English: As far back as 2,000 years ago, the Chinese were ironing their silk garments with an iron pan filled with glowing coals. As of the 15th century it was common to heat up a cast iron plate with a handle on the oven. If the oven was not lit, the small portable cooker, marked here with an A, would also do the trick. The ox tongue marked with B was even easier to heat up. This was a piece of metal that was placed directly in the iron. A much safer and intelligent solution was the iron with the releasable grip. When the iron had lost its heat, it was placed back on the oven, the grip released, and another hot iron picked up. Alongside the ancient coal irons with glowing coals in the belly the 20th century also had spirit irons, gas irons and, of course, the electric iron.