Archives January - March 2000
By Mary Bellis
The first touch sensor, the "Elograph,"
was developed by Dr. Sam Hurst, the founder of Elographics, in 1971.
While it was not transparent like touchscreens, the sensor was a significant
milestone for touch technology. Dr. Hurst invented the first true transparent
touchscreen
in 1974.
The circular thing that keeps pizza
from hitting the inside of the delivery box top is called a package
saver. Inventor Carmela Vitale of Dix Hills, NY, was issued a patent
on February 12, 1985.
The first ballistic missile was the V-2 missile. It was developed by scientists led by Wernher von Braun in Germany starting in 1936. The first successful launch was October 3, 1942. The V-2 was fired against Paris on September 6, 1944.
In 1933, Ralph Wiley, a Dow Chemical lab worker, accidentally discovered polyvinylidene chloride or Saran. Saran films are best known in the form of Saran Wrap®. Introduced by the Dow Chemical Company, it was the first cling wrap designed for household (1953) and commercial use (1949).
The oldest known pair of ice skates dates back to about 3000 B.C. In 1848, E. V. Bushnell of Philadelphia, PA invented the first all steel clamp for skates and was issued the first patent related to ice skates.
The first patent for a snowmaking machine was granted to Wayne Pierce.
In 1886, Reuben H. Donnelly produced the first Yellow Pages directory featuring business names and phone numbers, categorized by the types of products and services provided.
Hacky Sack, or Footbag, is a modern American sport invented in 1972, by John Stalberger and Mike Marshall.
Asphalt is both a man-made and a naturally occurring substance. The first road use of asphalt occurred in 1824 on the Champs-Elysées.
John Douglas Cockcroft and E.T.S. Walton performed the first successful experiments with artificially accelerated ions (particle accelerator) in 1932 at the University of Cambridge.
The origin of the kitchen fork can be traced back to the Greeks.
Canadian Arthur Sicard invented the snowblower in 1925.
In 1950, Diners' Club created the first credit card.
Foil is created from solid metal that is reduced to a leaf-like thinness by beating or rolling. The first mass-produced, widely used foil was made from tin and has since been replaced aluminum foil.
In 1894, Will Keith Kellogg, founder of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, invented corn flakes.
Edward Lowe made the trademark Kitty Litter® a part of the American vocabulary.
Walter Morey developed the Teletypesetter. It was first demonstrated in 1928.
The two-way mirror was originally called the "transparent mirror." The first U.S. patent went to Emil Bloch in 1903.
In 1849, the Bourdon tube pressure gauge was patented in France, by Eugene Bourdon. It remains one of the most widely used instruments for measuring the pressure of liquids and gases. Bourdon also founded the Bourdon Sedeme Company to manufacture his invention. The American patent rights were purchased by Edward Ashcroft in 1852. He renamed it the Ashcroft gauge.
On March 28, 1910, the first successful take-off of a seaplane from water happened in Martinques, France. The plane was flown by its French inventor, Henri Fabre.
In 1884, Christian Gram invented the Gram Stain.
The researchers at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center first invented the computer delete function in 1970.
The history of the computer keyboard goes back to the first typewriter in 1868.
Emile Gagnan and Jacques Cousteau invented the first demand regulator and the first autonomous diving suit -- beginning modern scuba diving equipment.
Willie Johnson patented a mechanical eggbeater in 1884.
Edwin Ruud invented the automatic storage water heater in 1889.
Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, invented the Rumford fireplace in 1796.
Modern wallpaper was born in 1675 when French engraver, Jean Papillon, began making block designs in matching, continuous patterns.
The Yale Padlock was patented in 1844, by Linus Yale, Sr. It was improved and perfected by his son, in his patents of 1861 and 1865. The Yale Cylinder Lock was the first lock design that allowed mass production.
Mary I. Riggin invented the railway-crossing gate.
The dynamic O-Ring in a short rectangular groove was the result of experimental work in the early 1930's by Mr. Niels A. Christensen, which was patented in 1939.
Philip W. Pratt patented the first automatic sprinkler system in 1872. However Henry S. Parmalee's design improvements on sprinkler systems led to the first practical, automatic sprinkler head in 1874.
Bingo originated from a game called Beano, but it's roots go back to 1530 in Italy. New York toy salesman, Edwin S. Lowe, renamed the game to Bingo and marketed it in 1930. Lowe was approached by a Catholic priest from Pennsylvania, who wanted to use Bingo as a way to raise funds for his church.
Water-skiing was created in 1922 by an 18 year-old from Minnesota. Ralph Samuelson proposed the idea that if you could ski on snow, then you could ski on water.
The first respirator was called the "iron lung." It was invented by Philip Drinker and Louis Agassiz Shaw in 1927.
James Gosling was the first designer of the Java programming language and implemented its original compiler and virtual machine.
Mobile homes began in 1926 when automobile-pulled trailers or "Trailer Coaches," were designed as a home-away-from-home for camping trips. Mobile homes became popular during the housing shortage following WWII.
Cigarette lighters became popular after the 1932 invention of the Zippo lighter by George G. Blaisdell.
Opinions about the origin of the horseshoe vary. Most historians think either the Romans or the Mongolians invented them. They were introduced around 500 to 600 B.C. and came into common use around 1,000 A.D.
The spork -- half spoon, half fork -- was patented in 1970 to the Van Brode Milling Co.
"The Dictionary of American Food and Drink" states that cotton candy first appeared in 1900 at the Ringling Bros. circus and that Thomas Patton received a patent for the Cotton Candy machine in 1900. However, the city of New Orleans claims that Josef Delarose Lascaux, a dentist from New Orleans, was the inventor of cotton candy and the cotton candy machine.
The German drug company Pfeiffer launched the world's first nasal spray pump in 1972. The company was founded in 1947 by Engineer Erich Pfeiffer in Buchloe, Germany.
New Yorker, Marion Donovan, invented the convenient disposable diaper in 1950.
The bidet, a personal hygiene fixture found in bathrooms, was invented by the French during the 1800s, with origins going back further. No single creator is credited with the invention.
Cheese in a can, or "Easy Cheese," was invented by Nabisco. This cheese that is squirted out of a can is made with real cheese, but does not require refrigeration.
The sandwich is named after 18th century Englishmen, John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich.
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