Fast facts about inventions and inventors
Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors.
Leonardo da Vinci never built the inventions he designed.
The paperclip was invented by Norwegian Johann Vaaler.
The household wrench was invented by boxing heavyweight champion Jack Johnson in 1922.
Stilts were invented by French shepherds who needed a way to get around in wet marshes.
Games Slayter, a Purdue graduate, invented fiberglass.
Venetian blinds were invented in Japan.
In 1894, Lord Kelvin predicted that radio had no future; he also predicted that heavier-than-air flying machines were impossible.
Sam Colt invented the “revolving pistol.” Therefore, correctly speaking, revolvers are called pistols.
Lincoln Logs were invented by Frank Lloyd Wright’s son.
White Out was invented by the mother of Mike Nesmith of the Monkees.
The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.
The first fax process was patented in 1843.
The Phillips-head screwdriver was invented in Oregon.
The first vending machine was invented by Hero of Alexandria in the first century. When a coin was dropped into a slot, its weight would pull a cork out of a spigot and the machine would dispense a trickle of holy water.
Count Alessandro Volta invented the first battery in the 18th century.
During the 1860s, George Leclanche developed the dry-cell battery, the basis for modern batteries.
One hour before Alexander Graham Bell registered his patent for the telephone in 1876, Elisha Gray patented his design. After years of litigation, the patent went to Bell.
Charles Macintosh invented the waterproof coat, the Mackintosh, in 1823.
Bill Gates designed a traffic control system for Seattle when he was only 15.
Velcro was invented by a Swiss who was inspired by the way burrs attached to clothing while walking his dog.
Henry Ford invented the modern charcoal briquette.
The can opener was invented 48 years after the can.
More than 100 pizza box-related patents have been issued since 1976.
No patent can ever be taken out on a gambling machine in the United States.
The first ever patent in the UK was Aaron Rathbone & Roger Burges, Map makers in 1618.
The man who created the Thighmaster was once a Bhuddist Monk.
The hair perm was invented in 1906 by Karl Ludwig Nessler of Germany.
Karl Nessler hair dryer or the “permanent wave,” 1906
The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.
The electric chair was invented by a dentist.
The can opener was invented 48 years after cans were introduced.
Thomas Edison filed 1,093 patents, including those for the light bulb, electric railways and the movie camera. When he died in 1931, he held 34 patents for the telephone, 141 for batteries, 150 for the telegraph and 389 patents for electric light and power.
Thomas Edison was awarded a patent for a method of making concrete furniture.
Thomas Edison got a patent for a cigar which was supposed to burn forever.
Traffic lights were used before the advent of the motorcar.
Naugahyde, plastic “leather” was created in Naugatuck, Connecticut.
The first man-made plastic was created by Alexander Parkes who publicly demonstrated it at the Great International Exhibition in London in 1862.
The first so-called plastic based on a synthetic polymer was made from phenol and formaldehyde, with the first viable and cheap synthesis methods invented in 1907, by Leo Hendrik Baekeland, a Belgian-born American living in New York state.
Nylon is made from coal and petroleum.
Slinkys were invented by an airplane mechanic; he was playing with engine parts and realized the possible secondary use of one of the springs. If you stretch a standard Slinky out flat it measures 87 feet long.
An airplane mechanic invented Slinky while he was playing with engine parts and realized the possible secondary use for the springs.
Cyano-acrylate glues (super glues) were invented by accident. The properties of optical coating materials were testing by putting them between two prisms and shining light through them; when the researcher used cyano-acrylate tried as a material, he couldn’t get the prisms apart.
The straw was probably invented by Egyptian brewers to taste in-process beer without removing the fermenting ingredients which floated on the top of the container.