Walter Hunt Invented The Modern Safety Pin To Pay Off A $15 Debt
Today in 1849, the US issued a patent for one of the smallest big ideas of the century: the safety pin. And a big factor behind that little invention was paying off a big debt.
The Physiophone Turned Music Into Physical Sensations For Deaf People To Enjoy, And Dance To
The physiophone was a Hugo Gernsback invention that turned sound into electrical impulses, so Deaf people could feel the music.
Walk On This High-Tech Goo And It’ll Make Electricity
A team at the University of Guelph has developed a substance that can generate electricity and could help in a multitude of medical situations. What is it? High-tech slime.
Let’s Jump Into The History Of Parachutes
The birth of André-Jacques Garnerin, a man who helped bring about the modern parachute. And his vision came to him at a very unusual time.
For Crops In The Desert, Try These Inflatable Container Farms
AirFarm is an inflatable container farm that could help people grow crops where there’s not a lot of water. The idea - pun intended- blew up at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Ernest Bazin Invented A Ship With Rolling “Wheels” And Named It After Himself
This month in 1893, the formal start of an effort to build a new kind of seagoing vessel: a ship with rolling wheels.
Even The Inventor Of Inline Skates Crashed Once In A While
It's National Roller Skating Month, and we’re going all the way back to the guy who created the first skates. It's a little reassuring that even he had trouble rolling along like the rest of us.
Pacemaker Pioneer Wilson Greatbatch Helped Millions Of Hearts
Today in 1919, the birthday of Wilson Greatbatch, who made implantable pacemakers a reality for millions of patients. A pretty big legacy for a guy who considered himself a “humble tinkerer.”
Alexander Graham Bell Invented A “Photophone” That Sent Sound On Beams Of Light
Alexander Graham Bell is best known for the telephone, but he thought his light-based calling system, the photophone was way more important... so much so that he even tried to name his daughter Photophone Bell.
Maria Beasley Invented A Life Raft And Lots Of Other Hugely Useful Things
Today in 1882 inventor Maria Beasley received the patent for a collapsible life raft. But Beasley was one of those inventors who came up with idea after idea in a bunch of fields, so there's lots more to her story.