Category: inventions
Steam power and Jell-O
Heron of Greece invented steam power in 50 BC. But the leaders of the day thought that it would cause unemployment and […]
09/11/2015. Category: inventions. Tags: dessert
Alexander Graham Bell disliked telephones
When the telephone was introduced in 1876, a Western Union internal memo noted: “This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously […]
04/19/2011. Category: inventions. Tags: telephone
Inventors of cash register did not cash in
James Ritty owned the Pony House in Dayton, Ohio in the 1880s, where his customers included Buffalo Bill Cody, Jack Dempsey and […]
01/21/2011. Category: inventions. Tags: cash
Invention of Velcro
After a walk in the Swiss woods with his dog one day in 1941, Georges de Mestral was astounded by the ability […]
10/19/2010. Category: inventions. Tags: burr, velcro
First audio and video recordings
Magnetic recording was invented in 1898 by Valdemar Poulson of Denmark. But it wasn’t used for recording music. Called the “telegraphone,” it […]
10/07/2010. Category: inventions. Tags: audio, dvd, video
Electricity first discovered 2 500 years ago
Electricity was first discovered about 2 500 years ago. The Greek scientist Thales of Miletus (c. 620 BCE – c. 546 BC) […]
07/16/2010. Category: inventions. Tags: battery, electricity
Soft drink inventions
The term “soda water” was coined in 1798. The soda fountain was patented by Samuel Fahnestock in 1819, with the first bottled […]
04/19/2010. Category: inventions. Tags: 7up, coca-cola, pepsi, soda
The history of radio
Twenty years after the telephone was invented and music was first sent down a telephone line, Guglielmo Marconi sent radio signals. Marconi (1874-1937) was born in […]
04/02/2010. Category: inventions. Tags: bose, marconi, radio, stubblefield, tesla
Who invented the light bulb?
Who invented the light bulb? No, it wasn’t Thomas Edison. Light bulbs were in use long before Edison applied for the patent […]
03/29/2010. Category: inventions. Tags: edison, light bulb
Untimely inventions – products before their time
In 1834, Charles Babbage (1792-1871) designed the Analytical Engine, the precursor of the computer. He was unable to obtain funding for it […]
02/08/2010. Category: inventions. Tags: inventors, products