Bells, primarily handbells, have been a technology of school since their outset, well before "the factory" they were purportedly modeled on. They were used, as were the bells in churches, to summon students to ye old one room schoolhouse for the beginning of the day.

In his intriguing book “The Rise Of Christianity,” sociologist Rodney Stark recalls the “Plague of Galun” which ravaged the Roman Empire in 164CE with a death toll of approximately 30% of the population.