Questions tagged [inventions]
Questions related to the history of the design and creation of new or unique devices or methods or processes or compositions.
28 questions
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When were collapsible umbrellas invented?
While umbrellas have been around for ages, when did collapsible umbrellas similar to current ones became common? That means having a frame and being easily opened and closed without having to be ...
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Did the invention of crowns/diadems come from a desire to ward off headaches?
An ancient Greek historian, Diodorus of Sicily (active 1st century BCE) wrote about three different manifestations of Dionysus. In reference to one that was born of Semelê, he adds this descriptive ...
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How did Hedy Lamarr acquire scientific education?
Hedy Lamarr was a famous actress and an inventor. According to Wikipedia, her inventions included:
Improved traffic stoplight.
Tablet that would dissolve in water to create a carbonated drink.
...
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What were paper airplanes called before there were real airplanes? (i.e. untethered winged flyers, not kites or balloons)
According to the Google Ngram Viewer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Ngram_Viewer) the English word "airplane" was practically unused before the year 1900. Given that paper is ...
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Did they use flying drones around 1925 for warfare?
In the Soviet sci-fi film "Napoleon-gas" (1925) they use radio-controlled flying drones for air warfare. Here is the timed link to this place in the film. I wonder if this is a pure sci-fi ...
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Why did Bayer lose aspirin and heroin trademarks under the 1919 Treaty of Versailles?
As read in the article Heroin by Wikipedia:
Bayer lost some of its trademark rights to heroin (as well as aspirin) under the 1919 Treaty of Versailles following the German defeat in World War I. 83 ...
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Who is this particular inventor from XIX century?
I came acros with the following description about a certain inventor from XIX century:
An illustrious 19th-century European character who amassed an immense fortune thanks to his more than three ...
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Why was silage only invented in the 19th century?
For thousands of years in the Northern climates mankind had to slaughter a large proportion of their livestock due to a shortage of winter fodder.
What prevented mankind from using silage/haylage ...
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When was the top spring on umbrellas invented?
Modern umbrellas have a rider (a hollow cylinder) that slides up the shaft to force the umbrella vanes open. It is held in place by a spring latch that protrudes close to the top of the shaft - I've ...
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Seeking explanation about Leicester's "mechanical dolphin" of 1575
Greenblatt's Will in the World describes elaborate festivities that the Earl of Leicester staged in 1575 for the visiting Queen Elizabeth I:
In the single most extravagant entertainment Leicester ...
user18968
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Did any Native Americans make tomahawks from metal?
I'm curious about the evolution of the tomahawk among (North American) Native American peoples like the Algonquin. I assume early versions of the tomahawk had the head made from stone (please correct ...
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What evidence is there for inventions by slaves or former slaves in Ancient Rome?
The article Slavery in the Roman Empire claims that
Slaves are...reported to have made several important inventions.
A number of slaves and freedmen did achieve some measure of fame and fortune: ...
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Who first conceived and developed the acoustic homing torpedo, and when?
Acoustic homing torpedoes did not see action until 1943 with the Falke/T4 from Germany and the Mark 24 Mine from the USA. These torpedoes were passive in that they homed in on the loudest sound that ...
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Who invented the aeroplane? [closed]
The world knows the Wright Brothers as the inventors of the aeroplane, but there is a man in India named Shivkar Bapuji Talpade who had already invented the aeroplane before the Wright brother's first ...
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Did Archimedes spend time in Alexandria, Egypt?
We know that Archimedes was a native of Syracuse , Sicily and that much of his scientific and inventive works were conducted in this particular Eastern Sicilian city during the 200'S BC/BCE. However, ...
user26763
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What evidence is there that Bell stole the telephone design from Gray?
I've been watching a series of renown biopics called Drunk History, one episode of which claims that Alexander Graham Bell stole the design for the telephone from Elisha Gray.
Is this speculation or ...
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Gathering of water before modern cleansing methods [closed]
Sorry if this is a stupid question but i simply could not get my head around it.
Before modern day cleansing of salt water to produce drinkable water how was this gathered? especially in areas that ...
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When were the baskets invented in Australia and America?
Since the human migration to Australia and America took place way before the invention of the baskets and both the pre-colonized Aborigens and Native Americans were using baskets, that means they ...
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How much of a symbiotic relationship was there between the Renaissance and the Printing Press?
Both the Renaissance and the Printing Press are dated to be around the 14th century. While the first Printing Press was in 1436 (Johannes Gutenberg), the Renaissance is also supposed to start around a ...
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Was hay invented only in the Middle Ages in Europe?
I stumbled upon the following remark from Freeman Dyson:
The most important invention of the last two thousand years was hay. In the classical world of Greece and Rome and in all earlier times, ...
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Did Watt or another inventor have a dream about ball bearings?
I have put in a fair amount of searching for this but have come up empty. I specifically remember the story printed from my childhood like 30-40 years ago, but I wanted to see if there's any source ...
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When was flat glass invented? [closed]
The question is pretty simple. I'm quite curious about since when we are lucky to have windows with glass in them. And since when is there faint glass that isn't perfectly see-through?
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What is the exact date and year when the first car got invented? [closed]
Cars. They have been around for over 100 years, I know that. But does anyone know the exact date and year that cars were invented? That is my question and I would like responses. Thank you.
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Who invented modern bookends? (both model T and model L)
In ancient times the bookends were made from very heavy materials to sustain the weight of the books, while the modern ones use a smarter technique: while they are light, they are shaped so that they ...
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How did Leonardo plan on moving his tank?
Was there a plan for how to propel the circular wooden tank design of Leonardo da Vinci's? It seems far too heavy to be powered Flintstones-style by the people inside, but it also seems too small for ...
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When was the electric iron introduced to the state of Georgia?
I am aware that the electric iron was invented in 1882 by Henry W. Seely, but I would like to find out when rich and middle-class Georgians started using it.
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How much faster were the printing presses than hand writing?
How many times faster were the printing presses, which gave Europe an advantage over other continents in term of access to knowledge, compared to copying of books by hand?
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Was there a race to patent the use of Freon as a home refrigerator coolant?
Thomas Midgely, Jr.'s hands were in two of the most detrimental scientific breakthroughs of the 20th century: the proliferation of leaded gasoline and the use of Freon (a chlorofluorocarbon) as a ...
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