Tag Archives: inventions

FACT: modern hair spray was made possible by the US Army

By Ryan | Published: August 8, 2009

Given the challenge of how to kill something that is too small to shoot, it was the US Army that invented the aerosol can to spray insecticide during World War II. The technology quickly spread, much to the chagrin of the ozone layer, being used for various applications. The first commercial hair spray popped up [...]

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FACT: electric cars were all the rage in america 100 years ago

By Ryan | Published: August 2, 2009

The big automobile news today is an announcement about the new Nissan LEAF, a fully electric car that is ready to go mass market in an affordable way. Reporters are calling it the dawning of the electric vehicle era. The fact is, it dawned 100 years ago, then was promptly stuffed in a dark closet. [...]

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FACT: Walt Disney caused garden gnomes to become tacky

By Ryan | Published: July 31, 2009

When the ceramic gnome was first created around 1840, it was something to be reckoned with. These works of art were as much as a metre tall, intricately carved, and found in the homes of the wealthiest folks. It was Sir, yes SIR Charles Isham who first brought them to England in 1849, and so [...]

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FACT: The first coin-operated vending machine was 2000 years ago

By Ryan | Published: July 26, 2009

Hero (or Heron) of Alexandria was the Da Vinci of his time, coming up with ideas for all sorts of inventions including a pneumatic steam-powered system that would open large temple doors when a fire was lit on the altar. (he had a flair for the dramatic, and created other sorts of “special effects” too) [...]

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FACT: the fork is a relative newcomer to the dining table

By Ryan | Published: July 23, 2009

The history of the fork is actually quite a journey. Here are the highlights… It was through the account of a visit to Italy in Thomas Coryat’s 1611 travelogue where the dining fork was introduced to British society. Oddly, he was mocked for it. He even got the nickname “Furcifer”. (Latin for fork-bearer) But, the [...]

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FACT: explosive TNT was originally invented to be a yellow dye

By Ryan | Published: July 20, 2009

You thought lead paint was bad… how about having your socks explode? Wile. E. Coyote’s favourite explosive was created in 1863 by Joseph Wilbrand in Germany. It was called Trinitrotoluene, which became a lot cooler when it got shortened to TNT. It was originally intended to be a mild-mannered dye to colour things yellow. It [...]

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FACT: The first ever computer virus infected Apple, and left poetry

By Ryan | Published: July 19, 2009

The first ever computer virus, created in 1982 and called “Elk Cloner” was written by a 15 year old in Pennsylvania. Rich Skrenta was a high school student who enjoyed loading secret programs onto any floppy disk he could find, but soon he figured out a smarter way to spread his digital pranks. He infected [...]

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