TOOTHBRUSHES
Did you know that the oldest toothbrush that most resembles our modern one goes all the way back to the Chinese Tang Dynasty?
Despite this, the first patent awarded in the United States for a modern toothbrush was given to H.N. Wadsworth in 1857.
toilets
Sir John Harington described a flushing toilet prototype in 1596, but it wasn’tuntil 1775 that Alexander Cummings patented the S-trap, creating a flushing version of the toilet.
cars
It was the year Karl Benz was awarded a patent for the first gasoline-powered car.
With this invention, trips that took multiple days are now done in a couple of hours. Besides traffic jams, it’s an invention we are thankful for.
cars
If we could think of an underrated invention, we would choose zippers. Imagine, until the early 20th century, most clothing items were tied together with buttons or with laces.
An early zipper precursor was Whitcomb Judson’s “clasp locker”, which he patented in 1893. It is said he was lazy and invented it to fasten his boots faster.
In 1913, Gideon Sundback’s patent perfected this mechanism.
