Posts Tagged Inventors

Abraham Lincoln created the model with his own hands out of wood. It is on display at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of American History.

President Abraham Lincoln was the only president to hold a patent.

Information & Photo via the National Museum of American History

“Whether you think that you can, or that you can’t, you are usually right.”

- Henry Ford

The Remington Model 1

Christopher Latham Sholes, a Milwaukee inventor, helped create the first practical typewriter. In early 1873, Sholes sold his portion of the typewriter for $12,000. E. Remington and Sons purchased the patent and produced the Remington Model 1, which went on sale in 1874.

Smithsonian Institution, Timelines of History, New York: Dorling Kindersley, 2011, 29.

Topsy the Elephant performing

Coney Island has been entertaining and delighting visitors since the 1880s. Among some of the amusements in the early years were domesticated elephants. One of the most famous Coney Island elephants was the six-ton, 10-foot-high Indian elephant by the name of Topsy. Topsy’s fame is not necessarily due to his rouge circus life, but rather, her execution in 1903.

Topsy with electrodes and copper-lined sandels attached.

Topsy the elephant’s owners decided that she was too much of a liability and a safety issue since she had killed three trainers within three years. In the years following her death, many have defended the elephant’s violent behaviors and stated they were due to the poor treatment she was given (as well as the treatment many early circus animals were received). One of the trainers Topsy killed was J. Fielding Blunt. Blunt, who was considered drunk at the time, tried to feed the animal a lit cigarette before she smashed him to death. 

Initially, Topsy was going to be hanged but the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals opposed this idea. Electrocution became the decided upon form of execution because it was believed to be more humane. The person who suggested the elephant be electrocuted? Thomas Edison. 

At that time, Edison was involved in a very public rivalry with George Westinghouse to prove that his direct current electrical system was superior to any of Westinghouse’s electrical inventions. Smithsonian.com compared the Edison and Westinghouse rivalry to that of Bill Gates and the late Steve Jobs.

Westinghouse (left) and Edison (right)

Edison agreed to handle Topsy’s execution mainly because he wanted the publicity that would come with it. The day of the execution was a cloudy January morning, with a crowd of over a thousand people. The New York Times called the entire event “a rather inglorious affair.” Topsy was fed cyanide-laced carrots to make the execution easier. Electrodes covered her body and she was fitted with copper-lined sandals before an AC current of 6,000 volts killed her quickly and quietly. Topsy was 28 years old.

Edison and his company used many animals in their electrocution experiments but Topsy was the largest. Wired.com summed up Edison’s experimentation with AC currents in the following way: “In the end, though, all Edison had to show for his efforts was a string of dead animals, including the unfortunate Topsy, and a current that quickly fell out of favor as AC demonstrated its superiority in less lethal ways to become the standard.”

In 1944, a fire surged through Luna Park (the part of Coney Island where Topsy spent her last years). The fire was called “Topsy’s Revenge.”

The Coney Island Museum honored Topsy with her own memorial sculpture on July 20, 2003.

Edison filmed Topsy’s execution and released the footage in late 1903. It is called Electrocuting an Elephant and can be found on YouTube. [Note: The video may be unsettling to some.]

Sources
Tom Vanderbilt, “City Lore; They Didn’t Forget,” New York Times, July 13, 2003.
“New York Honours Electrocuted Elephant,” BBC News,  July 21, 2003.
Tony Long, “Jan. 4, 1903: Edison Fries an Elephant to Prove His Point,” wired.com, January 4, 2008.
Gilbert King, “Edison vs. Westinghouse: A Shocking Rivalry,” Smithsonian.com, October 11, 2011.
LIFE

Mary had a little lamb and Thomas Edison

“Mary had a little lamb,” is perhaps the most popular children’s song. In 1830, Sarah Josepha Hale of Boston wrote this popular rhyme after hearing a story of a lamb following its young owner to school. It was published in the fall edition of Juvenile Miscellany, a children’s journal that Hale was editor of.

On November 20, 1877, Thomas Edison recorded the first words of human speech into his phonograph. Those first words were “Mary had a little lamb.”

Panati, Charles. Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things. New York: Harper & Row, 1987, 196.

[Photo]

Kies' invention boosted the hat industry

• Mary Anderson (1866-1953) received a patent on November 10, 1903 for her development of an earlier device that would later turn into windshield wipers.
• Madam C.J. Walker (1867-1919), was an African-American washer who up until the age of 37, worked for meager wages. She made her money through her discovery of a hair tonic that would help de-kink hair. Between her hair tonic and real estate ventures, Walker became a very wealthy woman.
• New York socialite, Mary Phelps (1891-1970) created the bra. It was patented in 1914 and the first version was made with two handkerchiefs.
• Gertrude B. Elion (1918-1999), was a biochemist who holds 45 patents in medicine that help fight illnesses such as leukemia and malaria. She also patented a medicine that suppresses the immune system for organ transplants. She was the first woman inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
• Stephanie Louise Kwolek (b.1923), a chemist is attributed to the development of Kevlar, commonly used in body armor equipment.

[Information: United States Patent and Trademark Office,  Female Inventors, Walker’s New York Times obituary and post’s photo.

Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin played a pivotal role in the founding of this country, but he was a lot more than just a figurehead for colonial revolution.

• His love of literature persuaded him to create the first public lending library in 1731.
• Fires were always a constant threat and possibility. Because of this, Franklin formed Pennsylvania’s first fire department in 1736 along with the Philadelphia Contributionship, the colonies’ first successful fire insurance company.
• Franklin became the first US Postmaster General in 1775 when the Second Continental Congress elected him.
• When writing, he has used both male and female pseudonyms such as Richard Saunders, Silence Dogood, Harry Meanwell, Alice Addertongue and Timothy Turnstone.
• He was considered the first American international celebrity, having visited 10 countries during his time as a diplomat.  
• Other inventions attributed to Franklin include the following: swimming fins, bifocal glasses, odometer and lightning rods.
• While Franklin was a strong patriot, his son (illegitimate) William was loyal to England. Scholars have stated that William even spied on his father and reported his activities to the royal crown.
• He also uttered the following popular quote:

“In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes”

[Information found at pbs.org, photo via America's Library]

Ferris Wheel, 1893

The original Ferris wheel was first displayed at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. Its inventor was George Washington Gale Ferris Jr., a Pittsburgh-based bridge-builder.

- It stood 265 feet tall.

- One revolution took 10 minutes.

- Each of the 36 seating compartments could carry 60 people for a maximum total of 2,160 passengers.

- The wheel weighed just over 2 million pounds.

- On November 22, 1893, three years after his invention debuted, Ferris Jr. died of tuberculosis.

[Photo and information via Hyde Park Historical Society newsletter]

Lincoln Logs

John Wright, the son of the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright, invented the Lincoln Logs in 1918. During a trip to Tokyo with his father, John got the idea of interlocking wooden beams from the design of the Imperial Hotel. By interlocking the beams it would allow the structure more stability and support.

The Imperial Hotel in Tokyo

- The original logs also came with instructions on how to build “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and President Lincoln’s log cabin.

- By the time the Lincoln Logs became popular, Wright had already sold the rights to the toy.

- The original logs were made from real wood, usually redwood.

- Unlike popular belief, President Lincoln was not the inspiration for the name. It was actually named after John’s father’s real middle name. Frank Lloyd Wright’s middle name was Lincoln but he changed it to Lloyd to honor his mother’s family when his father left the family.

[Photos - Lincoln Logs and The Imperial Hotel]