Mondo Knows Facts

British plugs carry a fuse inside the live pin

The three-pin design protects each appliance with a fuse in its own plug The British standard plug, introduced in 1947, holds a cartridge fuse in the live pin so every appliance is protected separately. The earth pin is longer so it makes contact first and breaks last, and the live and neutral pins are part-sleeved to cut shock risk. The design suited ring circuits adopted after wartime copper shortages. It sits in Mondo's everyday life collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

British plugs carry a fuse inside the live pin: Image of a British BS1363 Plug
Asim18 ยท CC BY-SA 4.0 ยท licence ยท source

Where this comes from

British Standards Institution

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Tags: electricity, plugs, safety

British plugs carry a fuse inside the live pin: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?
The three-pin design protects each appliance with a fuse in its own plug. The figure is taken from British Standards Institution, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a everyday life fact?
Yes. It sits on the Everyday Life shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?
The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.