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Here are some Fun Facts
If you have "did you know" facts that you want to share please feel free to contact us
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that "patent leather" got its name because the process of applying the polished black finish to leather was once patented? |
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that the first Apple computer was born in Steve Jobs' parents' garage?
College students Jobs and his partner Steve Wozniak worked furiously in
that garage assembling computers for fellow students and were totally
unprepared for their first commercial order for 50 computers. To raise
the needed $1300 for parts, Jobs sold his old VW bus and Wozniak sold
his Hewlett Packard calculator. The next year - 1977 - Apple sales hit
$800,000 and went on to become a Fortune 500 company in a record five
years! |
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that Thomas Edison's patent application on his phonograph was approved
by the Patent Office in just seven weeks? In contrast, it took Gordon
Gould, the inventor of the laser, 30 years to obtain his patent -
finally awarded in 1988! |
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that J.B. Dunlop, one inventor of the pneumatic tire, was a veterinary surgeon? |
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that the trademarked name "Baby Ruth" was inspired by President Grover Cleveland's daughter, Ruth, and not by Babe Ruth? |
that to encourage use of his new invention, the shopping cart, market
owner Sylvan Goldman hired fake shoppers to push the carts around his
store in Oklahoma City? Seems his customers were reluctant to give up
their hand-carried baskets.
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that the first rickshaw was invented in 1869 by an American Baptist
minister, the Rev. E. Jonathan Scobie, to transport his invalid wife
around the streets of Yokohama? |
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that after Parker Brothers executives turned down the game of Monopoly
because it had "52 fundamental errors" (including taking too long to
play), a copy of the game wound up in the home of the company president
who stayed up until 1 a.m. to finish playing it? He was so impressed by
the game that the next day he wrote to inventor Charles Darrow and
offered to buy it! |
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that several people are credited with the invention of the flush
toilet? Most people have heard of Thomas Crapper (1837-1910), the
sanitary engineer who invented the valve-and-siphon arrangement that
made the modern toilet possible. Another claimant to "the throne" was
British inventor Alexander Cumming who patented a toilet in 1775. Then
there's a nameless Minoan (a native of ancient Crete) who lived 4,000
years ago who supposedly was ahead of his time and created the first
flush toilet! |
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that Benjamin Franklin invented bifocals because he hated wearing two pairs of glasses? |
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that the formulas for Cola-Cola and Silly Putty have never been
patented? These trade secrets are shared only with selected trustworthy
company employees, and while there have been many attempts to duplicate
these products, so far, no one has been successful. |
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that one person who claimed to be the inventor of the television is
Russian emigre Vladimir Zworykin? In 1929 David Sarnoff, founder of
RCA, asked Zworykin what it would take to develop TV for commercial
use. He said: a year and a half and $100,000. In reality, it took 20
years and $50 million! Before his death in 1982 at the age of 92,
Zworykin said of his invention: "The technique is wonderful. It is
beyond my expectations. But the programs! I would never let my children
even come close to this thing." |
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that the telescope was accidentally discovered in 1698 when Dutch eye
glass maker Hans Lippershey looked through two lenses - one held in
front of the other - and realized that the image was magnified? |
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that two musicians were responsible for the invention of color print
film? Fascinated by photography, Leopold Godowsky and Leopold Mannes
worked together to produce an easy-to-use, practical color film. They
worked full time as music teachers and gave concerts while
experimenting during their off hours in Mannes' kitchen. Their success
earned them full-time, well-paying jobs at Kodak and their efforts
resulted in Kodachrome film, which was introduced in 1935. |
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that it was melting ice cream that inspired the invention of the
outboard motor? It was a lovely August day and Ole Evinrude was rowing
his boat to his favorite island picnic spot. As he rowed, he watched
his ice cream melt and wished he had a faster way to get to the island.
At that moment the idea for the outboard motor was born! |
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that power steering was invented by independent inventor Francis W.
Davis? As chief engineer in the 1920s of the truck division of the
Pierce Arrow Motor Car Company, he saw how hard it was to steer heavy
vehicles. So that he would be able to keep the profits from his future
invention, Davis left his job, rented a small engineering shop in
Waltham, Mass., and developed a hydraulic power steering system that
led to power steering. |
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that the first ballpoint pen was invented by Hungarian journalist Lasalo Biro and his chemist brother, Georg, in 1938? |
that Galileo invented the thermometer in 1593?
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that in 1879 Auguste Bartholdi received a design patent for the Statue of Liberty? |
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that Robert Adler has the dubious distinction of being the Father of
the Couch Potato? Back in 1955 Adler was employed by what was then
Zenith Radio Corp., where he was charged to invent something that would
allow viewers to turn down the TV volume without leaving their chairs.
After a series of flops (such as a wired contraption that people
tripped over), Adler hit on the idea of using sound waves. Thus the
Remote Control was born . . . and some viewers haven't moved since! |
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that the inventor of the World Wide Web, British-born Tim Berners-Lee,
never made money on his invention, which revolutionized the computer
world? In 1989 he envisioned a way to link documents on the Internet
using "hypertext" so "surfers" could jump from one document to another
through highlighted words. Berners-Lee decided not to patent his
technology since he feared that, if he did patent it, use of the Web
would be too expensive and would therefore not become used worldwide.
He therefore passed up a fortune so the world could learn and
communicate. |
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that the Band-Aid® Bandage was invented by a Johnson & Johnson
employee whose wife had cut herself? Earl Dickson's wife was rather
accident prone, so he set out to develop a bandage that she could apply
without help. He placed a small piece of gauze in the center of a small
piece of surgical tape, and what we know today as the Band-Aid bandage
was born! |
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that a workman who left the soap mixing machine on too long was
responsible for making Ivory Soap? He was so embarrassed by his mistake
that he threw the mess in a stream. Imagine his dismay when the
evidence of his error floated to the surface! Result: Ivory soap, the
soap that floats. |
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Did you Know? 
DVD 1: Overview
