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Patents

The original design patent for the Statue of Liberty included this image, which isn't the final picture of what it would look like, but shows how far Bartholdi's image was developed by the time he applied for the patent.

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The Statue of Liberty Was Once Patented

Reading the original patent documents can help us learn more about this history of this American icon

A solid state radio frequency oven would allow you to cook a whole meal at once.

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This Oven Could Change How We Cook

By using radio frequency technology, it can prepare all the components of a dinner, at the same time, just right

Benjamin Montgomery succeeded despite being refused a patent.

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With Patents or Without, Black Inventors Reshaped American Industry

American slaves couldn’t hold property, including patents on their own inventions. But that didn’t stop black Americans from innovating in our country

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The Patents Behind the Roses You Receive on Valentine’s Day

You probably never thought of the perennials as inventions, have you?

As 19th century urban living became more cramped, some women began to reinvent the domestic sphere with technology.

Women Who Shaped History

These Four Black Women Inventors Reimagined the Technology of the Home

By designating the realm of technology as ‘male,’ we overlook key inventions that took place in the domestic sphere

One of 50 rooms in the Colonial Revival mansion in Rochester, New York, where George Eastman lived for 27 years.

Visit the Homes of America’s Greatest Inventors

Within these walls, our nation’s most brilliant tinkerers once ate, slept and imagined

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This App Uses Facial Recognition Software to Help Identify Genetic Conditions

A geneticist uploads a photo of a patient’s face, and Face2Gene gathers data and generates a list of possible syndromes

An undated box that originally held Eskimo Fudge Pies.

The Weird, Brief History of the Eskimo Pie Corporation

It was America’s first chocolate-covered ice cream bar, patented on this day in 1922

Are stem cells the solution?

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Tear Your Meniscus? This “Living Bandage” May Help

British researchers are using a newly patented technique involving stem cells to repair the common knee injury

The device that reinvented the phone

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Happy 10th Birthday, iPhone! So What’s Next?

Based on patent documents, here are eight innovations that could become part of the iPhone of the future

Harry Houdini by unknown artist, 1920

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Escape Artist Harry Houdini Was an Ingenious Inventor, He Just Didn’t Want Anybody to Know

More than just a magician, Houdini was also an actor, aviator, amateur historian and businessman

This six-shooter, in the collection of the National Museum of American History, is not the very first Colt six-shooter, but an updated, slightly lighter version Colt produced between 1848 and 1861.

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On This Day in 1847, a Texas Ranger Walked Into Samuel Colt’s Shop and Said, Make Me a Six-Shooter

Samuel Colt was a clever marketer as well as a talented inventor

The DF-24 camera, invented in 1932, is one of several that were used by cinematographer Hal Rosson to film the Wizard of Oz.

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Without This Camera, the Emerald City Would Have Been the Color of Mud

That dramatic Dorothy in Oz moment was brought to you in living color by the DF-24 Beam Splitter

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The Patents Behind Christmas Sugar Confections

The popularity of candy canes and ribbon candy has a lot to do with 20th-century machines that sped up production

Radio Nurse by Isamu Noguchi, 1937

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After the Tragic Lindbergh Kidnapping, Artist Isamu Noguchi Designed the First Baby Monitor

The six-decade career of the artist and commercial designer is on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum

The tea bag made it possible to brew a single cup of tea rather than a whole pot.

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Ever Wonder Who Invented the Tea Bag?

Its two competing origin stories are linked by one thing: convenience

Robert Noyce (left) and Intel co-founder Gordon Moore in from of the Intel SC1 building in Santa Clara, 1970.

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Silicon Valley Owes Its Success To This Tech Genius You’ve Never Heard Of

Robert Noyce was one of the founders of Silicon Valley

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This Device Could Revolutionize How Malaria Is Detected Around the World

The Magneto-Optical Detector (MOD) combines magnets and laser light to determine, in less than a minute, if a drop of blood contains malaria parasites

The genetically modified Oncomouse has played a big role in the study and treatment of cancer.

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The First Patented Animal Is Still Leading the Way on Cancer Research

Oncomouse was a genetically engineered animal designed to help scientists learn more about tumors

An Evaptainer is a lightweight storage unit that uses evaporative cooling to cut down on food spoilage.

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Could This Cooler Help Combat Global Hunger?

The Evaptainer keeps perishable food fresh for up to two weeks–no electricity required

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