Great Inventions and Discoveries

‘Zoo’ is short for ‘Zoological garden’. And a zoological garden is a place where living animals are kept and exhibited.A zoo is kind of school for learning about both animals and people. By watching the things animals do, what they eat and how they grow, much can be learned not only about them but about […]

It’s been a long journey for the humble zipper, the mechanical wonder that has kept so much in our lives ‘together’. It has passed through the hands of several dedicated in vendors. The magazine and fashion industry made the novel zipper the popular item it is today, but this happened nearly eighty years after the

Zero, one of man’s greatest inventions, was a concept that has had a tremendous influence on the history of mankind because it made the development of higher mathematics possible.Until about the sixteenth century, the number system used in Europe was the Roman system, invented about two thousand years ago. The Roman system was built on

On 8 November 1895, Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen accidentally discovered an image cast from his cathode ray generator, projected far beyond the possible range of the cathode rays. Further investigations showed that the rays were generated at the point of contact of the cathode ray beam inside the vacuum tube, that they were not deflected by

One morning in 1903, Albert J. Parkhouse of America arrived as usual at his workplace, the Timberlake Wire and Novelty Company in Jackson, Michigan, which specialized in making lampshade frames and other wire items. When he went to hang his hat and coat on the hooks provided for the workers, Parkhouse found all were in

A rainy day. You are out in a car or a bus. The rain is so heavy that you find it difficult to see even a few yards ahead. The driver has to drive very carefully. Can you imagine how he would be able to drive if the wiper was not there, swinging back and

A Swiss engineer was taking his dog for a walk in the wild fields. When he returned, burrs (seeds with a hairy outer covering) were sticking all over his trousers and the fur of his dog. He could have brushed it off, and forgotten about it. But he didn’t. He took the burr and rushed

Hubert, Cecil Booth, a British engineer, received a British patent for a vacuum cleaner on August 30, 1901. This unwieldy machine took the form of a large, horse-drawn, petrol-driven unit, which was parked outside the building to be cleaned with long hoses being fed through the windows. James Murray Spangler, a janitor in an Ohio

Christopher Latham Sholes (1819-1890), a U.S. mechanical engineer, invented the first practical modern typewriter with his partners S.W. Sholes and G.Glidden in 1866. The invention was patented in 1868, and was manufactured (by Remington Arms Company) in 1873. Before the computer, the typewriter may have been the most significant everyday business tool. After dozens of

James C. Fargo, president of the American Express Company, was well off and well known. It’s not surprising that he felt insulted when he couldn’t get cheques cashed during a trip to Europe in 1890. But the European bankers were steadfast. Fargo was not known to them. So they would not cash his cheques. Was

The transistor is an influential invention that changed the course of history for computers. The first generation of computers used vacuum tubes; the second generation of computers used transistors; the third generation of computers used integrated circuits and the fourth generation of computers used microprocessors.John Bardeen, William Shockley, and Walter Brattain, scientists at the Bell

Even during the horse and buggy days, traffic in big cities was often heavy. Police officers had to be stationed full time directing traffic at busy intersections.The world’s first traffic light came into being before the automobile was in use, and traffic consisted only of pedestrians, buggies, and wagons. Installed at an intersection in London

Toothpaste was used as long ago as 500 B.C. in both China and India. However, modern toothpastes were only developed in the 1800s. In 1896, Colgate Dental Cream was packaged in collapsible tubes. Advancements in synthetic detergents made after World War II, allowed for the replacement of the soap used in toothpaste with emulsifying agents

The ancient Chinese made toothbrushes with bristles picked from the neck hair of Siberian wild boars! Stick-like toothbrushes have also been found in the pyramids of ancient Egypt. French dentists were the first Europeans to promote the use of toothbrushes in 17th and early 18th centuries. William Addis of Clerkenwald, England, created the first mass-produced

The Chinese were attributed with the first man-made paper circa 50 B.C. (as opposed to your basic parchment and papyrus.) In the beginning it was formed from bamboo products. Then someone decided to soak linen rags, beat them to a pulp, and turn the results into more sheets of paper. From that stellar start, would