Our new friend Sanjay Gupta recently swung by Quirky to talk invention. Tune in to ‘The Next List‘ on CNN today at 2p EDT.

Yesterday marked the start of National Inventor’s Month, an exciting time of year for us at Quirky. Throughout the month of May, we’ll be honoring the contribution that American inventors have made to our world, and the incredible tools and products they brought to life. From lightening rods to mobile phones, American ingenuity has compiled an unprecedented catalogue of work.

In fact, the list of inventors was so impressive that we had a hard time deciding who to feature: naturally, our solution was to feature all of them. As some of you may have noticed, we’ve extended the timeline on Quirky’s Facebook page back to 1641, and transformed it into a timeline of American invention. From the first North American patent all the way to the present, we’ve chronicled the Who’s Who and What’s What of innovative minds and products throughout our nations history. There are close to 200 entries posted already, and we’ll be continuously adding more, so be sure to pop in and check it out! The origins of some of your favorite products may surprise you.

Rather than focus on the bad of this anniversary, let’s instead remember the progress through invention that came out of the Titanic’s voyage. First, take a look at this excerpt from a 1913 The Times of London article we recently found:

That’s a lot of inventions! The shock of the Titanic’s sinking inspired inventors around the world to develop new devices that could prevent a similar tragedy from occurring. We dug a little deeper to learn about these innovations:

The Internal Combustion Engine

Mead Rotary Valve Engine, 1912

While engine research wasn’t catalyzed by the Titanic’s sinking, the ships creation unquestionably played a role in its advancement. The luxury liner was the largest moving man-made object on earth when it launched, and it required powerful machinery to move it along. It’s enormous twin steam engines were technical feats in and of themselves, as well as stunning examples of the ongoing commercial research into engine technology at the time. As mentioned in The Times piece, the internal combustion engine in particular was of interest to inventors in 1912, inspiring a whole host of new innovations ranging from dubious implementations of a new rotary valve system for car engines, to internal combustion turbines.

Life Rafts

Detroit Ship Building Co., Department of Life Rafts: 1912

The Titanic carried only 20 lifeboats with enough space for 40-65 people each, despite 2,200 passengers and crew members. After its sinking, inventors threw themselves at the problem of creating more compact and easier to deploy life rafts. Patents from around the world were filed to introduce new, more resilient boats, while shipbuilding companies opened entire departments dedicated to the research and implementation of these advancements.

Steward Releasing Gear

Disengaging gear was an important element of this as well. The Titanic and its sister ship Olympic featured a device known simply as Murry’s, which consisted of a network of pulleys, hooks, and rope feeds that allowed the life raft to be lowered into the ocean. The subsequent boom in development of similar systems focused on improving how evenly  the ends of a vessel are lowered, and on equipment placement changes that could accommodate boats with a greater deck sizes and volume of passengers.

Inflatable Devices

John Schwab Life Saving Vest: 1912

Patents concerning new personal flotation devices also increased. While much of the danger presented to passengers of the Titanic was from the icy cold water they were in, staying above water was of even greater concern. The ship carried a supply of cork lifevests that fit over the head of the wearer, but inventors proposed alternate solutions that would insulate a person’s body while keeping them afloat, or could be used by multiple people at once. By 1928, Peter Markus would invent the inflatable life preserver that we still use today.

Distress Signals

Armstrong Regenerative Receiver

Arguably, the most significant were advancements in technology for alerting others to disasters. Edwin Armstrong’s invention of regeneration had made it possible for the crew of the Titanic to send wireless distress calls that rescue crews used to find the sinking ship. But it wasn’t until three months after, when the US passed the Radio Act of 1912, that wireless transmissions became standard features of seafaring vessels. In response, inventors set about creating new technologies that would meet the need for 24 hour communication between nearby ships and alert systems that would continue even if the operator was not present. Firing distress rockets, which would eventually become flares, also became part of standard emergency protocol when wireless transmissions were not enough or were ineffective.

…

It’s true that today we remember a tragedy, but like most things in life, there was some good that came out of it. We’ve pondered some of the components that made it influential and into an opportunity for innovation, and we know those innovations have shaped sea and land transit to this day. So cheers to the progress made just as we mourn the memory; perhaps the lessons learned are just as important as the story itself.

Margaret E. Knight was born in York, Maine in 1838. She received little schooling, but started work in local factories at an early age. It was the height of the Industrial Revolution in northern New England, when textile factories employed thousands of young women in often dangerous working conditions. Her experience working in these factories inevitably lead Knight to become an inventor; allegedly starting when she was twelve, after she witnessed a loose spindle from a textile machine injure a fellow worker. Naturally fascinated by tools and machinery, Knight invented a covered shuttle in 1850 to prevent future accidents of this kind — an innovation that is still standard in cotton mills today.

However, it wasn’t until 1870 that Knight applied for her first patent. While working at the Columbia Paper Bag Company in Massachusetts, she began building a machine that would assemble satchel bottom, or flat bottom, paper bags. Until that time, paper bags were envelope shaped, but Knight’s invention would soon lead to flat bottom paper bags becoming the standard in stores throughout the country.

She studied the company’s machines during the day and drafted models for her invention at night, eventually developing a machine that could easily fold and glue the new type of bag.  She traveled to Boston in 1869 to cast her original wooden model into iron, but the idea was tragically stolen by Charles Annan, who subsequently patented it under his name. The ensuing Patent Office investigation took an additional year to determine that Knight was the real inventor of the machine, with Annan supporting his position by asserting that she couldn’t possibly have invented it because she was a woman. Knight was eventually awarded patent #116,842, a rare victory for women in that era and pivotal moment that made her one of the first women to hold a patent.

Over the course of her lifetime, Knight co-founded the Eastern Paper Bag Company in Hartford, Connecticut, acquired at least twenty-two patents, and is credited with about 90 inventions. Many of her patented inventions were designs improving her paper bag machine, though others included a design for a window frame and sash, a numbering machine, an automatic boring tool, and a sewing machine. She passed away on October 12, 1914 in Framingham, Massachusetts.

Although she was never made wealthy by her inventions, Margaret E. Knight embodied the spirit of industrious women inspired by their desire to create and innovate. Her indelible legacy lives on in her inventions that remain an enduring part of our lives today.

Sources:
National Women’s History Museum
Cal Poly Pomona: Inventors
Paperhall.org
MIT: Inventor of the Week Archive

By revolutionizing the infant care industry, inventor of the disposable diaper, Marion Donovan, is the woman destined to become the patron saint of moms and caretakers everywhere. Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1917, Marion O’Brien grew up in atmosphere of creativity and machinery. After her mother died when she was seven, Donovan spent most of her free time in the factory run by her uncle and father who were both inventors.  This time in her family’s factory instilled her with a curiosity for how things worked.   Later, she moved east to attend Rosemont College in the suburbs of Philadelphia where she earned her degree in English Literature in 1939.  After graduation she became an Assistant Beauty Editor for Vogue Magazine in New York.  She soon met and married James Donovan, a leather importer and within a few years Donovan resigned from her position, had children and relocated to Westport, Connecticut.

It was motherhood that gave Donovan the inspiration to rekindle her childhood innovative instincts.  While raising her children, Donovan faced, like all mothers, the exhausting habit of constantly changing soiled cloth diapers, which at that time also meant soiled sheets and clothing.  She developed her first prototype of the diaper cover in 1946 after sitting down at her sewing machine with several shower curtains.  Her result was the first waterproof diaper that wicked moisture away from the baby and didn’t cause a rash. She called this the “Boater” because it helped babies “stay afloat”. Her final product was made of nylon and held together with snaps in stead of the previously used safety pins.

After her invention of the first diaper cover, it took Donovan nearly ten years to gather interest for her product until Victor Mills, the creator of Pampers, capitalized on her idea.  It was during this time that she went back to school to earn a degree in Architecture from Yale in 1958, where she was one of only three women in her graduating class.  In total, Donovan was granted over 20 patents for her other inventions in addition to the  4 for the diaper cover and on November 4, 1998, at the age of 81, Marion Donovan passed away at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York.

Sources:
MIT: Inventor of the Week
Wikipedia: Marion Donovan
Cal Poly Pomona: Marion Donovan
MetroActive: The Bottom Line

Bette Nesmith Graham

Not all great inventions are patented by chemists and engineers. Sometimes, the perfect solution to a problem can be found in the most unlikely place. For Bette Nesmith Graham, the inventor of liquid paper, that place was her artist’s studio.

Born in Dallas, TX in 1924, Graham started her young life with a strong desire to become a painter. However, once she and her husband were divorced following his return from WWII, she found herself the single mother of her young son, and took a job as a secretary at Texas Bank & Trust to make ends meet. Though a talented typist, Graham discovered that the new IBM electric typewriters made it impossible to remove mistakes with an eraser, due to the carbon-film ribbons they used. Frustrated at having to retype entire pages due to a single mistake, she realized that the same solution she used as a painter could be applied to her typing: rather than erase a mistake, why couldn’t she just paint over it?

Working out of her kitchen with only her wits and a blender, Graham experimented with tempera paint until she found a tone and consistency that matched her stationary. By 1951 she had begun using her solution at her job, and found it worked so well that even her boss didn’t notice the corrections. Soon, requests for her miraculous concoction started flooding in from other secretaries, and Graham began to sell her product under the name Mistake Out in 1956, mixing and bottling it out of her home with the help of her son Michael (later the guitarist for the band The Monkees). However, despite spending long nights filling orders, the gross profits she made were minimal.

A variety of Graham’s products on display at the Women’s Museum in Dallas, TX.

Graham’s big break came when she was fired from her post at Texas Bank & Trust (there are some mistakes that even liquid paper can’t correct). She spent the next few years refining the formula to her invention, and by 1958 she had applied for both a patent and trademark, rebranding the product as “Liquid Paper.” Ten years later, her multi-million dollar operation was pumping out over 1 million bottles each year, and the company’s rapid growth continued until it was sold by Graham to Gilette for $47.5 million, six months before her death in 1980.

The moral of the story? Inspiration (and a river of cool millions) can really come from anywhere, so be sure to keep your mind, eyes and ears wide open!

Sources:
Wikipedia
MIT website
Famous Women Inventors
About.com

Mary Anderson

Imagine driving in your car as a rainstorm batters your windshield with sheets of rain. Instinctively, you switch on your windshield wipers. But what if you didn’t have them? In the early 1900s, the only way to clear a windshield was to stop a vehicle and wipe it down by hand. It was an inconvenient and sometimes dangerous problem. That’s exactly why Mary Anderson decided to fix it forever.

In 1903, Anderson visited New York City and noticed that trolley drivers didn’t have a way to clear their windows when visibility was impaired by the weather. They would stop from time to time to scrape off the moisture manually. Anderson figured that there was probably a better and more efficient way to do this and began to develop an idea for a device that could be operated from inside of the vehicle. She developed a device that could be operated from inside the car by the driver.

Drawing on Anderson’s patent

Anderson applied for a patent in 1904 for a hand-operated device with a rubber blade and was approved in 1905. Unfortunately for Anderson, her invention arrived just a little before the world was ready for it. Henry Ford’s Model T—which changed transportation forever–didn’t arrive until 1908. She actually tried selling the rights in 1905 only to have the application rejected and having a company say, “we do not consider it to be of such commercial value.” People also thought this device would distract drivers and she was ridiculed for it. Unfortunately for Anderson, her patent expired by the time cars became more accessible and mechanical windshield wipers became standard on automobiles.

The next time you’re driving and the rain is pelting your windshield, give a quick little nod to Mary Anderson, the woman whose visit to New York resulted in a big idea that changed the way we drive in inclement weather.

Sources:
Anderson’s patent for window cleaning device
BHAM Wiki
Lemolson-MIT: Inventor of the Week
Famous Women Inventors

Stephanie Kwolek in a DuPont research lab

Stephanie Kwolek wanted to be a doctor. After graduating from Margaret Morrison Carnegie College (now known as Carnegie-Mellon) in 1946, the young chemistry major knew that medical school needed to wait while she raised money for tuition. She planned to find a temporary job in research in order to make ends meet. But as they sometimes have a way of doing, plans changed. Stephanie Kwolek would not only remain a research scientist for the rest of her life, but she would become the creator of poly-paraphenylene terephtalamide. Her skill, curiosity, and persistence brought the material known as Kevlar to the world.

Heat resistant gloves – one of the many uses for Kevlar

In 1964, the DuPont chemical company anticipated a gas shortage and began to research material for stronger and lighter tires. The routine project didn’t particularly interest any of the researchers on staff. Except one. Stephanie Kwolek had been working for DuPont for 18 years, specializing in polymer chemistry. It was becoming clear to her that her work as a chemist may not be temporary after all, and she jumped at the opportunity to explore something juicy.

As she often did, Kwolek noticed potential where others saw none. While experimenting with the combination of polymers in a solution, Kwolek observed the formation of liquid crystals; a strange occurrence indeed. Any other researcher in the facility may have thought the mixture was contaminated and would likely have thrown it out. Kwolek realized that these molecules were unique and persuaded a reluctant fellow researcher to run them through a machine called a “spinneret”. The result was a fiber nine times stronger than nylon (invented by DuPont year earlier). When woven into a fabric, it was five times stronger than steel. The project that nobody wanted had just yielded one of the most important discoveries in years.

Stephanie Kwolek’s discovery led to the creation of a Kevlar – a lightweight, non-corroding material that is used in underwater cables, brake linings, spacecrafts, boats, parachutes, skis, building materials, and of course bulletproof vests. It is estimated that Kevlar vests save around 2,000 lives every year. Kwolek continued her work for DuPont for 40 years – securing 28 patents along the way. She is an inductee to the Women’s Hall of Fame and the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Every now and then she is asked to autograph a Kevlar vest. She happily obliges.

Sources:
Inventing Modern America
About.com
Kwolek’s original patent for Kevlar
NNDB.com
YouTube: 1999 Lemelson-MIT Lifetime Achievement Award interview

Of course, you have probably seen the Snuggie infomercial, but if not, I have to include it here:

And now, over 4 million snuggies have been sold. I can’t help but wonder if Quirky could have the next Snuggie? I mean maybe there is already an idea or product on the site that could blow it out of the water… or maybe it’s coming soon?

Personally, I have to admit, the Pen Zen came out unreal, awesome… But anyway, what do you think Quirks? Will we have it? Or maybe the more appropriate question is, WHEN will we have it?