Patents

An early adding machine, c. 1890, invented by William Seward Burroughs, grandfather of the beat writer.

How America’s First Adding Machine is Connected to ‘Naked Lunch’

William Seward Burroughs (no, not that one) was the first man to invent a commercially practical calculator

Four in five adults will experience back pain in their lifetimes, often from overusing their lower back muscles. A new smart garment aims to help.

News Brief: Underwear of the Future Could Help Prevent Back Pain

The wearable device reduces strain on the back during lifting or leaning, which can help stop the pain before it starts

Alexander Graham Bell used the money from his telephone patent to fund Volta Laboratories, which later became Bell Laboratories.

Telephones Were Silenced for One Minute After Alexander Graham Bell Died

By the time Bell died, he had moved on to other inventions. But the telephone made a huge mark on American society

Candles were an important source of after-dark light in the early United States, so it makes sense that one of the first patents would be related to improving them.

What the First Three Patents Say About Early America

Gunpowder, fertilizer, soap, candles and flour were all important to Americans

If you've eaten an avocado lately, chances are it was a Hass.

Holy Guacamole: How the Hass Avocado Conquered the World

Why one California postman's delicious mistake now graces toast and tacos from California to New Zealand

Frances Gabe's 1984 patent shows the floor plan of her self-cleaning home

The First Self-Cleaning Home Was Essentially a 'Floor-to-Ceiling Dishwasher'

Frances Gabe, who died late last year, channeled her frustration with housework into a futuristic design to end the drudgery of cleaning

Engineer Mark Rober posing with his Super Soaker creation

Ex-NASA Engineer Builds World's Largest Super Soaker

More than a mere toy, this water gun can slice through glass and watermelons

The July 14, 1868 patent for a tape measure included these two drawings.

How Hoop Skirts Led to Tape Measures

Eighteenth-century ladies would recognize some things about the modern contractor’s tool

Even though the idea of sliced bread took off like a shot, it took the inventor of the bread-slicing machine years to convince bakers to try his invention.

Take a Look at the Patents Behind Sliced Bread

It took a surprising amount of technological know-how to make the bread that birthed the expression

For the times that licking an ice cream cone is too difficult, this patented motorized ice cream cone does the work for you. Happy summer.

Motorized Ice Cream Cones and Floating Campgrounds: 14 of the Wackiest Summer Fun Patents

Inventors never stop thinking of new ways to have fun, as these 14 patents show.

This workout shirt has vents that start closed (left) but open when the wearer begins to sweat (right).

This Biofabric From MIT Uses Bacteria to Automatically Ventilate Workout Clothes

Would you wear microbes on your back?

Meet Pedro the “Voder,” the First Electronic Machine to Talk

Pedro was an experiment in reproducing speech electronically, but took on a kind of life of its own

An illustration from 'Professor Dowell's Head,' a 1925 science fiction story from Russian author Alexander Belyayev.

Good News, Everybody! Someone Once Patented Plans For Keeping A Severed Head Alive

It was what's called a "prophetic patent"—one that isn't real yet

Seedsheet bills itself as the best way to know where your food comes from by allowing you to grow it yourself. The container gardens come with pre-selected plants that can spice up a salad, garnish a cocktail or fill a taco.

This Invention Makes a Gardener Out of Anyone

Seedsheets founder and CEO Cameron MacKugler designs the garden. You just have to water it.

Stop your baby from sucking his or her thumb with this, er, "clever" invention.

Patents (Only) a Mother Could Love

For Mother's Day, we've pulled some of history's wackiest patented ideas for mothers and children

The team has developed many different prototypes. Their latest iteration can display six characters at a time and images the text using an internal camera.

This Device Translates Text To Braille in Real Time

Team Tactile hopes to create an inexpensive and portable device that can raise text right off the page

Elijah McCoy.

This Prolific Inventor Helped Give Us The Phrase “The Real McCoy”

There are many stories about how we got this phrase. But there was only one Elijah McCoy

A souvenir program from the 1925 Woman's World's Fair in Chicago.

A Look Back at the 1925 Woman’s World Fair

After the success of the Chicago World's Fair, women made their own event

The Patents and Trademarks Behind Jelly Beans

Inventors have been improving the techniques and technologies used to make jelly beans for more than 150 years

Marking the centennial of the American patent system, participants gathered for a "Research Parade" in Washington, D.C., November 23, 1936.

These 20th-Century Technologists Sure Knew How to Throw a Party

To mark the centennial of the American Patent System in 1936, a group of innovators gathered to throw a deliciously creative celebration

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