Interesting Facts

Warren Herbert Frost, is the inventor of the first recognizable kazoo, a musical instrument that modifies the player's voice using a vibrating membrane. (He named the new musical instrument kazoo in his patent #270,543 issued on January 9, 1883. The modern, kazoo, which was also the first metal kazoo, was patented by George D. Smith of New York, on May 27, 1902. It sounds just like Apple and Samsung. Kazoo wars!) Source: Wikipedia

Etch A Sketch was invented by André Cassagnes. (Sadly the former electrical technician who developed this hugely popular toy in the 1950s, died in Paris today, 16th January, aged 86.)

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.

Franz Reichelt was an Austrian, who worked as a tailor in France, and tried to invent a parachute suit.  Unfortunately he's more famous for his death, than he is for his life. (Reichelt wanted to develop a suit for aviators that would convert into a parachute and allow them to survive a fall should they be forced to leave their aircraft.  He designed an overcoat that would convert into a parachute and repeatedly petitioned the Parisian Prefecture of Police for permission to conduct a test from the Eiffel Tower. He was finally granted permission to test his invention using dummies,  but when he arrived at the tower on February 4 1912, it was clear that he intended to make the jump himself.  He jumped from the first platform of the tower wearing his invention and the parachute failed to deploy. He crashed into the icy ground at the foot of the tower and was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Mary Kies was the first woman awarded a U.S. patent, for a technique of weaving straw with silk and thread. (She died penniless, in the great tradition of many inventors.)