Thermodynamics is the phenomenology of macroscopic phenomena, so any description of such a phenomenon is an application of thermodynamics in the broadest sense. In the narrow sense, we call phenomena thermodynamic when random effects of a multitude of particles, manifested as pressure or heat, cannot be neglected. Here we shall limit ourselves even more, to review only applications that played a significant role in understanding the fundamental concepts of statistical physics and its connection with thermodynamics.