The story of Hunley, the first Submarine
This is an interesting story. It is about the first submarine that ever sank a ship. On February 17th, 1864 during the American Civil War “The Hunley”, a Confederate submarine, sank the “USS Housatonic”. A date that started a new kind of warfare, one which over the next century caused havoc in two World Wars. […]
Why did the first horse drawn tram fail?
The first horse drawn tram ran along Victoria Street in London on rails. It was popular with its passengers, but not with officialdom, so inevitably it ran into trouble. It was the brainchild of an amazing American entrepreneur, George Francis Train. George organised the first clipper to sail around the Horne, was involved in setting […]
Where did Coca Cola come from?
It was invented by a morphine addict who was experimenting with various painkillers to help him live with the sabre wound he had sustained in the Civil War. Who was he? John Stith Pemberton was an American biochemist and Confederate States Army veteran who had fought in the American Civil War. He was wounded by sabre at the Battle […]
The story of the Humble Stamp
The man who came up with the adhesive stamp was given a knighthood, just because he thought of the stamp! It all goes back to “letter carriers”, they took letters around London and there were all sorts of delays and other problems. Therefore, in 1660 Charles II decided to solve the problem, he introduced the […]
The Tin Can’s journey from France to Bermondsey, England
Would you believe it, the tin can’s journey started in France! Napoleon’s Challenge! Napoleon was losing more troops from hunger and scurvy than in combat, he therefore offered a prize of 12,000 francs (£250,000 today) to anyone who could invent a method of preserving food for his armies. Coincidently, a Frenchman, Nicholas Appert, had for […]
Who invented the Wheel?
The wheel, something we take for advantage, it seems so logical, but somebody had to invented it. I imagine the idea of the wheel came the first time someone saw a rock roll down a hillside. The step that made the wheel useful was when someone came up with the idea of attaching it to […]
Did you know that Fax machines came before Telephones!
Did you anyone tell you that they had Fax Machines before there were telephones? This fascinating story that starts with Alexander Bain, who invented the Electric Clock, unfortunately he had no money, another example of an inventor who didn’t make money from his inventions! Desperate for money the editor of the Mechanics Magazine arranged for […]
It’s the greatest thing since sliced bread!
Otto Frederick Rohwedder, invented sliced bread and we are always telling people their idea is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Does that mean that Otto Frederick Rohwedder the greatest inventor? He was born in Davenport, Iowa, in 1880, from a German family and he lived there for most of his life, he even he […]
The history of Glasses
The picture above shows the first depiction of someone wearing glasses. That was in 1352, however, well before this, the Romans were using a glass tube of water as a magnifier to read books. Then in the Middle Ages it is said that monks used a glass full of water to magnify what they were […]
The birth of the printing press
Imagine a world without the printing press and no internet, how would we learn about things? An inventor was needed. That person was Johannes Gutenberg who in 1452 invented the printing press. So, was he the most famous inventor ever? Who was he and how did he invent the printing press? Well, he was […]