Interesting Facts

Louis Daguerre was the inventor of the first commercially successful form of photography. (After years of experimentation, he perfected Daguerreotype in 1839, the process involved exposing silver-coated copper plates to iodine, obtaining silver iodide. This was then exposed to light for a few minutes and coated with mercury vapour and fixed with salt water. The French government 'acquired' Daguerre’s patent and, in August of that year, announced that the invention was a gift “free to the world”, but don't worry, Daguerre didn’t need to make money from his invention as he was pensioned by the French government in exchange for sharing the details of the process.) PS - He has been honoured today with a Google Doodle to mark his 224th birthday.

The European Patent Office has 5,841 inventions related to toilet paper. (It probably even has loo paper for left handed people.  Now there's an idea!)

According to the BBC, every year the UK generates over 25,000 patents, trademarks, and design rights for new products and services. (The British Library is hosting an exhibition of the top 15 British inventions in the past 10 years, these are:- The Double Broom - A twin-headed broom invented by 5 year old Samuel Houghton after watching his dad struggle to sweep up leaves in his back garden. Karbon Kinetics Gocycle - An innovative folding electric bike which allows users to use the power assist for up to an hour without between charges - reaching speeds of up to 15 mph - or ride using old-fashioned pedal power for as long as their stamina permits. SeaRaser Wave Power Generator - A self cleaning, low maintenance wave energy device that exploits the energy of the sea's waves to pressurise water through a system of floating pistons to generate power. Creators Dartmouth Wave Energy Limited say 11,000 units could generate enough power for the whole of the UK and reduce energy bi...

Velcro was inspired by the burrs (seeds) of burdock that kept sticking to the inventor, George de Mestral's clothes and his dog's fur. (Originally people refused to take him, and the idea, seriously, but he ended up selling around 60 million yards (about 55,000 km) a year. Much more Velcro is made than that now, but it is no longer under patent. He took out the patent in 1955 and it ran out in 1978, unlike pop songs and books which seem to carry a copyright forever, somehow it seems unfair.)

Barbed wire was invented by Joseph Glidden. (He actually received the patent on this day in 1874. He created the barbs by using a coffee grinder. His invention forever changed the face of farming and by the time of his death in 1906, he was one of the richest men in America.)

1938 - Hungarian newspaper journalist Laszlo Biro with the help of his brother, a chemist, devised a pen tipped with a metal ball bearing that used capillary action to draw ink through the rotating ball. (Yes, it's the humble biro.)

A leading Israeli plastic surgeon has invented a new bra. (Nothing revolutionary you might think, but this one is placed under the skin; it used fine straps or "threads" that are attached to the ribs between the breast and the shoulder with a pair of titanium screws. Eeew!)

Mary Anderson, from Alabama in the Southern United States, invented the swinging arm windscreen wiper. (She patented her invention in 1905, and it became standard equipment by 1913. There was no electric motor and so the driver had to use one hand to move the lever, which nowadays would probably be illegal.)

In the last 12 years, IBM has received 29,021 patents - more than any other company or individual in the world. In 2005 alone they received 2,974 U.S. patents (IBM inventions and discoveries include the following: DRAM (dynamic random access memory) cells | Magnetic storage | The relational database | The RISC (reduced instruction set computer) chip architecture | Fractals | Superconductivity)

A Parisian metal smith named Laurens invented the first coffee percolator in around 1818 / 1819. (However James H. Mason, of Franklin Massachusetts was issued the first U.S. patent for the coffee percolator in 1865. I have never understood patent law.)

The first patent granted to a woman was in 1637. (Amye Everard became the first women in England to be granted a patent for her "preparation for a tincture of saffron". I think the patent has run out now, but you can never be too sure.)

In the early 1880s, two brothers, Henry and Frank Fleer invented chewing gum. (Of course it really started way, way back in time. Archeologists claim that prehistoric men and women chewed on lumps of tree resin for pure enjoyment. How primitive you say, but before WWII chewing gum was made from chicle, the sap of the sapodilla tree, a form of rubber that softens and hardens according to temperature. Henry and Frank Fleer began experimenting with this stuff and Henry Fleer just covered this tasteless rubber with a sugary white coating and named it "Chiclets. Nowadays the main ingredients in gum are sugar, gum base, corn syrup, softeners, flavouring and colouring. You see, we haven't come that far.)

Italians have developed a talking wine label, with a chip to tell drinkers about the vintage and what dishes it best accompanies. (Just as long as it doesn't tell me when I have drunk enough.)

During 1920, a Detroit policeman named William Potts constructed several red-yellow-green light signal systems. Some lights were mounted atop "traffic towers" manned by policemen; others were overhead suspension lamps remarkably similar in form to a Red Amber Green modern traffic light. (However, the first known signal device for regulating street traffic was installed in 1868 in London, at the intersection of George and Bridge Streets near the Houses of Parliament. Designed by railroad signal engineer JP Knight, it had two semaphore arms which, when extended horizontally, meant "stop"; and when drooped at a 45-degree angle, meant "caution." At night, red and green gas lights accompanied the "stop" and "caution" positions.)

Gaffer tape (aka Duct tape) was originally developed during World War II in 1942 as a waterproof sealing tape for ammunition casings. (It was invented by Permacel, then a division of Johnson & Johnson,it was originally called Duck Tape because it was waterproof - "Like water off a duck's back".)

Luther Crowell invented the paper bag in 1867. (I can't imagine anyone inventing a paper bag! I mean it's not exactly a Eureka moment, is it?)

The cigarette lighter was invented before the match. (The cigarette lighter was invented in 1816 by a German chemist named J.W. Dobereiner . Whilst matches were originally invented in 1826, by John Walker, but patented by a sneaky Samuel Jones who went on to produce matches called "Lucifers".) The Third Light Superstition There is a superstition about lighting 3 cigarettes from one match (or 1 one burning of a cigarette lighter). It started in WWI where the theory was that enemy snipers were drawn, at night time, to the flash of light of striking a match and lighting of the first cigarette, lighting the second cigarette allowed the sniper to get set and if a third was lit it gave time for the sniper to aim and to shoot. Even though the risk of being sniped by a German marksman has reduced considerably since 1918, it is still considered "bad luck" to do so.

Hans Lippershey invented the telescope in 1608. (Although he applied for a patent it was turned down, because it was felt that the device could not be kept a secret. Watch out Bill Gates!)

According to some theories the monkey wrench was invented by London born blacksmith Charles Moncke. ( A monkey wrench is a tool which has parts that can be moved to tighten or unfasten any size of nut and bolt, not to be confused with a spanner, which has a fixed size.  Allegedly it was called Moncke's wrench after the inventor.   Of course the Americans say it was invented by a certain Charles Moncky of Baltimore who  patented it in 1830. Unfortunately for this explanation, the term is British in origin and predates Moncky by some decades, in addition there are 17th Century examples of this tool which were probably manufactured in London.   Either way, a monkey wrench has nothing to do with monkeys, which is a bit disappointing really.)