PARACHUTE inventor

A parachute is a device for slowing down one's descent while falling to the ground. Parachutes are used to skydive from airplanes, to jump from very high places, and to help slow down the descent of spacecraft. Parachutes are also used to slow down some race cars. The early parachutes were made from canvas (a strong cotton cloth). Light-weight (but very strong) silk cloth was then introduced for parachutes. Modern-day parachutes use nylon fabric.

The idea of using a parachute to fall gently to the ground was written about by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). The first parachute was demonstrated by Louis-Sébastien Lenormand in 1783 of France - he jumped from a very tall tree carrying two parasols (umbrellas). A few years later, some adventurous people jumped from hot-air balloons using primitive parachutes. The first person to jump from a flying airplane (and survive the fall) was Captain Albert Berry, who jumped from a U.S. Army plane in 1912. Parachutes were first used in war towards the end of World War 1.

The first postal stamp

The one inventor who can truly be said to have left his "stamp" on the future is almost unknown in the world of inventors. Indeed, who ever heard of Rowland Hill (1795-1879), the man who invented the postage stamp, that little piece of gummed paper which everyone uses today?

The son of an English schoolmaster, Hill thought up a way to reform the postal system that was currently in use - an impractical system in which the postage, based on weight and distance, was charged to the addressee. He advocated a uniform rate of postage to be paid by the sender instead - using stamps.

As is often the case with inventions, several people claimed to have had the same idea. Yet one thing is certain: Hill, who was later knighted by the queeen, is the one who finally carried the project through. As the universally recognized inventor of the postage stamp, Sir Rowland has since been honored over and over again by postal services throughout the world, in particular on the centenary of his death (1979), the bicentenary of his birth (1995) and the 150th anniversary of the invention of the postage stamp (1990). Among the most beautiful commemorative issues printed on those various occasions are a truly magnificent one from Portugal and others from Chile, Ghana and the United Kingdom.

The first postage stamp thus saw the light of day in England - on 6 May 1840 to be precise. Its name? The Penny Black. Printed in black and white, it bore the profile of Queen Victoria, who was so pleased with her likeness that she had the drawing maintained on all the subsequent issues that were put out of the stamp throughout her sixty-year reign.

Postage stamps quickly spread from England to the rest of the world. In 1843, they were adopted in Brazil and in the Swiss cantons of Zurich and Geneva, and in 1845 the canton of Basel issued its famous Basel Dove - the first stamp to be printed in three colors. France, Belgium and Bavaria started putting out stamps in 1849, and other countries soon followed suit.

The first stamps were imperforate: perforated stamps, which are easier to detach, were only invented in 1851. The originator of this idea was Henry Ascher - an Englishman as well.

Blue Jeans

Blue Jeans, invented in 1850
Working as a canvas salesman in San Francisco during the California Gold rush of the 1850s, Levi Strauss made a keen observation. He noticed that pants of prospectors and miners could not withstand the wear and tear of their profession. Strauss decided to stitch some canvas together and sell them as pants. What they lacked in comfort, Strauss's pants made up in durability. When he discovered that using denim -- canvas dyed blue to better conceal stains -- produced even more popular and comfortable apparel, an American fashion mainstay had been established. Once the workwear of cowboys, miners, and ranchers, blue jeans are today worn by people of all walks of life, at work and play.

The return of steam

The future of automotive technology may lie in the past. Bruce Crower, 77, an auto-racing designer with a thriving business in San Diego, has invented a hybrid steam engine in which water is sprayed into a traditional gasoline-powered cylinder, turning waste heat into usable energy. How much energy? Enough to travel 40% farther on a gallon of gas.

Amazing, True Inventions

Never underestimate the power of the human mind to invent new and creative things. In this three part series, we’ll review some incredible inventions and discuss how one might best describe them in English.

company called Flavor Spray Diet has an Internet Web site called (naturally) www.flavorspraydiet.com.

What makes this company "different," is that they specialize in making sprays which actually smell and taste just like your favorite very fattening foods, only these sprays have no calories! This also means no cholesterol, and no chances of making you obese.

For example, if you prefer "bacon and eggs" with your glass of water while dieting, just reach for that bottle and spray it on whatever you like.

If you’re British, you can literally spray your entire English breakfast on you, fooling your colleagues into thinking that you actually know how to cook!

Flavor Sprays are available in many different, well, flavors: Parmesean cheese, peanut butter, pesto sauce, banana split, peanut brittle, smoked bacon and even birthday cake! How about some chocolate fudge spray? Yes, we’re not joking folks, this is all very real.

World famous gourmet chef David Burke invented these wonders, yes, America really does have some excellent world class cooks.

Anti-Teenager Repellent
For those of you who find teenagers to be "annoying," or just don’t want them "hanging around" like they’re prone to do, there’s actually a company in Wales, yes, WALES, which actually makes an anti-teenager repellent device!

Shown here above, this machine actually emits a special ultrasonic frequency which people only under the age of 25 can hear!

Next, this same inventor promises to market anti-teenager ring tones for cell phones.

Imagine being able to actually annoy your favorite teenager with whining noises using their favorite toy (their precious little cell phone) that only THEY can hear!

Isn’t technology wonderful, folks?

Source

Time best inventions 2006

Meet Peter. Peter is a 79-year-old English retiree. Back in WW II he served as a radar technician. He is now an international star.

One year ago, this would not have been possible, but the world has changed. In the past 12 months, thousands of ordinary people have become famous. Famous people have been embarrassed. Huge sums of money have changed hands. Lots and lots of Mentos have been dropped into Diet Coke. The rules are different now, and one website changed them: YouTube.

It's been an interesting year in technology. Nintendo invented a video game you control with a magic wand. A new kind of car traveled 3,145 miles on a single gallon of gas. A robot learned to ride a bike. Somebody came up with a nanofabric umbrella that doesn't stay wet. But only YouTube created a new way for millions of people to entertain, educate, shock, rock and grok one another on a scale we've never seen before. That's why it's Time's Invention of the Year for 2006.

But if YouTube is the Invention of the Year, who exactly invented it?

Let's be clear: we know who started it. That would be three twentysomething guys named Steve Chen, Chad Hurley and Jawed Karim. At a Silicon Valley dinner party one night in 2004 they started talking about how easy it was to share photos with your friends online but what a pain it was to do the same thing with video.

So they did something about it. They hacked together a simple routine for taking videos in any format and making them play in pretty much any Web browser on any computer. Then they built a kind of virtual video village, a website where people could post their own videos and watch and rate and comment on and search for and tag other people's videos. Voilˆ: YouTube.

But even though they built it, they didn't really understand it. They thought they'd built a useful tool for people to share their travel videos. They thought people might use it to pitch auction items on eBay. They had no idea. They had opened a portal into another dimension.

The minute people saw YouTube they did its creators a huge favor: they hijacked it. Instead of posting their home movies, they posted their stand-up routines and drunken ramblings and painful-looking snowboarding wipeouts. They uploaded their backyard science projects, their delivery-room footage and their interminable guitar solos. They sent in eyewitness footage from the aftermath in New Orleans and the war in Baghdad—from both sides. They promulgated conspiracy theories. They sat alone in their basements and poured their most intimate, embarrassing secrets into their webcams. YouTube had tapped into something that appears on no business plan: the lonely, pressurized, pent-up video subconscious of America. Having started with a single video of a trip to the zoo in April of last year, YouTube now airs 100 million videos—and its users add 70,000 more—every day.

What happened? YouTube's creators had stumbled onto the intersection of three revolutions. First, the revolution in video production made possible by cheap camcorders and easy-to-use video software. Second, the social revolution that pundits and analysts have dubbed Web 2.0. It's exemplified by sites like MySpace, Wikipedia, Flickr and Digg—hybrids that are useful Web tools but also thriving communities where people create and share information together. The more people use them, the better they work, and more people use them all the time—a kind of self-stoking mass collaboration that wouldn't have been possible without the Internet.

The third revolution is a cultural one. Consumers are impatient with the mainstream media. The idea of a top-down culture, in which talking heads spoon-feed passive spectators ideas about what's happening in the world, is over. People want unfiltered video from Iraq, Lebanon and Darfur—not from journalists who visit there but from soldiers who fight there and people who live and die there.

The videos may not be slick, but they're real—and anyway, slick is overrated. Slick is 2005. The yardstick on YouTube is authenticity. That's why celebrities like Paris Hilton and P. Diddy can compete with a cute sleepy kitty and a guy doing a robot dance—and lose. That's why Peter's crusty, good-natured reminiscences have made him the all-time second-most-subscribed-to uploader on YouTube. That's why Michael J. Fox let his Parkinson's tremors show. That's why politicians have suddenly started to act like real human beings in their campaign ads, and why some—like Senator George Allen of "Macacagate" fame—have been busted for getting a little too real.

Less than a year after its launch, YouTube has become a media giant in its own right. Last month the company moved out of its 30-person office above a pizzeria in San Mateo, Calif., and into an office building in nearby San Bruno. Oh, and on Oct. 16 Hurley and Chen sold the company to Google for $1.65 billion.

With that kind of money behind it, YouTube has to start conducting itself with a little more legal and financial gravitas. That means making money—mostly through advertising—and convincing the TV, movie and music executives who find copyrighted material on YouTube that it's a revenue opportunity and not grounds for litigation. The learning curve is still steep. "The people marketing content see it as a great new platform, but the legal side of the business doesn't know how to react," Hurley says. "We have instances where someone within the company uploaded something, and the other side's asking you to take it down."

But YouTube isn't Napster. It already has partnerships with NBC, CBS, Universal Music, Sony BMG and Warner Music. And come on—it's the one place on the Net where people willingly, knowingly click on ads, like Nike's legendary clip of sharpshooting soccer star Ronaldinho. If you can't find money on YouTube, you're in the wrong economy, buddy.

YouTube is ultimately more interesting as a community and a culture, however, than as a cash cow. It's the fulfillment of the promise that Web 1.0 made 15 years ago. The way blogs made regular folks into journalists, YouTube makes them into celebrities. The real challenge old media face isn't protecting their precious copyrighted material. It's figuring out what to do when the rest of us make something better. As Hurley puts it, "How do you stay relevant when people can entertain themselves?" He and his partners may have started YouTube, but the rest of us, in our basements and bedrooms, with our broadband and our webcams, invented it. (...)

AEROSOL SPRAY CAN

The forerunner of the aerosol can was invented by Erik Rotheim of Norway. On November 23, 1927, Rotheim patented a can with a valve and propellant systems - it could hold and dispense liquids.

The first aerosol can (a can than contains a propellant [a liquefied gas like flurocarbon] and has a spray nozzle) was invented in 1944 by Lyle David Goodloe and W.N. Sullivan. They were working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and were trying to find a way to spray and kill malaria carrying mosquitos during World War II for the soldiers overseas. The "clog-free" spray valve was invented by Robert H. Abplanal in 1953.

The first spray paint was invented by Edward H. Seymour in 1949. Seymour's wife Bonnie had given him the idea of an aerosol applicator for paint. The first spray paint he developed was aluminum colored. Seymour formed the company, Seymour of Sycamore, Inc. of Chicago, USA, which is still in operation.

Shopping Innovations

By Mary Bellis

The Mall
A shopping center, shopping mall, or shopping plaza, is the modern adaptation of the historical marketplace. The mall is a collection of independent retail stores, services, and a parking area, which is conceived, constructed, and maintained by a separate management firm as a unit. They may also contain restaurants, banks, theaters, professional offices, service stations etc.

The first shopping mall was the Country Club Plaza, founded by the J.C. Nichols Company and opened near Kansas City, Mo., in 1922. The first enclosed mall called Southdale opened in Edina, Minnesota (near Minneapolis) in 1956. In the 1980s, giant megamalls were developed. The West Edmonton Mall in Alberta, Canada, opened in 1981 - with more than 800 stores and a hotel, amusement park, miniature-golf course, church, "water park" for sunbathing and surfing, a zoo and a 438-foot-long lake.

shopping cart
Sylvan Goldman invented the first shopping cart in 1936. Sylvan owned a chain of Oklahoma City grocery stores called Standard/Piggly-Wiggly. He invented the first shopping cart by adding two wire basket and wheels to a folding chair. Goldman, together with mechanic Fred Young, later designed a dedicated shopping cart in 1947 and formed the Folding Carrier Co. to manufacture the carts.

In 1946, Orla Watson, of Kansas City, MO, invented the telescoping shopping cart. By using hinged baskets, each shopping cart fitted into the shopping cart ahead for compact storage. The telescoping shopping carts were first used at Floyd Day's Super Market in 1947.

Shopping Carts

Smart Cart
Silicon Valley inventor George Cokely - the same guy behind the Pet Rock - has come up with a modern solution to one of the supermarket industry's oldest problems: stolen shopping carts. It's called Stop Z-Cart. The wheel of the shopping cart hold the device which contains a chip and some electronics, when the cart is rolled over a certain distance away from the store, the shopping cart owners know about it.

Shopping Cart Bumpers with Advertising
Harold Evans patented (US patent #5,306,033) a shopping cart bumper system, a foam wrap-around unit that protects while providing valuable advertising space.

Automatic Doors
Horton Automatics developed and sold the first automatic sliding door in America in 1960. The company co-founders Dee Horton and Lew Hewitt invented the sliding automatic door in 1954. Their automatic doors used a mat actuator.

"The idea came to Lew Hewitt and Dee Horton to build an automatic sliding door back in the mid-1950's, when they saw that existing swing doors had difficulty operating in Corpus Christi's winds. So the two men went to work inventing an automatic sliding door that would circumvent the problem of high winds and their damaging effect. Horton Automatics Inc. was formed in 1960, placing the first commercial automatic sliding door on the market and literally establishing a brand-new industry." source

The Horton Family - Automated Entry
If Horton Automatics of Corpus Christi has its way, homes in the United States will begin installing sliding automatic doors, which company co-founders Dee Horton and Lew Hewitt invented in 1954. Their first door in operation was a unit donated to the City of Corpus Christi for its Shoreline Drive utilities department. The first one sold was installed at the old Driscoll Hotel for its Torch Restaurant.

Coupons
A Philadelphia pharmacist named Asa Candler invented the coupon in 1895. Candler bought the Coca-Cola company from the original inventor Dr. John Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist. Candler placed coupons in newspaper for a free Coke from any fountain - to help promote the new soft drink.
Bar Codes
The first patent for bar code (US Patent #2,612,994) was issued to inventors Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver on October 7, 1952.
Cash Register
In 1884, James Ritty invented what was nicknamed the "Incorruptible Cashier" or the first working, mechanical cash register.
Credit Cards and Money
Past, present and future, the history of money.

Mail Order Catalog
Aaron Montgomery Ward sent out his first mail order catalog in 1872 - for his Montgomery Ward mail order business located at Clark and Kinzie Streets in Chicago. The first catalog consisted of a single sheet of paper with a price list, 8 by 12 inches, showing the merchandise for sale with ordering instructions.

"Ward's gradually expanded the catalog. They became bigger, more heavily illustrated, chock full of goods-- often referred to as "dream books" by rural families."

Aaron Montgomery Ward was born on Feb. 17, 1844 and died on Dec. 7, 1913. He first worked for Marshall Field, a department store, as both a store clerk and a traveling salesman. As a traveling salesman, he realized that his rural customers could be better served by mail-order, a revolutionary idea. He started his business with only $2,400 in capital. Montgomery Ward was a mail-order only business until 1926, when the first Montgomery Ward retail store opened in Plymouth, Indiana.

1872 Montgomery Ward-First Mail-Order House
Catalog Image

Department Stores
According to Hoover's online, "Bloomingdale's was founded in 1872 by brothers Lyman and Joseph Bloomingdale, the store rode the popularity of the hoop skirt to sales success and practically invented the department store concept at the beginning of the 20th century. Bloomingdale's joined the Federated corporate family in 1930."

In 1877, John Wanamaker opened "The Grand Depot" a six story round department store in Philadelphia. According to Andrew Maykuth Online, "John Wanamaker never claimed to have invented the department store, but he was on the cutting edge of a trend. The retail giants of the day, Marshall Field in Chicago, Alexander T. Steward in New York, were discovering that the vast power of buying wholesale could cut costs to reduce retail prices." John Wanamaker is credited with developing one of the first (if not the first) true department stores in the country, and with creating the first White Sale, modern price tags, and the first in-store restaurant. He also pioneered the use of money-back guarantees and newspaper ads to advertise his retail goods.

rechargeble batteries

wave powered generator

Inventions: Wikipedia definition

An invention is an object, process, or technique which displays an element of novelty. An invention may sometimes be based on earlier developments, collaborations or ideas, and the process of invention requires at least the awareness that an existing concept or method can be modified or transformed into an invention. However, some inventions also represent a radical breakthrough in science or technology which extends the boundaries of human knowledge. Legal protection can sometimes be granted to an invention by way of a patent.
Over time, humanity has invented objects and methods for accomplishing tasks which fulfill some purpose in a new or different manner, usually with the objective of realizing that purpose in a faster, more efficient, easier or cheaper way.

Ideas as a starting point

Although a new or useful object or method may be developed to fulfill a specific purpose, the original idea may never be fully realised as a working invention, perhaps because the concept is in some way unrealistic or impractical.

A "castle in the air" or a "pie in the sky" (or "castles in Spain") may refer to a creative idea which does not reach fruition due to practical considerations. The history of invention is full of such castles, because inventions are not necessarily invented in the order that is most useful; for example, the design of the parachute was worked out before the invention of powered flight. Other inventions simply solve problems for which there is no economic incentive to provide a solution.

On the other hand, any barriers to implementation may simply be an issue of engineering or technology which can be overcome in time with scientific advances. History is also replete with examples of ideas which have taken some time to reach physical reality, as demonstrated by various ideas originally attributed to Leonardo da Vinci which are now expressed in everyday physical form.

Commercialization

Inventors may be inspired to invent through a desire to create something new or better, simple altruism, or for competitive or commercial reasons. An invention may also result from a combination of these motivating factors. Although many inventors may have in mind the commercialization of their product, very few will secure the funding and support often needed to develop and launch a product in the marketplace, and fewer still will experience lasting commercial success or the economic reward they may have expected. However, inventor associations and clubs and business incubators can be used to provide the mentoring, commercial skills and economic resources which private inventors may often lack. Entrepreneurship and an awareness of the demands of a changing marketplace are typical characteristics of successful inventors.

Most great inventors developed countless prototypes, changing their designs innumerable times. Today much emphasis is placed on research and development, prototyping and finding solutions.

Inventions are one of the chief examples of "positive externalities" (an economist's name for a beneficial side-effect that falls on those outside a transaction or activity). One of the central concepts of economics is that externalities should be internalized: unless some of the benefits of this positive externality can be captured by the parties, the parties will be under-rewarded for their inventions, and systematic under-rewarding will lead to under investment in activities that lead to inventions. One important economic effect of the patent system is to capture those positive externalities for the inventor (or the party that hired the inventor), so that the economy as a whole will invest a more-closely-optimum amount of resources in the process of invention.