How many household items do we take for granted never knowing the amazing stories these objects hold? Enjoy my sampling of favorite household items. The science and history behind these familiar objects will have you wondering what amazing stories are hidding in your own households.
Where did the name zipper come from? In 1923, B.F. Goodrich marketed galoshes with the new fastener and christened it the "zipper," taking the name from the "zip" sound it made when opened or closed. Today there are about 12 new zippers a year in the average American’s life and in Macon, Georgia, YKK (the largest zipper manufacturer in the world), produces 1,200 miles of zippers each day.
The scientists behind pantyhose and nylon stockings.
And keeping your ears warm - the story of the fifteen year old inventor who invented earmuffs.
Today’s wire coat hanger was inspired by a clothes hook patented in 1869, by O. A. North of New Britain, Connecticut.
Safety pins, remarkably similar to those that we use today, go back as far as the Bronze Age, but the modern day version was "reinvented" in 1825 and patented in 1849, by Walter Hunt of New York. He invented the safety pin in a little under 3 hours - the reason - he needed to pay off a $15 debt.
Little, square, yellow and useful - Post-It Notes are sticky reminder notes.
Everyone has a secret. Bette Graham’s secret was the formula for Liquid Paper, a trade secret that earned her millions of dollars.
Before the computer, the typewriter may have been the most significant everyday business tool. Christopher Latham Sholes, a publisher/politician/ philosopher from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and his colleagues, Carlos Glidden and Samuel Soulé, invented the first practical typewriting machine in 1866.
Though necessity may be the mother of invention, perhaps it is frustration that fuels the fire; or so it seemed for Lewis Edson Waterman.
An entomologist working on natural pest control took on the challenge of improving an ancient agricultural art. Sally Fox successfully bred and marketed varieties of naturally coloured cotton she called FoxFiber.
Put your feet up, lean back, and relax.
The history of the vacuum cleaner.
The dust kicked up in Melville and Anna Bissell’s crockery shop and inspired Melville Bissell’s invention of the carpet sweeper.
In 1954, Swanson responded to two post-war trends: the lure of time-saving modern appliances and the fascination with the latest innovation, the television.
The history of detergents and soaps.
In 1905, Dr. Samuel J. Crumbine, a member of the Kansas State Board of Health, set out to rid the state of a bumper crop of flies and combat the public’s indifference to the pests.
In-line skates were created in the early 1700s when a Dutchman attached wooden spools to strips of wood and nailed them to his shoes. In 1863, an American developed the conventional rollerskate model, with the wheels positioned side by side, and it became the skate of choice. See also -
Rollerblades
