History of the Tractor

Iowa: The Tractor – John Froelich’s Agricultural Revolution  In the fertile fields of Iowa, a farmer named John Froelich revolutionized agriculture in 1890.

Frustrated with dragging his steam-powered thresher through the fields, Froelich conceived the idea of attaching a gas engine to the thresher’s working gear.

To his amazement, the contraption worked remarkably well, marking the birth of the tractor company that would later evolve into John Deere.

History of the Gatlng Gun

According to History.com, in 1862, Richard Jordan Gatling invented a multi-barreled, rotating gun operated by a hand crank that could fire up to 200 rounds a minute.

Born in North Carolina in 1818, Gatling helped his father, a wealthy planter, develop better farming implements, tools and machinery for sowing and harvesting cotton.

In 1844, soon after obtaining his first patent, for a new type of seed planter, Gatling moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where he continued to develop farming implements and machinery for growing rice and wheat.

History of Cotton Candy

 1897 – William Morrison and John C Wharton invented cotton candy

Cotton candy as we know it was first created in 1897 when a dentist named William Morrison joined forces with a confectioner by the name of John C. Wharton.  

Together, the duo created a machine that spun heated sugar through a screen, creating the floss-like texture that we all know and love.

Morrison and Wharton sold boxes of cotton candy for a quarter each to fair-goers. The treat was so popular that, by the end of the fair, over 68,000 boxes of cotton candy were sold.

History of the Toilet

In 1925, John Jacob Guggenheim founded the American Standard Company and set out to revolutionize the design of toilets, creating a top-selling model known as the Champion.

The Champion’s most notable feature was it’s strong flushing action, which used up to four gallons of water per flush. It also boasted a curved bowl that was designed to prevent clogs by making it harder for solid waste to get stuck in crevices between the bowl and tank.

History of Sunglasses

In 1929, Sam Foster, founder of the Foster Grant of Atlantic City , had put sunglasses into mass production in America and was doing a roaring trade through his company.

He sold the first pair of Foster Grant sunglasses on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, NJ in 1929. By 1930, sunglasses could be found in all the range.

In the 1930s, the Army Air Corps commissioned the optical firm of Bausch & Lomb to create effective eyeglasses to protect pilots from high altitude glare. Company physicists and opticians perfected a special dark-green tint that absorbed light in the yellow band of the spectrum.

History of the Potato Chip

1853 – George Crum Invented Potato Chips, Th potato chip, a thin slice of potato fried in oil or baked in an oven until crisp. It may be salted or flavoured after cooking.

The invention of the potato chip is attributed to George Crum, who was born George Speck in 1824, the son of an African American father and a Native American mother who was a member of the Huron people.

In 1853 he was a cook at Moon’s Lake House restaurant in Saratoga Springs, New York. A customer sent back his order of fried potatoes, stating that the slices were too thick.

History of the Sandwich

1840, the sandwich was introduced to America by Englishwoman Elizabeth Leslie (1787-1858). In her cookbook, Directions for Cookery, she had a recipe for ham sandwiches that she suggested as a main dish.

In the 1900's, the sandwich became popular in the USA when American bakeries started selling sliced bread. Sandwiches were an easy, portable meal for skilled and non-skilled trades such as railway workers, carpenters and miners, as well as, school children.

History of Nylon

1938 – Wallace H Carothers invented nylon.
   
Wallace Carothers can be considered the father of the science of man-made polymers and the man responsible for the invention of nylon and neoprene.

The man was a brilliant chemist, inventor and scholar.

Wallace Carothers was born in Iowa and first studied accounting and later studied science (while teaching accounting) at Tarkio College in Missouri.

History of Dental Floss

Levi Spear Parmly: (1790-1859) a dentist from New Orleans, is credited with inventing the first form of dental floss.

In 1819, he recommended running a waxen silk thread "through the interstices of the teeth, between their necks and the arches of the gum, to dislodge that irritating matter which no brush can remove and which is the real source of disease."

He considered this the most important part of oral care.

History of the Electric Light Bulb

In 1879, Thomas Edison invented the electric light bulb

Thomas Alva Edison (born February 11, 1847, Milan, Ohio, U.S.—died October 18, 1931, West Orange, New Jersey) was an American inventor who, singly or jointly, held a world-record 1,093 patents.

In addition, he created the world’s first industrial research laboratory.

Edison was the quintessential American inventor in the era of Yankee ingenuity.

History of the Airplaine

According to History.com in 1903 – Orville and Wilbur Wright invented the airplane.

Wilbur and Orville Wright were American inventors and pioneers of aviation.

In 1903 the Wright brothers achieved one of the first flights with a powered, sustained and controlled airplane; they surpassed their own milestone two years later when they built and flew the first fully practical airplane.

Always working on different mechanical projects and keeping up with scientific research, the Wright brothers closely followed the research of German aviator Otto Lilienthal.

History of the Polio Vaccine

Polio Vaccine (1955) – Jonas Salk: Salk’s development of the polio vaccine played a crucial role in the global effort to eradicate this debilitating disease.

According to History.com — in March 26, 1953, American medical researcher Dr. Jonas Salk announced on a national radio show that he has successfully tested a vaccine against poliomyelitis, the virus that causes the crippling disease of polio.

In 1952—an epidemic year for polio—there were 58,000 new cases reported in the United States, and more than 3,000 died from the disease.