A switchblade (also known as an automatic knife, pushbutton knife, switch, Sprenger,Springer, or, in most English speaking countries, flick knife) is a type of knife with a folding or sliding blade contained in the handle which is opened automatically by a spring when a button, lever, or switch on the handle or bolster is activated (often confused with a different type of knife, the spring-assist or assisted-opening knife). A manually operated safety device fitted to most switchblades prevents the blade from opening in the event the button is accidentally pressed. Most switchblade designs incorporate a locking blade, in which the blade is locked against closure when the spring extends the blade to the fully opened position. The blade is unlocked by manually operating a mechanism that unlocks the blade and allows it to be folded and locked in the closed position.
The switchblade or automatic knife is thought to have originated as a response to demands for a convenient pocket knife that could be opened with only one hand. With the advent of mass production, which enabled folding knives to be produced at lower cost, distribution of such knives became much more widespread, with some manufacturers turning out thousands of automatic knives annually. While not as popular as traditional pocket or folding knives, the switchblade enjoyed a devoted if modest continuing popularity as a general utility knife. With the advent of legislation restricting ownership or sale of such knives in the mid-20th century, the worldwide popularity of the automatic knife began to decline. Today most switchblades are largely produced by small knifemaking companies on a semi-custom basis for use by the military or for collectors in countries and states where it is legal to do so.
Fred Lincoln "Link" Wray Jr (May 2, 1929 – November 5, 2005) was an American rock and roll guitarist, songwriter and occasional singer.
Wray was noted for pioneering a new sound for electric guitars, as exemplified in his 1958 instrumental hit "Rumble", by Link Wray and his Ray Men, which pioneered an overdriven, distorted electric guitar sound. He also "invented the power chord, the major modus operandi of modern rock guitarist," "and in doing so fathering," or making possible, "punk and heavy rock".Rolling Stone placed Wray at number 67 of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.
Wray was born in Dunn, North Carolina to Fred Lincoln Wray and his wife Lillian M. Coats. Link first heard the slide guitar technique at age eight from a traveling carnival worker nicknamed "Hambone." Link's family moved to Norfolk, Virginia, where his father worked in the U. S. Navy shipyards during World War II. In 1956, the family moved to Washington, D.C., and finally to a farm in Accokeek, Maryland. Link Wray and his brother Vernon went west to Arizona early 1970s, settling in San Francisco several years later.