From Mary Bellis,
Your Guide to Inventors.
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Find out what famous event happened today in history concerning patents, trademarks, or copyrights. What famous inventor has the same birthday as you or what invention was created on that day.

<<< February - April >>>

March 1

1921 Harry Houdini was granted patent #1,370,316 for a "diver's suit"

March 2

1861 The Patent Act of 1861 increased term of a patent grant from 14 to 17 years, now it is 20 years.

March 3

1821 Thomas Jennings received a patent for "dry scouring of clothes". He was the first African-American inventor to receive a U.S. patent.

March 4

1955 The first radio facsimile or fax transmission was sent across the continent.
1997 Leonard Kasday received a patent in for a way to handle telephone prize opportunities

March 5

1872 George Westinghouse, Jr patented the steam air brake.

March 6

1899 Felix Hoffmann patented "Aspirin". Hoffmann discovered that the compound called salicin found in willow plants provided pain relief.
1990 Mel Evenson received a design patent for the ornamental design for a paperclip holder

March 7

1876 Alexander Graham Bell was granted a patent in for the telephone.

March 8

1994 Don Ku granted a patent for a wheeled suitcase with a collapsible towing handle.

March 9

1954 Gladys Geissman was granted a patent for a baby's garment.

March 10

1862 The first United States paper money was issued. The denominations were $5, $10, and $20. The paper bills became legal tender by an act of government on March 17, 1862.
1891 Almon Strowger was issued a patent for the automatic telephone exchange.

March 11

Samuel Mullikin became the first inventor to hold multiple patents.

March 12

1935 England established the first 30 MPH speed limit for town and village roads.
1996 Michael Vost patented a mailbox signalling device.

March 13

1877 Chester Greenwood received a patent for earmuffs.
1944 Abbott and Costello's "Baseball Routine", also known as "Who's On First" was copyrighted.

March 14

1794 Eli Whitney was granted patent for the cotton gin.
1879 Albert Einstein was born.

March 15

1950 New York City hired Dr Wallace E Howell as the city's official "rainmaker".
1994 William Hartman was issued a patent for a method and apparatus for painting highway markings - the stripes etc.

March 16

1963 "To Kill A Mockingbird" the movie, based on Harper Lee's novel was copyrighted.

March 17

1845 The first rubber band was patented by Stephen Perry of London.
1885 The Blast Furnace Charger was patented by Fayette Brown.
St Patrick's Day

March 18

1910 Rose O'Neill's Kewpie doll was copyrighted

March 19

1850 Phineas Quimby was issued a patent for a steering machine.
1994 The largest omelet (1,383² ft) in the world was made with 160,000 eggs in Yokohama, Japan.

March 20

1883 Jan Matzeliger was issued patent #274,207 for a "lasting device for shoes". Matzeliger's invention made the mass production of inexpensive shoes possible.

March 21

1861 Constitution of the Confederate States of America establishes a Patent Office.
1969 John Lennon and Yoko Ono staged their first bed-in for peace at the Amsterdam Hilton. Did you ever wonder who invented beds?

March 22

1841 Orlando Jones patented cornstarch.
1960 Schawlow and Townes were issued a patent for the laser.

March 23

1836 The coin press was invented by Franklin Beale.
1956 "West Side Story"a musical play by Leonard Bernstein, was copyrighted.

March 24

1959 Charles Townes was granted a patent for the maser, the precursor to the laser. The maser was a big hit, being used to amplify radio signals and as an ultrasensitive detector for space research.

March 25

1902 Irving W Colburn patented the sheet glass drawing machine, making the mass production of glass for windows possible.
1975 Cayetano Aguas was issued patent #3,873,284 for a "smoke stack washer".

March 26

1895 Charles Jenkins patented a motion picture machine.
1895 Louis Lumiere patented a motion picture machine. What Lumiere invented was a portable motion-picture camera, film processing unit and projector called the Cinematographe, three functions covered in one invention.

March 27

1790 The first shoelaces were invented.
1990 Harold Osrow and Zvi Bleier received a patent for a portable ice cream machine.

March 28

1899 William Fleming received a patent for a player piano using electricity.

March 29

1933 "42nd Street" the movie, was copyrighted.
2000 The Patent and Trademark Office became the "United States Patent and Trademark Office" and began operations as a Performance-Based Organization

March 30

1956 Woody Guthrie's song, "This Land Is Your Land" was copyrighted.

March 31

1981 Ananda Chakrabarty patented a new single cell life form