20 unexpected inventions that have become everyday

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

A lot of mundane things have a rich history of their own. And often it is an order of magnitude more exciting than school lessons.

1. Treadmill

A torture mechanism was the prototype of a sports facility for maintaining body shape. In 1818, William Cubitt created a spinning wheel designed to punish convicts. The inmates had to walk 3,352.8 meters daily on a moving staircase. The machine, working on the energy of the workers, pumped water and crushed the grain. If today's gyms were equipped with such mechanisms …

2. Viagra

Viagra was originally a medicine for the heart. At the beginning of the 20th century, scientists from the English company Pfizer tried to create sildenafil citrate for the treatment of coronary heart disease. However, the drug proved to be ineffective. But he showed other, well-known to everyone, qualities.

3. Microwave

The microwave was invented by Percy Spencer, who worked on radars for Raytheon. While working, he noticed that the peanut candy in his pocket had melted. According to other versions, there was chocolate or a sandwich. But this does not change the essence of the matter: the first microwave oven was released in 1947 by Raytheon. Of course, it was far from modern standards: the size of a person's height and consumed electricity could hardly allow it to become a subject of mass use.

4. Toothbrush

The mass production of hygiene appliances began in 1780. Until 1938, toothbrushes were made from pig or horse wool. Far from the best material, I must say: bacteria felt great in it, and the brushes themselves did not dry well enough. In Kievan Rus, oak was the material for the manufacture of hygienic appliances. Fortunately, progress does not stand still: nowadays, brushes are made of nylon.

5. Webcam

Thank the coffee pot for the fact that today you can chat on Skype. It's pretty sad to come to the kitchen for coffee and find an empty coffee maker there. Therefore, the staff of the University of Cambridge in 1991 created the first webcam, in real time, showing a coffee machine in their laboratory. So from the practical needs of ingenious coffee lovers, a device was born that allows us to communicate face to face even at a distance. And what about the coffee maker at Cambridge University is again unclear: the first webcam worked for exactly 10 years and was turned off in 2001.

6. Bubble wrap

Invented by American engineers Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes, wallpaper never became popular. Then they decided to sell their creation as a film for insulating greenhouses. This venture also failed. But in 1959, they managed to find an application for their invention: bubble wrap began to be used as a safe packaging for IBM computers. Although we all know what it is really intended for: who of us did not relieve stress by crushing air bubbles!

7. Pin

The first pins existed before our era. Then they were created from iron and bone. The pin in its present form was invented by the American engineer Walter Hunt in 1849. He only invented it to pay off a $ 15 debt. He sold his patent for just $ 400 (which is about $ 12,000 today). During his life, the creator did not receive recognition and did not even know what fabulous profits the company W. R. Grace that bought his invention received later.

8. Escalator

The world's first escalator was built in New York at the end of the 19th century. It was a simple attraction, it had no practical value. But the first subway escalator was made in London. I must say that psychologically the British were not ready for this. People who used it experienced a real shock, because of which they were offered brandy and ammonia to help calm down.

9. Potato chips

The first potato chips were supposed to taste bad. A visitor to one restaurant returned the chips he had ordered with the comment “it's too raw.” The offended chef sliced the next portion as thinly as he could and fried them until they were hard and brittle. Unfortunately for the cook (and luckily for us), the chips were delicious.

10. Chewing gum

People have always chewed something to get rid of food debris in their mouths. The ancient Greeks - the resin of the mastic tree, the Maya - rubber, the Europeans - chewing tobacco. Industrial production of rubber bands began in the middle of the 19th century.

The story of one successful "chewing" brand Wrigley is curious. In the late 19th century, William Wrigley Jr. used chewing gum as an incentive for sellers to buy his products (such as soap and baking powder). However, as a result, chewing gum became more popular than the things he was actually trying to sell. Then Wrigley quickly reoriented production.

11. X-rays

German physicist Wilhelm Konrad Roentgen discovered the radiation named after him in 1895. The X in the English-language name for X-rays (X-ray) means "unknown" because scientists initially did not know what exactly Roentgen stumbled upon.

The first X-ray showed the hand of the inventor's wife. After the woman saw him, she declared: "I saw my death." The discovery of X-rays was a breakthrough in science, for which the German scientist received the first Nobel Prize for achievements in physics.

12. Gunpowder

As everyone should be aware, gunpowder was invented in China. But not everyone knows under what circumstances. Taoist alchemists experimented with saltpeter in order to discover the elixir of eternal life. Apparently, this venture failed, but gunpowder became a by-product of fruitless labors. Interestingly, before its explosive properties were discovered, gunpowder was used as a remedy for skin diseases and insects.

13. Headphones

At the end of the 19th century, headphones were mainly used by telephone operators and were not associated with music at all. At the time, they weighed 3 to 5 kilograms. For a long time, headphones were used by pilots, tankers and radio amateurs.

The headphones received the function of a mass guide to the world of music thanks to the Koss company. Headphones were an add-on to a portable turntable, and at the 1958 Exposition there was an extraordinary interest in them. After that, the production of the headphones known to us on an industrial scale began.

14. Hand torch

The first flashlights could not provide continuous illumination. They gave a flash of light, after which their batteries needed a break to recharge. Today, technology has stepped far forward, there are flashlights for every taste, color and for any practical activity: tourist, mining, diving, and so on. And, of course, they do not suffer from any interruptions in the emission of light.

15. Popcorn

Popcorn was originally used by the Aztecs as a decoration for headwear and necklaces. Glory to the first person to eat his ceremonial jewelry! Popcorn became Kinozakuka at the beginning of the 20th century. If you are still amazed at the strange transformation of the grains in your microwave, then know that there is no magic here. It's just that when heated, the water contained in the corn kernels boils, which is why a small explosion occurs.

16. High heel

High heels weren't made to be worn. Their original purpose was to enable soldiers on horseback to have better control over the stirrups. Heels were especially useful when warriors needed to stop to fire a bow, for example. Today women in high heels also stop often - simply because they are not very comfortable to walk on.

17. Sunglasses

In the 12th century, Chinese judges wore prototypes of modern glasses to hide their emotions in court. Lenses were made from precious stones. Residents of the Far North wore wooden goggles with slit eyes to protect them from snow blindness. And at the beginning of the 20th century, actors wore glasses to protect them from ultraviolet rays, which fell on them from light sources on the set.

18. Bra

Bras became popular due to a shortage of metal during the First World War. They were used medicinally since 1893, but corsets remained the main type of women's underwear until 1917. During the war, ladies had to change their tastes, since the metal from which corsets were made was now used for military purposes.

19. Ice cream

The father of Western medicine, Hippocrates, prescribed ice cream to patients as a medicine. It is difficult to say how effective it was, but ice cream then meant chilled food and wine. And the recipe for a modern delicacy was brought to Europe by Marco Polo in the 13th century.

20. Internet

The Internet grew out of a communications system developed in the United States in the event of a Soviet attack. Scientists have proposed the idea of transmitting information through computers if the enemy destroys the telephone lines. Like this. And they say that military technologies only wreak havoc and destruction.