Welcome to an exciting journey through some surprising inventions by famous inventors! You might know them for their big achievements, but they also created some lesser-known gadgets and ideas. Let’s dive in and explore these fascinating stories.
Did you know that Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, also invented a metal detector? In 1881, after President James Garfield was shot, doctors couldn’t find the bullet. Bell created a device to help locate it using electromagnetic fields. Unfortunately, it didn’t work because the president’s mattress had metal in it, which confused the detector. Sadly, Garfield passed away due to an infection, not the bullet itself.
Lewis Latimer, who worked with Bell, was also an inventor. He helped draft the patent for the telephone and created inventions like a bathroom for trains and an early version of an air conditioner.
Along with Casey Baldwin, Bell built a boat called the hydro drom. It was 60 feet long and could travel at 70 miles per hour! Bell hoped this technology would eventually help create aircraft that could take off from water.
Nikola Tesla amazed people in 1898 with a remote-controlled boat at Madison Square Garden. Using radio waves, he could control its movements and lights, which was a big deal since radio waves were not well-known then.
Maria Beasley improved life rafts, making them safer and less likely to sink. She also invented foot warmers, a bread meter, and a device to prevent train derailments.
Henry Ford, known for revolutionizing the car industry, also created a car made from soybeans and other crops. This “soybean car” was introduced in 1941 but was halted by World War II.
George Washington Carver, famous for his agricultural work, invented a cosmetic cream from peanuts called “vanishing cream.” He held three patents, including this one.
Joy Mangano is best known for the Miracle Mop. She also invented platform sneakers and huggable hangers, which are popular on home shopping networks.
Mary Ann Croak, a VP at Google, holds over 100 patents related to voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), which helps us communicate online. One of her patents involves donating to charity via text message.
Clarence Birdseye pioneered the frozen foods industry. He also invented a harpoon gun that didn’t recoil, among many other patents.
Margaret Knight invented a machine that gave paper bags square bottoms, making them more useful. She was a prolific inventor, working on her 89th invention at age 70!
Benjamin Franklin invented the armonica, a musical instrument made of glass bowls. It became popular with composers like Mozart and Beethoven.
Elizabeth Magie created Monopoly, originally called The Landlord’s Game, as a critique of capitalism. She also worked on a card game called Mock Trial.
Leonardo da Vinci designed a scuba suit for naval attacks and sketched a robotic knight, inspiring modern robotics.
James Watt, known for his steam engine work, also patented a copier in 1780.
Maria Telkes was a solar energy pioneer who also contributed to air conditioning technology.
Charles Babbage invented the first optical scope to help doctors examine eyes, but it wasn’t pursued due to skepticism.
Catherine Burbidge invented non-reflective glass and a method to de-ice airplane wings, crucial during World War II.
The Wright brothers, famous for airplanes, also innovated bicycles like the St. Clair and the Van Cleave.
Dr. Flossie Wong-Staal was the first to clone and map HIV, leading to successful testing. She also invented a molecular knife for genetic research.
Thomas Edison invented a voting machine, an electric pen, and even a device to detect particles from deceased individuals. He also created a talking doll that didn’t sell well due to its high cost and fragility.
Thanks for joining us on this journey through the lesser-known inventions of famous inventors. We hope you enjoyed learning about these creative minds and their surprising contributions to the world!
Choose one of the inventors mentioned in the article and research more about their life and lesser-known inventions. Create a presentation to share with the class, highlighting how their inventions have impacted the world.
Inspired by the inventors in the article, think of a problem in your daily life and design an invention to solve it. Draw a detailed sketch and write a short description of how it works. Present your invention to the class.
Create a timeline that includes the inventions discussed in the article. Research the dates of these inventions and place them in chronological order. Add images and brief descriptions to make your timeline visually engaging.
Participate in a class debate on which lesser-known invention from the article had the most significant impact on society. Prepare arguments and evidence to support your choice and engage in a respectful discussion with your classmates.
Pair up with a classmate and choose an inventor from the article. One of you will play the role of the inventor, and the other will be a journalist. Prepare questions and answers about the inventor’s life and inventions, and perform your interview for the class.
Here’s a sanitized version of the provided YouTube transcript:
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Hi, I’m Aaron McCarthy, editor-in-chief of Mental Floss. Welcome to Mental Floss video! Did you know that telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell also invented a metal detector in an attempt to save President James Garfield’s life after he was shot in 1881? Doctors struggled to locate the bullet and spent a lot of time trying to find it by examining Garfield’s body. Bell created an electromagnetic device that was supposed to alert when the field was interrupted by metal. He used the device on Garfield twice but was unable to find the bullet. Unfortunately, Garfield’s mattress contained metal mesh, which likely complicated the search. In the end, Garfield died not from the bullet wound but from an infection likely caused by being operated on by doctors who hadn’t washed their hands. So even if Bell had found the bullet, it might not have made a difference.
Alexander Graham Bell’s metal detector is just the first of many lesser-known inventions by famous inventors that I’m going to share with you today. We mentioned the telephone earlier, but Bell wasn’t the only person involved in its invention. Lewis Latimer, a colleague of Bell, drafted the patent that Bell filed for the device. Latimer was also an inventor in his own right; in 1874, he patented a bathroom for a train, and in 1886, he patented an early version of an air conditioner.
Back to Bell for a moment: he broke a world record with a boat he created with fellow inventor Casey Baldwin. The hydro drom was 60 feet long and traveled at 70 miles per hour, thanks to fins under the boat that helped it move at that unprecedented pace. Eventually, Bell hoped this would lead to an aircraft that could lift off from the water.
Speaking of boats, in 1898, inventor Nikola Tesla wowed the crowd at an exhibition in Madison Square Garden with a four-foot-long battery-powered remote-controlled boat. Tesla could control its propeller and rudder and even flash its lights using radio signals. At the time, not many people knew about radio waves, and the attendees were astounded. You could say that Tesla’s invention made a big splash!
Tesla also had hopes of creating an aircraft. The last patent he ever received was for a helicopter plane that would become airborne like a helicopter and then shift on its side to act like an airplane propeller. It also had wings like an airplane.
Maria Beasley is best known for her inventions that improved barrel making and life rafts. Before her innovations, life rafts were wooden and tended to sink. She also invented foot warmers, a bread meter, and a device that prevented trains from derailing.
Henry Ford was an innovator from a young age. Starting around 13, he fixed watches for people in his community and invented his own tools. Later in life, Ford developed the soybean car, which was made with panels of plastic created from soybeans and other crops. He presented the car in 1941, but World War II interrupted its momentum.
George Washington Carver is best known for his work in agriculture, but he also invented a cosmetic cream made from peanuts, which he described in the patent as a “vanishing cream.” The patent for the cosmetic and the process used to create it was just one of three patents in his name.
If you’re a fan of home shopping networks or Jennifer Lawrence, you probably know of Joy Mangano, most famous for the Miracle Mop. She also invented performance platforms, a type of sneaker with a platform heel, and huggable hangers.
Mary Ann Croak is currently best known for being a VP of engineering at Google. She has over 100 patents related to voice over Internet Protocol, which allows us to communicate over the internet. One of her patents is the process used when someone donates to a charity via text message.
Clarence Birdseye is known for creating the processes that allow for the entire frozen foods industry to exist, but he filed hundreds of patents in his lifetime, including one for a harpoon gun that didn’t recoil after being shot.
While working at a paper bag company in the 19th century, Margaret Knight invented a device that mechanized the bag cutting and folding process, giving bags square bottoms—a unique feature at the time. A year before she died, The New York Times declared that at the age of 70, Margaret was working 20 hours a day on her 89th invention.
Of course, we have to mention some inventions by Benjamin Franklin. He started young, making wooden paddles to help him swim faster. In the mid-1700s, he created the armonica, an instrument made of glass bowls that became quite popular, even with composers like Mozart and Beethoven.
Elizabeth Magie famously invented Monopoly as an anti-capitalist game known as The Landlord’s Game before Charles Darrow sold it to Parker Brothers. She had previously worked with them on a lesser-known card game called Mock Trial.
Leonardo da Vinci designed several inventions, including a scuba suit for naval attacks, which he kept a closely guarded secret. He also sketched a robotic knight in 1495, which inspired modern robotics.
Scottish inventor James Watt is best known for his work on the steam engine but also patented a copier in 1780. Maria Telkes, who immigrated to the U.S. in the 1920s, became an important solar energy innovator and also contributed to air conditioning technology.
Charles Babbage, an early computer pioneer, invented the first optical scope to help doctors examine patients’ eyes. He abandoned the idea due to skepticism from his colleagues.
Catherine Burbidge is known for inventing non-reflective glass, which has had a lasting impact on various industries. She also developed a way to de-ice airplane wings, which was crucial during World War II.
The Wright brothers, known for their airplane innovations, were also bicycle innovators. They created bicycles called the St. Clair and the Van Cleave.
Dr. Flossie Wong-Staal was the first person to clone and genetically map HIV, leading to successful testing for the virus. She also invented a molecular knife that could cut through genetic information in cells.
Finally, let’s finish up with a few lesser-known Thomas Edison inventions. Edison’s first patent was for a voting machine, which politicians rejected because it would speed up the process too much. He also created an electric pen that allowed for multiple copies of text, which inspired the electric tattoo needle.
Edison once developed a device intended to use light to detect tiny particles from deceased individuals, believing there was evidence of personalities lingering after death. He also released a talking doll in 1890 that was a commercial failure due to its high cost and tendency to break.
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This version removes any potentially sensitive or inappropriate content while maintaining the informative nature of the original transcript.
Inventions – New devices or processes created to solve problems or improve existing solutions. – The telephone is one of the most important inventions in the history of communication.
Inventor – A person who creates new devices or processes, often leading to technological advancements. – Thomas Edison was a famous inventor known for creating the electric light bulb.
Electromagnetic – Relating to the interrelation of electric currents or fields and magnetic fields. – The electromagnetic spectrum includes a range of waves such as radio waves and visible light.
Technology – The application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry. – The development of computer technology has transformed how we access information.
Agriculture – The practice of cultivating the soil, growing crops, and raising animals for food and other products. – Advances in agriculture have allowed societies to produce enough food to support large populations.
Patents – Legal rights granted to inventors to exclusively make, use, or sell their inventions for a certain period of time. – Patents protect inventors by giving them the exclusive right to profit from their inventions.
Solar – Relating to or derived from the sun, especially in terms of energy. – Solar panels convert sunlight into electricity, providing a renewable energy source.
Robotics – The branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, and application of robots. – Robotics has advanced to the point where robots can perform complex tasks in manufacturing.
History – The study of past events, particularly in human affairs. – Learning about history helps us understand how past societies have shaped the modern world.
Communication – The process of exchanging information or expressing ideas and feelings. – The invention of the internet has revolutionized global communication.
