LIST OF INVENTIONS AND INVENTORS

ADHESIVE TAPE
Richard G. Drew (1899-1980) invented masking tape and clear adhesive tape (also
called cellophane tape or Scotch tape). Drew was an engineer for the 3M company
(the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing).
Drew's first tape invention was a masking tape made for painters
in 1923 (this tape was designed to help painters paint a straight
border between two colors). This early masking tape was a wide
paper tape with adhesive on only the edges of the tape - not in the middle. Drew made
an improved tape called Scotch (TM) Brand Cellulose Tape in 1930. This tape was a
clear, all-purpose adhesive tape that was soon adopted worldwide. The first tape
dispenser with a built-in cutting edge was invented in 1932 by John A. Borden,
another 3M employee.
AIRPLANE
The first working airplane was invented, designed, made, and flown
by the Wright brothers, Wilbur Wright (1867-1912) and Orville
Wright (1871-1948). Their "Wright Flyer" was a fabric-covered
biplane with a wooden frame. The power to the two propellers was
supplied by a 12-horsepower water-cooled engine. On December 17,
1903, the "Flyer" flew for 12 seconds and for a distance of 120
feet (37 m). The flight took place at Kitty Hawk, North
Carolina, USA.
BAND-AID
Bandages for wounds had been around since ancient times, but an
easy-to-use dressing with an adhesive was invented by Earle
Dickson (a cotton buyer at the Johnson & Johnson company).
Dickson perfected the BAND-AID in 1920, making a small, sterile
adhesive bandage for home use. Dickson invented the BAND-AID
for his wife, who had many kitchen accidents and needed an easyto-use wound dressing. Dickson was rewarded by the Johnson &
Johnson company by being made a vice-president of the company.
BAROMETER
A barometer is a device that measures air (barometric) pressure. It

measures the weight of the column of air that extends from the
instrument to the top of the atmosphere. There are two types of
barometers commonly used today, mercury and aneroid (meaning
"fluidless"). Earlier water barometers (also known as "storm
glasses") date from the 17th century. The mercury barometer was
invented by the Italian physicist Evangelista Torricelli (1608 - 1647),
a pupil of Galileo, in 1643. Torricelli inverted a glass tube filled with
mercury into another container of mercury; the mercury in the tube
"weighs" the air in the atmosphere above the tube. The aneroid
barometer (using a spring balance instead of a liquid) was invented
by the French scientist Lucien Vidie in 1843.
BASKETBALL
The game of basketball was invented by James Naismith (18611939). Naismith was a Canadian physical education instructor who
invented the game in 1891 so that his students could participate in
sports during the winter. In his original game, which he developed
while at the Springfield, Massachusetts YMCA (Young Men's Christian
Association), Naismith used a soccer ball which was thrown into
peach baskets (with the basket bottoms intact). The first public
basketball game was in Springfield, MA, USA, on March 11, 1892.
Basketball was first played at the Olympics in Berlin Germany in
1936 (America won the gold medal, and Naismith
was there).
BLUE JEANS
Levi Strauss (1829-1902) was an entrepreneur who
invented and marketed blue jeans. Trained as a tailor in
Buttenheim, Bavaria, Germany, Strauss went to San Francisco, USA
from New York in 1853.
BRAILLE
Braille is a coded system of raised dots that are used by the blind to
read. Louis Braille (1809-1852) invented this system in 1829.
CARBONATED WATER
People have been drinking naturally-carbonated water (water with

carbon dioxide bubbles) since pre-historic times. The English

chemist Joseph Priestley experimented with putting gases in liquids
in 1767, producing the first artificially-produced carbonated
water.
CELLOPHANE
Cellophane is a thin, transparent, waterproof, protective film that is
used in many types of packaging. It was invented in 1908 by
Jacques Edwin Brandenberger, a Swiss chemist. He had originally
intended cellophane to be bonded onto fabric to make a waterproof
textile, but the new cloth was brittle and not useful.
CRAYONS
Crayons were invented by Edwin Binney and Harold Smith, who
owned a paint company in New York City, NY, USA. Binney and Smith
invented the modern-day crayon by combining paraffin wax with
pigments (colorants).
DISPOSABLE DIAPER
The disposable diaper was invented in 1950 by Marion Donovan. Her
first leak-proof diaper was a plastic-lined cloth diaper. Donovan then
developed a disposable diaper. She was unsuccessful at selling her
invention to established manufacturers, so she started her own
company.
ELEVATOR BRAKE
Elisha Graves Otis (1811-1861) invented the elevator brake, which
greatly improved the safety of elevators. He used a ratchet on a
spring to catch the elevator in the event of an accident (like a
broken cable).]
ESCALATOR
An escalator is a moving stairway that helps people move
easily from floor to floor in building. The escalator was
invented by the American inventor Jesse W. Reno in 1891.
On his "inclined elevator," passengers rode on an wedge-shaped
supports attached to a conveyor belt at an incline of about 25

degrees. The original elevator had a stationary handrail (which was

soon replaced with a moving handrail).
EYEGLASSES
Eyeglasses with convex lenses for correcting farsighted vision were
probably invented in Italy around the year 1268-1284, perhaps by
Salvino D'Armate of Pisa or by Alessandro Spina of Florence. Early
glasses were also made in China around the same time. The earliest
glasses did not have arms; they perched on the bridge of the nose.
Eyeglasses with concave lenses for nearsightedness (or myopia)
were not invented until the 1400s.