Today is both a palindrome and an ambigram! At least, in countries where the date is written day, month, year…
You can read it front to back, back to front, or upside down. Now ya know.
Tag Archives: Trivia
Illiterate? Read These Ads…
Once in a while I come across ads that hit my funny bone; Some are simply not thought through as far as double meanings are concerned, while others are just downright bizarre. My all-time favourite is the used tombstone: Just the fact of it begs questions, but the name nearly pulled a muscle in my side from my laughing so hard…
Filed under Images
Writing to Distraction!
If you’re a writer you know exactly what that title means. Working on a project usually requires research; I don’t know what I’d do without internet connection, honestly – I’m too busy to take a day and plough through the local library, and as my local library consists of 99.9% German books anyway it’s not very helpful for writing English novels. I have an extensive library here at home, and my research section is better equipped than the public library… but I digress. Sometimes distractions come at you from every side; I feel like those dogs in “Up”… Squirrel!
And that’s the point. Let’s say I go to YouTube for research: It’s a great place to find out how to do just about anything, from how to throw a keris dagger and the aerodynamic difference between the wavy and the straight blade; how to make a vase out of a plastic bottle; how to make yarn from plastic bags; how to make an emergency stove out of a coke can or a light bulb out of a PET bottle with water, and the list goes on and on and on and on. There are also hundreds of documentaries available on YouTube, from entertainment like the Horrible Histories series, to astronomy, science, history, you name it. But if you’re like me you are interested in all of the above; and like Pringles, it’s hard to watch just one. When I need a change of pace I also like to watch things on YouTube like the Actor’s Studio series, or talk show interviews (and we don’t have English-language television channels, which is actually fine by me – we use our television for sports programs and DVDs – but I digress. Again.). And YouTube is just one resource. I have dozens of links to glossaries, websites that specialize in various aspects of history, science, technology, historical fashions, linguistics, etymology or other areas of interest, reference and research.
An important rule in dealing with online information is to have it confirmed by legitimate sources before using it, for instance, as a basis for anything substantial in a novel or other work of literature. That rule has led me more than once to buying a book online. In researching for The Price of Freedom and Redemption, I was especially frustrated with online research in the area of accurate apparel: 1788 was a world of difference in England to 1790, as the French Revolution changed fashion sensibilities in England – people distanced themselves from France, and patriotic influences as well as English fashion designers and trend setters came into their own more because of the vacuum. But most online research that I came across either had the 18th century all lumped into one style, or “1700 to 1750” and “the latter half of the 18th century” which meant “French Revolution and thereafter” nine times out of ten. Dubious at best, that. Not even contemporary paintings are an accurate reference, as many of the “new middlings” had their clothing, and even background houses and gardens, “augmented” (read “upgraded”) for their paintings to add elegance to their new money. And often, when I search for “18th century” I come across sites that actually mean the 1800s (that is, the 19th century). My definitive source of information on that topic has become “The Dress of the People: Everyday Fashion in Eighteenth-Century England.”
So in trying to find one tiny little detail for fleshing out a scene, one can spend hours surfing, reading, searching, scanning and getting distracted by something else interesting along the way. Yesterday I spent hours trying to find online PDFs or text of any kind from actual October 1789 The Times (London) newspaper (I’d have been satisfied with any month of that year!), just to find out what topics were being written about in the newspaper at the time aside from the Revolution. What were the gossip columns writing about? What kind of advertisements were there? What were things considered newsworthy in that newspaper that year? So far, Research – zilch, Time Spent – 3+ hours. I looked at archives.com, Google images… nothing. If anyone knows a resource for that, please let me know!! (If you think it would be impossible to find such old bits and pieces online in the cyber age, think again; I’ve found all kinds of documents far older that have been digitalized; someone out there is interested in it besides me, and chances are, someone has uploaded it into cyberspace; it’s just a matter of finding it in the static of cutesy videos and brainless teenage selfies…)
It can be so easy, and so enticing, to “waste” hours researching. I try to follow two rules, and perhaps they’ll help you save time as well:
1) Set a time limit for research. When I need a break from the manuscript, but I don’t want to stray too far, I look at the clock and set myself one hour to find something on my research list.
2) Make that research list; as you’re writing, keep a list somewhere (I have an e-post-it on my desktop) of things you’ll need to research, and do it all at once or in organized chunks. It helps keep you focused on the manuscript, and makes the time you spend both on and off the actual script more efficient.
The Future in the Past
I love keeping up with the latest technologies, scientific developments, astronomical discoveries and the like; it informs my novel-writing and plot development. But what did our present look like in the past (if one could say that)? What did past generations look forward and envision for our time? How much of it was humorously inaccurate, and how much of it could be inspiration still? For a glimpse into the minds of the past, click on the photo below.
60 Uncommon Things Men Find Attractive About Women
Here’s a list that proves attraction is just weird, and that beauty really is in the eye of the beholder! I find this interesting especially because of the possibilities for finding that quirky element for building fictional characters. Enjoy, and be inspired to write depth and breadth! Click on the image below to view the article:
Filed under Lists
A great resource: The King of Random
If you’re a writer like me, you like keeping your eyes and ears open for interesting websites, information, random bits that can inspire and inform your writing. I just came across a great little gem on You Tube, the channel of Grant Thompson, the King of Random. He has, well, random videos, including scientific experiments, life-hacks, how-tos and a lot more. Need to know how to make fire with water? Check. Need to know how to fold a napkin to look like a shirt, or flower, or boat? Check? How to cut an apple to look like a swan? Check. Check him out by clicking on the photo below!
5 Inspiring Gadgets
Once in a while I like to go surfing… internet, that is. I like to search for inspiring images, whether people, architecture, Hi-Tech, transportation, or whatever floats my boat. I come across them through a wide range of sites, and I’ve collected them for so long that I have no idea where some of them are from, but I hope that they will inspire you to go surfing, and find them on the original sites, read the articles, and be amazed, awed, or just dumb-founded. So without further ado, here are a few gadgets:
1: Airless tires. How cool is that?!
2: Blood-powered tattoo display. It’s perhaps just a matter of time. I wonder what all of those people will do who are already covered with tattoos? “Oops, lost the phone again… I know it’s on my arm somewhere…”
3: Insect Spy Drone. Whether or not it’s really in production by the US government, it’s either a frightening thought, or inspiring for Sci-Fi writers… either way, feel free to swat mosquitoes, even if they’re multi-million dollar ones.
4: The Skin Gun was developed by Jörg C. Gerlach and colleagues at Stem Cell Systems GmbH in Berlin. It replicates the healthy skin of burn victims, injecting it straight onto the burn area to grow new skin, avoiding skin-graft rejections.
5: Duluth, GA-based global systems integrations firm Polytron – transparent cell phone. I know a lot of teenagers who already have enough trouble keeping track of where they saw their phone last. Now make it invisible… that’s either a fun prank, or just mean. Either way, it’s cool.
Filed under Nuts & Bolts, Research
Accidental Discoveries in History: HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS
Household Inventions
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
Marcel Proust
Most inventions are the results of exploration, experimentation, blood, sweat and tears, and lots of sleepless nights. But there are some moments of serendipity, those “Hmm. That’s strange…” discoveries that are not lightly tossed aside but seen for their potential. It’s taking the lemons life has thrown their way, tossing in a wet rag and a few copper and zinc coins, and coming up with a battery.
Here’s a line-up of a few of those wet rag-tossers of household products:
Teflon
Who: Roy Plunkett, young chemist for DuPont.
When: 1938
Why: He was trying to make a new kind of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), the hot new thing in refrigeration science. He filled a pressurized gas can with a concoction of TFE gas and hydrochloric acid (don’t try this at home, kids); he cooled it and put it away until he was ready to use it. When he opened the canister, it was empty except for strange, slippery white flakes at the bottom; it turned out to be resistant to extreme heat, and chemicals. It was first used by the military in the Manhattan Project, and then the automotive industry. Nearly 30 years later it had finally come home, literally: Non-stick cookware.
The Microwave
Who: Percy Spencer, American Engineer on a snack break.
When: 1945
Why: His snack break put him in the wrong place at the right time. He was a leading scientist during World War II, and at work in the Raytheon company labs, he was inspecting a magnetron and noticed that the chocolate bar in his pocket melted. I’m sure his wife appreciated that more fully when she next did laundry. Others had noticed that phenomenon but hadn’t investigated any further; but it got Percy thinking, and after a few more experiments (and yes, popcorn and exploding eggs were involved), the first microwave oven was born. But like early computers, it was big and impractical for home use. By 1967 more compact versions began invading American homes, and the rest is history.
Velcro
Who: Georges de Mestral, Swiss Engineer on a hike.
When: 1948
Why: Out with his dog on a hiking trip in 1941, he noticed burrs clinging to his trousers and his dog’s fur; on closer inspection he saw that the burr’s hooks clung to anything loop-shaped. But even after he’d perfected his invention (named Velcro as a combination of the French terms velours, “velvet,” and “crochet”), it took years for it to… well, stick. It was not fashionable-looking enough for the fashion industry to take seriously; its first big break was for the aerospace program for spacesuits, and then eventually skiers saw a similarity in potential on skiing outfits, and it stuck from then on out. And now kids don’t know what to do with shoe laces.
Silly Putty
Who: James Wright, General Electric Scientist
When: 1943
Why: For the war effort, he was working on a cheaper alternative to rubber when he mixed boric acid and silicon oil (which one does, obviously). It didn’t work as rubber, but they had a blast stretching and bouncing it, and the silly idea for putty was discovered. And lucrative.
Slinky
Who: Richard James, Naval Engineer
When: 1943; on shelves since November 1945.
Why: During World War II, Richard James was working on the development of fine springs to keep ships’ sensitive instruments from bouncing around on rough seas. He accidentally knocked one off of the desk, and watched as it “stepped” over a few obstacles and ended by righting and recoiling itself on the floor. By experimenting to find the right steel, he set up a company, along with his wife; it only hit success after setting up a demonstration on an inclined plane in the Gimbles Department Store in Philadelphia; they sold their entire stock of 400 within 90 minutes, and the rest is history.
Play Doh
Who: Noah McVicker’s nephew, Joe McViker
When: 1930s as its original purpose; reinvented as a modelling clay in the late 1940s.
Why: Originally invented by Noah McViker as a wallpaper cleaner at a time when most homes burned coal, making it necessary to clean regularly; but after the war America switched to natural gas heating, and the company faced bankruptcy. Joe McViker discovered that children were using the substance to make Christmas ornaments, and he got the bright idea to re-market it as modelling clay.
Post-it notes
Who: Dr. Spencer Silver, working in the 3M research laboratories.
When: 1968
Why: Trying to invent a super-strong adhesive, he failed, but tried unsuccessfully for five years to promote it within the company as “low-tack,” reusable pressure-sensitive adhesive. In 1974 Art Fry, his colleague, got the idea to use it in his hymnbook, and then began developing the concept, releasing it in 1977-78. The original yellow colour was simply because the lab next door to the Post-It team only had yellow scrap paper to try it on.
Cellophane
Who: Jacques Brandenberger, Swiss Textile Engineer.
When: Inspiration – 1900; Product release – 1908
Why: Seated in a restaurant, he noticed a customer spill a bottle of wine onto the tablecloth. Convinced he could discover a way to apply a clear, waterproofing film to such a tablecloth, he began to experiment, eventually applying liquid viscose to the cloth. But the cloth became too stiff and brittle, and the experiment failed. Or did it? He noticed that the coating peeled off in a transparent film that might actually have other uses. By 1908 he’d developed a machine to produce sheets of the stuff, and marketed it as Cellophane.
Band-Aids
Who: Earle Dickson, American cotton buyer for the Johnson & Johnson company.
When: 1921
Why: His wife Josephine was always cutting herself in the kitchen while preparing food. He noticed that the present solution, gauze wrapped until adhesive tape, soon fell off her active fingers; he decided to invent something that would stay in place and protect minor wounds better. He took a piece of gauze, stuck it in the centre of a piece of tape, and then covered it with crinoline to keep it sterile. His boss James Johnson saw the invention and, to his credit, not only manufactured the product for the public but made Earle Dickson Vice-President.
Superglue
Who: Harry Coover, a chemist at Eastman Kodak during World War II.
When: 1942
Why: Head of a team trying to find a clear plastic to use to make transparent gun sights, one of their unsuccessful attempts stuck to everything it touched; the chemical compound of cyanoacrylate was discovered, and promptly disregarded as a failure. In 1951 he rediscovered it and this time recognized the commercial value of it, and it went to market in 1958.
Matches
Who: John Walker, British pharmacist.
When: 1826
Why: While stirring a mix of chemicals with a stick, he noticed a dried lump on the end of the stick, and tried to scrape it off. Spark and flame. He recognized the significance, and marketed the first matches as “Friction Lights,” selling them at his pharmacy, making the first sticks out of cardboard but soon replacing them with 3-inch long, hand-cut wooden splints, packaged in a box with a piece of sandpaper for striking. Unwisely, he decided not to patent his invention because he considered it a benefit to mankind; thus it didn’t take long for others to rip off his idea and take over the market, leading him to stop his own production.
Safety glass
Who: Édouard Bénédictus, French artist and chemist.
When: 1909
Why: In his lab he once dropped a glass flask; it broke but didn’t shatter, and he realized that the interior was coated with plastic cellulose nitrate, holding the broken pieces together. Shattering glass was, until that moment, one of the biggest dangers in a car accident. And it remained a danger, as manufacturers rejected his idea to keep their own costs down. But his glass coating became standard issue for gas mask lenses in World War 1; with its success on the battlefield, the automobile industry finally caved in to the demand for safety and by the 1930s most cars were fitted with glass that didn’t shatter upon impact.
Vaseline
Who: Robert Chesebrough, oilfield worker.
When: 1859
Why: Working on an oilfield in Pennsylvania, he noticed that the oil workers complained about something they called “Rod wax” forming on and gumming up their drilling equipment; the only redeeming factor as far as they were concerned was that it seemed to speed up the healing of small cuts and burns. Interested, he took a sample back to his lab in Brooklyn. Eventually he was able to isolate the substance from ordinary petroleum, and began wounding himself to test it; it worked wonders. The name Vaseline comes from “Wasser” (German for water) and Elaion (Greek for oil).
Blue Jeans
Who: Jacob Davis (-Youphes)
When: ca. 1869
Why: In 1868, Latvian immigrant Jacob Youphes moved his tailor shop from New York City and Maine to Reno, Nevada, and began making, among other things, tents and horse blankets from sturdy cotton fabric, with rivets for added strength. In the late 1870s a woman asked him for a pair of cheap trousers for a large husband who had the habit of going through trousers rather quickly. He decided to try his hand at trousers made from the material (which he’d been buying through a dry goods salesman, Levi Strauss, in San Francisco); when they were a success, he wrote to Strauss and suggested they partner on a patent. Since Davis’ name did not appear on the actual product, his connection is little-known, Levi Strauss more often than not being credited with the innovation.
The cloths we know as denim and jeans has a long pedigree: Jeans material was first created in Genoa, Italy; their sailors used it to protect their goods from the weather, and the cloth was exported throughout Europe. In the French city of Nimes they attempted to reproduce the fabric they got from Gênes (the French name for Genoa), but instead discovered a different twill, which became known as Denim (literally, “de Nimes”, of Nimes).
Nylon
Who: Wallace Carothers, Julian Hill, and other researchers for the DuPont Company
When: 1930
Why: They were studying chains of molecules called polymers in an attempt to find a substitute for silk; pulling a heated rod from a beaker containing alcohol- and carbon-based molecules, the mixture stretched and, at room temperature, had a silky texture. This work culminated in the production of nylon marking the beginning of a new era in synthetic fibres.
Modern Dry-Cleaning
Who: Jean-Baptiste Jolly
When: Mid-19th century
Why: From ancient times, Romans used ammonia (obtained from urine) with Fuller’s earth to clean their clothes; so glad times have changed. Early modern dry-cleaning was discovered by the French dye-works owner, Jean-Baptiste Jolly in the mid-19th century, when his maid spilled kerosene onto a tablecloth. The next day it was clean, and from this idea was born the idea for cleaning people’s clothes as a business.
WD-40
Who: Norm Larsen, founder of the Rocket Chemical Company, in San Diego, California.
When: 1953; commercially available in 1958.
Why: Mr. Larsen set out to find a formula to prevent corrosion on nuclear missiles; the 40th attempt at Water Displacement, primarily composed of hydrocarbons, was successful. Since then fans of the product have found over 2,000 uses for it, which can be viewed here. The product is not patented to avoid revealing the exact contents, so no one knows exactly what it is made of.
Accidental Discoveries in History: SCIENCE / TECHNOLOGY
Accidental Discoveries
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” (On inventing the light bulb)
Thomas A. Edison
Most inventions are the results of exploration, experimentation, blood, sweat and tears, and lots of sleepless nights. But there are some moments of serendipity, those “Hmm. That’s strange…” discoveries that are not lightly tossed aside but seen for their potential. It’s taking the lemons life has thrown their way, tossing in a wet rag and a few copper and zinc coins, and coming up with a battery.
Here’s a line-up of a few of those wet rag-tossers of science and technological discoveries:
Radioactivity
Who: Henri Becquerel, French physicist and Nobel laureate.
When: 1896
Why: A bad spate of cloudy days. He’d been working with naturally fluorescent minerals (in this case a uranium rock), to see if they’d produce x-rays if left out in the sun. It was winter, and when a week of clouds moved in he wrapped up his equipment and stuck it in a drawer to wait for a sunny day. You really don’t want to hear, “Oops” and “radioactive” in the same sentence, but that’s what he eventually realised he’d discovered: When he came back to his bundle, he found that the rock had imprinted itself onto the x-ray plate without having been exposed to sunlight. Marie & Pierre Curie eventually put a name to the “oops.”
Plastic
Who: Leo Hendrik Baekeland, Belgian chemist with more than 50 patents to his name.
When: 1907
Why: He was actually looking for a substitute for shellac, which was expensive and made from Asian beetles. His experiments produced a mouldable material that could withstand high temperatures without distorting, and he called it “Bakelite.” It soon became clear that it had countless uses, and now we wonder what on earth some things were made out of before he came along.
Vulcanized Rubber
Who: Charles Goodyear
When: 1839
Why: He’d spend years trying to find ways to make rubber easier to work with, while still being resistant to heat and cold. One day he accidentally spilled a mixture of rubber, sulphur and lead onto a hot stove (I hate it when that happens). In this case charred on the stove turned out to be a good thing, because it wasn’t ruined – it was vulcanized rubber. Unfortunately, like many inventors, he wasn’t very good with money; he died $200,000 in debt. He didn’t even live to see the famous company named after him, as it took his name nearly 40 years after his death.
Smart Dust
Who: Jamie Link, Chemistry graduate working on her doctorate at the University of Californian, San Diego.
When: 2003
Why: One of the silicon chips she was working on burst; but she discovered that the tiny bits still functions as sensors. Among other things, they can be used to monitor the purity in water, detect airborne biological hazards, and even locate tumour cells in the human body. In this case, homework blowing up in her face wasn’t a bad thing.
The Big Bang
Who: Robert Wilson and Arno Penzias, radio astronomers
When: 1964
Why: While working with the Holmdel antenna in New Jersey, they noticed a confusing background noise. After eliminating the obvious and the not-so obvious, they realized that it must be cosmic microwave radiation leftovers from a universe-forming explosion (that’s just what I thought). Oddly enough, just 37 miles up the road, Robert Dicke and his team had also been working on the theory (which had been around for decades, by the way) and searching for that background noise; when he heard of their discovery his comment was, “Well boys, we’ve been scooped.” He wasn’t the one that won the Nobel Prize. Incidentally, the term “Big Bang” was coined during a 1949 radio broadcast to highlight the difference between the two scientific models of “steady state” and “expanding state” cosmology.
Dynamite
Who: Alfred Nobel, Swedish Chemist and Engineer. Yes, the same one the Nobel Peace Prize is named after.
When: 1867
Why: Trying (and failing several times) to stabilize Nitro-glycerine, an explosive liquid. In 1864 his own brother and several others were killed in an explosion in Stockholm, and some think it pushed him even more to find a way to transport it safely. Once while transporting the substance, he noticed that one of the cans leaked into the packing material, a sedimentary rock called Kieselguhr. He explored the possibility of the mixture as a stabilizer, and patented his discovery as Dynamite. It revolutionized building and mining, saving untold lives from accidental explosions.
Text messaging
Who: Developed in the Franco-German GSM cooperation in 1984 by Friedhelm Hillebrand and Bernard Ghillebaert.
When: 1984
Why: Originally written into technical standard specs for mobile phones across Europe, the script enabled telecom engineers testing the system to send short messages back and forth between themselves to help manage the networks; but consumers got wind of that “Short Message Service” (SMS), and have been digressing in spelling and syntax ever since.
Stainless Steel
Who: Harry Brearly, English metallurgist for an arms manufacturer.
When: 1912
Why: Given the task to develop a non-rusty gun barrel, Harry began testing his creation with various corrosives, including lemon juice; he realized that it would be great for cutlery (not to mention thousands of other uses that have since been discovered). But really, he owes credit to a Frenchman from 1821, who first recognized the iron chromium alloys’ resistance to corrosion; at the time however, the manufacturing of it was not within their technical grasp.
Modern Fingerprinting
Who: Researchers at the US Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory in Japan.
When: 1982
Why: They had cracked a fish tank, and patched it together again with superglue (cyanoacrylate). They noticed that the fumes from the glue had condensed on oils in fingerprints on the glass, making them clearly visible. It is now an important tool in forensic science.
Fireworks
Who: A Chinese cook, according to legend
When: 2,000 years ago.
Why: They were accidentally invented by a cook who mixed together charcoal, sulfur, and saltpeter — all items commonly found in kitchens in those days apparently. The mixture burned and when compressed in a bamboo tube, exploded. I wonder if he survived to tell the tale.
Phonograph
Who: Thomas Edison, credited with the first successful phonograph that both recorded and reproduced sound.
When: 1877
Why: There were several men in the throes of developing devices similar to a phonograph, but had either not been successful, had limited success, or had not even made it past the basic concept phase. In the summer of 1877 Thomas Edison was tinkering with a paper cylinder and a piece of tinfoil that would record telegraph signals; his was not an accidental invention as much as it was an educated – very educated – guess of trial and error. He knew the principles of various concepts, and put them together like puzzle pieces until he got the results he felt could be possible – recording and playing back the human voice. Think how amazed he would be to know we don’t even need such devices anymore, it a completely digital age… we use satellites in space to chat half way around the world, real-time.
Ink Jet Printer
Who: Ichiro Endo, Engineer at Canon.
When: August 1957
Why: The Canon engineer discovered the principle, as the story goes, when he set a hot soldering iron next to his pen; it reacted by spitting out ink just moments later, and the principle behind the ink jet printer was born.
Gun Powder
Who: Chinese alchemists
When: 9th century
Why: Ironically, they were trying to create an elixir of immortality; we can only assume that the discoverers failed; let us hope their first attempt didn’t turn out to be their last. Ingredients are saltpetre (potassium nitrate), sulphur, realgar (arsenic sulphide). The first use of gunpowder was in Chinese fireworks; but typically human, it didn’t take long for a good thing to be abused and shortly thereafter it was being used in crude cannons and exploding weapons. ‘Fire rockets’ were made by capping bamboo reeds, filling them with gunpowder and bits of metal, and then lit and shot from a bow; you could say that they were the first solid-fuel rockets.
Phosphorous
Who: Henning Brand, German scientist
When: 1669
Why: For some odd reason, Brand decided to store 50 buckets of his urine in his cellar for a few months in the hopes that they might turn into buckets of gold. It may seem odd to us; but urine has long been used in manufacturing; it was used to wash hair before shampoos were invented, and was used in various products, including clothing dyes, during the Industrial Revolution. Strangely it didn’t work; but after letting the urine stand until it was purified, he then boiled down the liquid until he was left with a paste. He then heated this paste to very high temperatures and ended up with phosphorus. Of course. That’s what you do with that much urine, apparently.
Accidental Discoveries in History: FOOD
WikiCells – Edible wrapping coming soon!
“What this power is I cannot say; all I know is that it exists and it becomes available only when a man is in that state of mind in which he knows exactly what he wants and is fully determined not to quit until he finds it.”
Alexander Graham Bell
Most inventions are the results of exploration, experimentation, blood, sweat and tears, and lots of sleepless nights. But there are some moments of serendipity, those “Hmm. That’s strange…” discoveries that are not lightly tossed aside but seen for their potential. It’s taking the lemons life has thrown their way, tossing in a wet rag and a few copper and zinc coins, and coming up with a battery.
Here’s a line-up of a few of those wet rag-tossers of edible discoveries:
Coke
Who: John Pemberton, pharmacist, Colonel of the Confederate Army wounded in the Battle of Columbus, Georgia.
When: 1886
Why: Like so many wounded war veterans of his time, he had become addicted to morphine to handle the pain. Being a pharmacist, he wanted to find a cure for the addiction. Inadvertently, he ended up inventing what has became another addiction for untold millions: Coca-Cola. And like many elixirs of the time, his was touted as “a valuable brain tonic” that would relieve exhaustion, calm nerves and cure headaches. But sadly, Pemberton died two years later and never saw his medicinal mixture give birth to the soft drink empire.
Saccharin
Who: Constantin Fahlberg, unhygienic chemist.
When: 1879
Why: He’d been trying to find ways to use coal tar; he went home for dinner, and noticed that his wife’s bread rolls were unusually sweet; no, she hadn’t changed her recipe – he just hadn’t washed his hands before eating. He went back to his lab and taste-tested until he found the sweet source. That’s just gross.
Cornflakes Cereal
Who: William Keith Kellogg, assisting his brother, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, the superintendent of The Battle Creek Sanatarium in Michigan.
When: 1895
Why: One day while making bread dough with boiled wheat, he left it sitting while he helped his brother and when he returned to roll out the dough, it came out flaky. He decided to bake it anyway, creating a crunchy and flaky snack. It was a huge hit with the patients, and so he set out to manufacture it on a larger, and more intentional, scale. He switched to using corn and launched the “Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flakes Company” in 1906; eventually he realized that his name was more catchy.
Brandy
Who: An intrepid soul.
When: Around the 12th Century
Why: Concentrated alcoholic beverages have been around probably as long as alcohol has been transported; by evaporating the water from wine, it was more stable for transportation, and then reconstituted at the other end. At some point someone decided to skip the rehydration phase and just go for it, and brandy (“burnt wine” – in the distillation process, a portion was lit to test the purity) was born.
Potato chips
Who: George Crum, Chef in Saratoga Springs, New York.
When: 1853
Why: The usual story says that he was trying to please an unhappy, picky customer; after several complaints that the potato was not thin enough or cooked enough, he sliced them paper-thin and fried them to a crisp. The customer loved them, and the name “Saratoga Chips” persisted until the mid-20th century.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Who: Mrs. Ruth Graves Wakefield, owner of the Toll House Inn, in Whitman, Massachusetts.
When: 1930
Why: While making cookies one day, she ran out of regular baker’s chocolate and substituted broken pieces of semi-sweet chocolate, thinking they would melt into the batter. They didn’t, and chocolate chips were born. She sold the recipe to Nestle in exchange for a lifetime supply of chocolate chips (rather than patenting it and making millions!). Every bag of Nestle chocolate chips in America has a variation of her original recipe printed on the packaging.
Popsicles
Who: Frank Epperson, 11 years old at the time, of Oakland, California.
When: 1905
Why: He left a mixture of powdered soda and water out on the porch, which happened to have a stir stick in it; that night the temperatures reached a record low, and the next morning he discovered his frozen fruit-flavoured drink; the “Epsicle” was born. 18 years later he patented that little Eureka moment, and the Popsicle became intentional.
Chewing Gum
Who: Thomas Adams
When: 1870
Why: Chewing gum has actually been around for over 5,000 years; Neolithic tribes used various tree saps, and the Aztecs used chicle as a basis for a gum-like substance. But they didn’t patent it and market it. So along came Thomas Adams: Given a supply of chicle from Mexico, his original intention was to use it as a rubber substitute; it failed in that capacity, but instead he cut it into strips and marketed it as “Adams New York Chewing Gum” in 1871, becoming the first mass-produced chewing gum in the world.
Ice Cream Cones
Who: The modern, mechanized version: Frederick Bruckman, 1912
When: 1912
Why: Edible cones, made from little waffles rolled, were mentioned in French cooking books as early as 1825. Several Americans vie for the title of “Creator of the modern ice cream cone,” but all seem to appear around the same time, the 1904 World’s Fair and shortly thereafter, which tells me someone got the idea from someone, tried to patent it (unsuccessfully) and everyone else jumped on the idea claiming first dibs. But as far as history goes, it’s no new idea – just necessity being the mother of invention. Frederick Bruckman is credited with the modern ice cream cone, as he invented a machine for rolling them.
Champagne
Who: Ah. Now that’s a simple question with a thorny answer. Not a French Benedictine Monk (Dom Pérignon); in reality, he did everything he could to make the wine less sparkly because it kept exploding in his winery. In actual fact it was the English who recognized the added value of bubbly wine, exploding bottles and all. The first to recognize the process, document it, and enjoy it, was Christopher Merret, English scientist.
When: 1662
Why: Merret “was born in Gloucestershire in either 1614 or 1615 (the Champagne seems to have clouded his memory), studied at Oxford (a notorious training ground for heavy drinkers), and in 1661 translated and expanded an Italian treatise on bottle manufacture. It seems to be this that drew his attention to the question of exploding Champagne, because the following year he published a paper entitled ‘Some Observations Concerning the Ordering of Wines’. In this, he tried to explain why wine became bubbly, and identified the second fermentation in the bottle as the main cause. He also described adding sugar or molasses to wine to bring on this second fermentation deliberately. Sparkliness was a positive thing, Merret said, and could be produced in any wine, particularly now that England was making bottles that were capable of holding in the bubbles. Thus, while Dom Pérignon was trying to do away with the fizz, the Brits wanted more.” [1000 Years of Annoying the French (pp. 179-180). Random House UK. Kindle Edition.]
Sandwiches
Who: Just about everyone except John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, an 18th-century English aristocrat.
When: from the 18th century known as a “sandwich;” from antiquity and various cultures from before history began to be recorded.
Why: In the 1700s, the Earl of Sandwich was often too busy to sit down for a proper meal, so he had his servants bring his meat placed between slices of bread to avoid greasy fingers from handling the meat directly. People began asking for “the same as Sandwich.” Throughout Asia, Africa, and South America, flatbread has long been used to scoop food from plate to mouth (as cutlery had not yet been invented, or was not widespread). Those aristocrats could have very easily asked for “the same as savages,” and we would thus be eating savages today. Cannibalistic, if you ask me…
Liquorice Allsorts
Who: Charlie Thompson, a sales representative of Geo. Bassett & Co.
When: 1899
Why: Charlie supposedly dropped a tray of samples he was showing a client in Leicester, mixing up the various sweets. He scrambled to re-arrange them, and the client loved the bright mix of colours and shapes, and Allsorts hit the shelves soon after.
Crepe Suzette
Who: Disputed; reputed to be fourteen year-old assistant waiter Henri Charpentier, at the Maitre at Monte Carlo’s Café de Paris.
When: 1895
Why: Preparing desert for the English Prince of Wales (future King Edward VII), Henri accidentally caught the cordial of the crepe on fire. Rather than start over he tasted it and thought it delicious, so he served it; the Prince asked for the dish to be named for one of his companions, Suzette (as Crepe in French is feminine, rather than masculine).
Worcestershire sauce
Who: John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins, British chemists.
When: 1837
Why: The story goes that someone asked them to attempt a recipe for curry powder; they tried, and made it liquid; it was far too strong to be palatable, so they put it in a cellar barrel for a few years. Looking to make space, they were going to dispense with the offensive product, but tried it again and found that it had fermented and become milder, and actually quite good thank you. They began to market it, and it became a success.
Kool-Aid
Who: Edwin Perkins, innovator and entrepreneur, Hastings, Nebraska.
When: 1927
Why: Perkins’ father opened a general store in town where the boy was introduced to new and exciting food products such as Jell-O. One of the company’s offerings that proved most popular was a concentrated drink mix called Fruit Smack, which came in six flavours. A four-ounce bottle made enough for an entire family to enjoy at an affordable price. But shipping the bottles of syrup was costly and breakage was becoming a problem. In 1927 this prompted him to develop a method of removing the liquid from Fruit Smack so the residual powder could be re-packaged in envelopes; consumers would then only have to add water to enjoy the drink at home. Perkins designed and printed envelopes with a new name —Kool Ade —to package the powder with (later this spelling would change to “Kool-Aid”). Because the packets were lightweight, shipping costs dropped; Perkins sold each Kool-Aid packet for a dime, wholesale by mail at first, to grocery, candy and other stores. By 1929, Kool-Aid was a nation-wide product.
Life Savers Candy
Who: Clarence Crane (Cleveland, Ohio), chocolate manufacturer
When: 1912
Why: During the summer of 1912, Mr. Crane invented a “summer candy” that could withstand heat better than chocolate. Since the mints looked like miniature life preservers, he called them Life Savers. After registering the trademark, Crane sold the rights to the peppermint candy to Edward Noble for $2,900. Noble created tin-foil wrappers to keep the mints fresh, instead of cardboard rolls. Pep-O-Mint was the first Life Saver flavour. Since then, many different flavours of Life Savers have been produced. The five-flavour roll first appeared in 1935.
Stephanie Huesler 