Technology Facts About Inventions

The can opener was invented 48 years after the can.

Bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers were all invented or significantly improved by women inventors.

The first computer mouse was invented by Doug Engelbart in around 1964 and was made of wood.

The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.

The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.

Thomas Edison held 1,093 U.S. patents during his lifetime—more than any other inventor until 2003!

The first American alarm clock could only ring at 4 a.m.

The electric chair was invented by a dentist!

The oil used by jewelers to lubricate clocks and watches costs about $3,000 a gallon.

The life boat was patented in 1845!

The first household refrigerators cost about $16,000, in today's money!

Henry Ford produced the model T only in black because the black paint available at the time was the fastest to dry.

There's a knife-fork hybrid called a knork.

Modern disposable diapers use sodium polyacrylate, a superabsorbent polymer that can absorb up to 300 times its weight in water, allowing a typical diaper to hold over 1 liter of liquid.

An airplane mechanic invented Slinky while he was playing with engine parts and realized the possible secondary use for the springs.

The first webcam was used in 1991 by Cambridge researchers for checking the coffee pot without leaving their desks.

Students at MIT developed a wristband that can regulate your “thermal comfort”, which could possibly eliminate the need for central heating and cooling.

The Sprout pencil is a plantable pencil that contains a seed inside. When it's too short to use, you can plant it and watch it grow herbs and vegetables.

There is a bed called the Cuddle Mattress that it is divided into layers of foam for your arm to slip though.

The yellow barrels at every highway exit were invented by John Fitch, a Le Mans driver who once shot down a German jet in WWII. After his co-driver died at Le Mans in 1955, Fitch filled liquor barrels with sand and crashed into them at up to 70 mph in his own driveway. He climbed out grinning every time. Highways adopted them in the late 1960s. An estimated 17,000 lives saved. Every one started in his driveway.