In 1917, Ed Cox of San Francisco, an aluminum pot salesman, invented a pre-soaped pad with which to clean pots. As a way of introducing himself to potential new customers, Cox made the soap incrusted steel-wool pads as a calling card. His wife named the soap pads S.O.S. or "Save Our Saucepans." Cox soon found out that the S.O.S pads were a hotter product than his pots and pans - History of Soap
The first chain saw was the osteotome, a surgical instrument for removing limbs, invented by the German inventor and doctor, Bernard Heine, around 1830. Andreas Stihl is most frequently credited as being the inventor of the mobile, motorized, chain saw (1926) - what we recognize as the modern chain saw - From Chain Saws
According to A Brief History of Surnames
"Originally, many surnames were created by identifying a persons relationship with another e.g. surname of: Johnson. (John's son). Other surnames identified where a person may have lived, or their occupation e.g. surname of: Nottingham (location: Nottingham, England) e.g. surname of: Blacksmith (the trade of 'Blacksmith')."
If you are interested in surnames, please visit About's Genealogy expert for more information.
Herbert Lapidus of Westchester, New York, invented the odor-eater insole in the early 1970s. Lapidus claims he invented the product because his wife had very smelly feet. Odor-eaters are latex inner soles for shoes that contain activated charcoal to neutralize odors.
The name taxicab - usually abbreviated to taxi - derives from the taximeter, the instrument which measures the distance travelled - or time taken - thus allowing an accurate fare to be determined. This device was invented by the German inventor, Wilhelm Bruhn in 1891.
"Bally Hoo" was the first coin-operated pinball game, it was introduced in 1931, invented by Raymond Maloney who founded the Bally Corporation. However, the term "pinball" was not used until 1936 - The History of Pinball
