childbirth – yes, you read that correctly. The doctors’ chainsaw was used during symphysiotomies.
Well, get ready to think that forevermore, because it turns out that chainsaws were first designed for hacking away at genitals, before being applied to oak. With the mother in too much agony, he decided that “a childless mother was better than a motherless child” and set about saving the mother and removing the fetus. Far more common, from 1597 until when C-sections became safe, was a surgical procedure known as a symphysiotomy, in which the pubic symphysis – a joint made of cartilage above the vulva – is cut to widen the pelvis and make childbirth go more smoothly.