Inventions

Jane · Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 11:20 am Post subject: Inventions

Ever wondered how things were invented? Who thought of the idea? How they got made?

I have a few to start everyone off

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Mad on Genealogy or just plain mad? :)

Jane · Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 11:22 am Post subject:

CHARGE CARDS

In 1949 New York businessman Frank McNamara was at dinner when he realised he had forgotten his wallet. Luckily he was a regular customer and was allowed to leave his business card as an IOU.

This inspired him to devise a card that would prove the owner's ability to pay. He launched his Diners Club the following year.

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Mad on Genealogy or just plain mad? :)

Jane · Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 11:24 am Post subject:

CRISPS

The first potato crisp was served in 1853 at the Moon Lake House Hotel in Saratoga Springs, New York, when financier Cornelius Vanderbilt complained that the fried potatoes were too chunky. Piqued, chef George Crum reacted by slicing as thinly as he could and frying them until crisp.

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Mad on Genealogy or just plain mad? :)

Jane · Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 11:26 am Post subject:

JEANS

During the San Francisco gold rush of 1850, clothing manufacturer Levi Strauss began making trousers from a heavy twill called gene fustian, first made in Genoa Italy, and intended for tent fabric - hence 'jeans'. The new garments were ideal for hard-working gold prospectors, but Strauss later switched to a more comfortable fabric from Nimes in France, known as 'Serge de Nimes' - hence denim..

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Mad on Genealogy or just plain mad? :)

SeaCopRimmer · Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 4:19 pm Post subject:

Sorry Jane - you are wrong about Levi Strauss inventing Jeans! It was a Belgian man called Denime who first used sail material off sailing ships to make strong overalls for the dock workers in Liverpool; Levi Strauss was the man who used the indigo dye to colour them and it was he who used the system of rivets and treble sewing all the seams to make them so strong that even a pair of wagon horses couldn't pull them apart!

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I may be a shrimp but I'm BIG on family history

Jane · Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 5:34 pm Post subject:

Oh I just copied what a Sunday magazine said. Does this mean another letter to be sent off to tell them they are wrong?

I tried Google and got this site -

http://www.fashion-era.com/denim_jeans_and_casual_wear.htm

Also credits Levi Strauss.

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Mad on Genealogy or just plain mad? :)

Dotty · Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 9:56 am Post subject: Jeans

I always thought it was Levi Strauss who actually invented the jean itself and the De Nimes chappie who made a lighter weight material...who ever it was deserves eternal praise. Life would not be the same without denim jeans...am I right or am I right?

Dotty

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Family History is moo-sic to my ears!

Jane · Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 10:49 am Post subject:

Okay a few more

FINGERPRINTING

Fingerprints had been used as early as 1858 in the UK by William Herschel as a form of signature that could not be forged. But the idea of using them for detection was not suggested until 1880, by Scotsman Henry Faulds in a letter to 'Nature' magazine. In 1884 English scientist, Sir Francis Galton, devised a system of classification but it was 1892 before the first criminal conviction was secured using fingerprint evidence - in Argentina, Francesca Rojas was convicted of killing her sons after leaving a bloody thumbprint.

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Mad on Genealogy or just plain mad? :)

Jane · Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 10:52 am Post subject:

FLUSHING TOILET

Contrary to popular belief, 19th century plumber Thomas Crapper does not deserve the credit: the Minoans in Crete had flushing toilets about 2000 BC. But the first modern flushing toilet wasn't invented until 1589 by Sir John Harrington, godson of Queen Elizabeth I, who refused his patent on the grounds of propriety - although she had one made for the palace. Due to lack of a sewerage system, it was to be 200 years before flushing toilets were in common use. Harrington himself was banished from court in 1596, and the first patent wasn't issued until 1775, to Alexander Cumming.

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Dotty · Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 7:36 am Post subject: well...

That's very interesting...

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Family History is moo-sic to my ears!

Bez · Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2006 5:36 pm Post subject:

I believe that good Queen Bess had the contraption removed on account of the horrendous stink - it was to be another few centuries before anyone invented the U-bend.

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Middle-aged and seeking the middle-ages!

Bez · Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2006 5:46 pm Post subject:

The vacuum cleaner as we know it was invented by a man called Spangler, who patented the idea. However, he sold the patents to a saddle maker by the name of Hoover, and the rest is history.........

(It's amazing what you come across when you do psychology)

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Middle-aged and seeking the middle-ages!

SeaCopRimmer · Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2006 5:56 pm Post subject:

The Jaccuzzi was invented by Mr Jaccuzzi! He had a young son who suffered dreadfully with eczema and he discovered that splashing water on the child relieved the pain - so he invented a hose with holes in it that water could be pumped through to create 'waves' and fixed it into the bathtub

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I may be a shrimp but I'm BIG on family history

Jane · Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2006 6:04 pm Post subject:

I'm really enjoying these. I have a few more which I will add next week

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Mad on Genealogy or just plain mad? :)

SeaCopRimmer · Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2006 10:42 pm Post subject:

How many of you get a bit agitated when people call a vacuum cleaner a 'Hoover', a ballpoint pen a 'Biro', etc.? Talking of which - it was a Mr Biro who invented the ballpoint pen Razz

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I may be a shrimp but I'm BIG on family history

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