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Invention Trivia (Cont.)
Was Alexander Graham Bell's invention of the telephone inspired
by the hearing-impaired?
Alexander Graham Bell's mother and wife both were hearing-impaired.
Bell's grandfather was an authority on phonetics and defective speech,
while his father was a world-renowned teacher of elocution. These influences
led Bell to become a teacher of the deaf and to focus most of his intellectual
interests on ways to make life easier for the hearing impaired. Bell
taught elocution and his father's "Visual Speech" – a method of communicating
with the deaf. Bell always considered himself an advocate of the deaf.
In fact, Helen Keller dedicated her autobiography to him.
Bell's inventive endeavors were usually related to acoustics. The invention
of the telephone was based on Bell's work with his "harmonic telegraph."
Using his knowledge of harmonics, Bell theorized that – like a musical
chord – several messages could be sent over the same electrical wire
at the same time if they differed in pitch. This work later led to transmitting
voices over wire – the telephone.
For his invention of the telephone, the French government awarded Bell
the prestigious Volta Prize – an award given on only two other occasions.
Bell invested the prize money [in one of his own inventions] and later established the Volta
Bureau. Now known as the Alexander
Graham Bell Association for the Deaf, this institution has become
an important international center for information for the hearing impaired.
How long after the invention of canned food was the can opener invented?
Peter Durand invented canned food in 1813. There was one problem – Ezra
Warner didn't invent the can opener for another 45 years (1858). It's doubtful that the
shelf life was that long, so why the delay between the two? Well, people were just
following the directions on the can that read, "Cut round the top near the
edge with a chisel and hammer"!
What does the invention of White Out® have to do with "The Monkees"?
Bette Nesmith Graham invented "Mistake Out," the product that later
became White Out®. She also had a hand in creating the 60's rock band,
"The Monkees." After all, she is Michael Nesmiths's mom. Now we dare
you to use White Out® again without thinking "Hey, Hey, we're the
Monkees – We like to Monkey around"!
What was Benjamin Franklin's most important invention?
Benjamin Franklin's inventions and scientific experiments are well
documented. Cases could be made as to which was his most important.
Novelist Orson Scott Card proposed a somewhat different theory in his
book Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, the first book in a fictional history
set in early America. In it, a character known as Taleswapper recounts
a conversation between himself and Franklin, during which he asks Franklin
what he considers his most important invention. Franklin's fictional
answer? "Americans." According to the theory, Franklin created Americans
by helping people believe in the ideals that inspired American thoughts and actions.
How did a man's distaste for pets lead
him to create a million dollar fad?
In a conversation with friends, Gary Dahl related that he didn't care
for conventional pets like dogs and cats because they misbehaved and
made messes, so he kept a pet that caused none of these problems – The
Pet Rock. He and his friends got such a kick out of his idea that he
wrote a Pet Rock training manual, bought some specialty rocks and boxed
them up. His next stop was a gifts trade show where retail giant Neiman-Marcus
purchased 500 units. In 1975 and 1976, sales took off. Dahl eventually sold more
than a million units, but the fad quickly died out in 1977 since it was "so last year."
What effect has Tony Soprano had on inventors?
In an early episode of the HBO television series The Sopranos*, Tony
Soprano (played by James Gandolfini) rants at the dinner table that
Antonio Meucci is a prime example of how Italian-Americans "get no respect."
Tony's claim? That Meucci, an Italian-American, invented the telephone
long before Alexander Graham Bell. The humorous scene turned prophetic
on September 25, 2001, when the 107th Congress of the United States
of America passed House
Resolution 269 stating: "Whereas if Meucci had been able to pay the
$10 fee to maintain the caveat after 1874, no patent could have been issued to Bell: Now,
therefore, be it Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives
that the life and achievements of Antonio Meucci should be recognized,
and his work in the invention of the telephone should be acknowledged."
*Episode 8: "The Legend of Tennessee Maltisanti,"
written by Frank Renzuli and David Chase, Directred by Tim Van Patten;
all references to The Sopranos and its characters ©HBO productions
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