A Lesson in History 2: 10 Not So Well-known Inventions Invented in the First Half of the 20th Century

Last Time on “A Lesson In History”…

In 1971, Stephanie Louise Kwolek invented Kevlar, a fiber five times stronger than steel. In 1967, we saw the invention of the Smoke Alarm and the medical breakthrough of the first human Heart Transplant. The Cell Phone came to existence in the 1960’s, with Motorola holding the patent for the electronic device. With the year 1959 came the introduction of Pantyhose and Integrated Circuits for computers. LEGO made its worldwide debut in 1958, with Play-Doh modeling clay coming into existence in 1956. The World-Wide-Web was first created by Tim Berners-Lee in 1955 and Bessie Nesmith invented Liquid Paper in 1951.

And Now the Epic Conclusion…

1949 – Bar Codes

In 1949, Norman Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver patented their first “bullseye code,” a series of concentric circles that could be scanned from any direction. Both men created an improved UPC code in the 1950’s, which was used to track railroad cars. Bar codes were first used in grocery stores in the early 1970’s.

1943 – AquaLung (SCUBA)

The first breathing apparatus designed to supply oxygen to underwater divers was the AquaLung, invented by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Emile Gagnan. This was the first modern SCUBA (Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) system. I should know a thing or two about Cousteau – my final Grade 12 English project was on Cousteau and his exploits.

1935 – Ballpoint Pen

Hungarian brothers Lazlo and Georg Biro, a chemist and newspaper editor respectively, were the inventors of the first non-leaking ballpoint pen. Although John Loud invented a “ballpoint marker” in 1888, it constantly leaked ink. Lazlo and Georg opened the first-ever ballpoint pen manufacturing plant in Argentina, South America.

1930 – Chocolate Chips

You heard me right – Chocolate Chips. The kind used in Chocolate Chip cookies, Chocolate Chip ice cream and Chocolate Chip brownies. Yum. My mouth is salivating at this very moment. Ruth Wakefield invented both Chocolate Chips and Chocolate Chip cookies in 1930. She was the owner of the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts, so she appropriately named her new invention the “Toll House Cookie.” Broken-up bars of semi-sweet chocolate were used in the cookies.

1923 and 1930 – Masking and Scotch Tape

Richard G. Drew was an engineer at the 3M (Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing) company. His first invention was masking tape in 1923, designed to help painters paint a straight border between two colors. In 1930, Richard invented Scotch tape, a clear, all-purpose adhesive tape.

1927 – Bread Slicer

After 15 years of development, Otto Frederick Rohwedder finally came out with the first automated commercial bread slicer in 1927. The machine both sliced and wrapped a single loaf of bread.

1920 – Band-Aid

The first easy-to-use adhesive bandage was invented by Earle Dickson, who perfected the Band-Aid in 1920. He originally created it for his wife, who kept cutting herself in the kitchen and needed an easy-to-use bandage to heal her wounds.

1913 – Crossword Puzzle

One of the oldest word games on the planet is the Crossword Puzzle. Although the Crossword Puzzle is now nearly extinct due to the invention of video games, there is a bit of history behind it. Arthur Wynne, a journalist born in Liverpool, England, invented the concept in 1913. He wrote weekly puzzles for the newspaper known as the New York World. His first-ever Crossword Puzzle premiered in the newspaper on Sunday December 21, 1913. Subsequently, Pearson’s Magazine debuted their first Crossword Puzzle in February 1922.

1908 – Cellophane Plastic Wrap

Cellophane – a thin, transparent, waterproof protective film used in many different types of packaging. Swiss chemist Jacques Edwin Brandenberger came up with the idea in 1908. The plastic was made waterproof in 1927 by chemists at the DuPont company.

1903 – Crayons

Edwin Binney and Harold Smith owned a paint company in New York City. They combined paraffin wax with colorants to create crayons. They were highly inexpensive to create and were first marketed under the name “Crayola” in 1903.

Well, I hope you all enjoyed my two-part “Lesson in History” series! I’d like to thank the community for sending in their suggestions regarding the historic inventions I should include in my articles. Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what other historic articles you’d like me to write, or even if you would like another “Lesson in History” segment. Until next time, I’ll see you later!