26 Trivia Tidbits About Famous Inventions
![26 Trivia Tidbits About Famous Inventions](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/1/8/812918_320x180.jpg)
What would we do without the telephone, light bulb, or television? All of these famous inventions have greatly impacted our lives, and we often take them for granted. Every day, we use inventions without even thinking about them. We might brush our teeth with an invention called toothpaste or drive in a car invented by someone else.
Some inventions are so famous that you can name them without thinking. The light bulb, the telephone, and even the chocolate chip cookie were all created by people who changed the world with their ideas. Here are some interesting facts about some of history's most famous inventions. Did you know that...
For example, did you know that... the light bulb was actually invented twice? Thomas Edison may be the most commonly associated with this invention, but he wasn't the first person to create a working model. Another inventor, Joseph Swan, actually came up with a design for a light bulb before Edison did - but his version wasn't as reliable. Who knew?! Read on to learn more about these and other famous inventions!
![By sheer coincidence, the film projector was developed almost simultaneously by the Skladanowsky brothers in Germany and an American Civil War veteran named CRACKED.COM Woodville Latham and his team. They were both unveiled in 1895.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/4/5/812945.jpg)
![The Monkees were a fake band that became real. The four members were cast for a TV show about a rock band (and not all of them even played their instruments at first). While the show only lasted two seasons and their movie flopped, the Monkees are still around, their latest album released in 2020. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/4/4/812944.jpg)
![Strange ground patterns across the U.S. are photo calibration marks for spy planes and satellites. They're used basically the same way you would use an eye chart at the optometrist. Digital photography made them obsolete, but they were vital in the Cold War. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/4/2/812942.jpg)
14 Mesmerizing Machines That Run The World Behind The Scenes
![CRACKED.COM THE CREATOR OF COMIC SANS DOESN'T LIKE TS ITS USE AS A TYPEFACE. TUITION CUTDA UEID arning pport Learning and Support Ge ntre 208 Vincent Connare created the font specifically for Microsoft Bob, a widely-despised 1995 interface that was meant to TUITIO make Windows more REVISIO user-friendly, and for use in TRA NIN MEETIN apps for kids. ROOMS](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/4/3/812943.jpg)
![A strap-on macro lens lets your phone take awesome magnified photos. HDR OSQU OR-GY PHOTO SQUARE PANC BORGUE CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/4/1/812941.jpg)
![The Super Soaker prototype Girline A 350 Inventor Lonnie Johnson, a NASA developer, came and up with the idea when a heat pump prototype sprung a leak. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/4/0/812940.jpg)
![The bead on your dashboard tells your car whether it's day or night. This is the car's sunlight sensor. The level of sunlight lets the car know whether it should activate daytime running lamps, illuminate the instrument panel, and so on. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/3/9/812939.jpg)
Invisible, Super-Smart Gadgets That Are Hidden All Around Us
![The Acoustic Kitty was a monstrosity. During the '60s the CIA cut open live cats in an attempt to turn them into walking bugs. The cats were surgically implanted with batteries, microphones, MICROPHONE and radio transmitters. The tail INSIDE EAR was the final puzzle piece, CANAL serving as the antenna. ANTENNA WIRE ALONG It went about as SPINE well as you'd expect of any project that relies TRANSMITTER AND on training cats. POWER SUPPLY CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/3/8/812938.jpg)
![The first transistor in a commercial product was actually in a hearing aid. KN1076 188A THAN 2N44 2N45 1950s transistors ZN107 It was released in 1952, for $229.50, and it had two vacuum tubes plus a transistor -- and 2 years later, 97% of all hearing aids were transistor-only. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/3/7/812937.jpg)
![The original name for a crossword was word-cross 121 22 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 33 34 35 37 38 40 41 The inventor called it a Word-Cross but a typo changed its history NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/3/6/812936.jpg)
![LISTERINE WAS LISTERI A SURGICAL ANTISEPTIC. DEEPER CLEAN THAN BRUSHING ALONE LISTERINE FRESHBURST ANTISEPTIC Kills Germs that Cause Bad Breath, Plaque & the Gum Disease Gingivitis ADA Accepted Denter The reason why you wash your mouth with Listerine is that 100 years ago, its peddlers didn't think surgeons alone were giving them enough money. So they convinced the world that their bad breath was a medical problem, and that they needed their germ-killer to cure it. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/3/4/812934.jpg)
Everyday Objects That Started Out As Something Else Entirely
![In the first few decades after email was first introduced, people believed that it could be detrimental to the users' IQ. A British study in 2005 even claimed that using emails hurt your IQ more than smoking pot. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/3/5/812935.jpg)
![He lends at interest and takes a profit. 5160 VISA MasterCard AMERICAN EXPRESS 04 Member Since CRACKED.COM Will such a man live? Не will not! Because he has done all these detestable things, he is to be put to death; his blood will be on his own head. - Ezekiel 18:13](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/3/3/812933.jpg)
![The early television had multiple inventors. Each came up with their own version in the 1920s, but not all of them took the limelight. John Logie Baird Philo Fansworth Kenjiro Takayanagi Charles F. Jenkins Vladimir Zworykin CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/3/2/812932.jpg)
![The KKK burn crosses because they saw it in a movie. The hate group didn't use this intimidation tactic before the infamous The Birth of a Nation. The first reported cross burning happened in Georgia in 1915, months after the movie came out. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/3/1/812931.jpg)
![The world's biggest storm drain sits just underneath Tokyo, and it looks like a building from a sci-fi film. The drain is a series of underground caverns, and protects the city from being flooded by any of the five different rivers in the area. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/2/4/812924.jpg)
14 Mesmerizing Machines That Run The World Behind The Scenes
![CRACKED.COM THE MAN RESPONSIBLE FOR MODERN CIGARETTES DIDN'T SMOKE THEM. James Buchanan Duke strictly smoked cigars. Ironically, cigarettes were supposed to be a healthier option to cigars, even though they are considered to be the deadliest artifact of history.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/2/2/812922.jpg)
![THE TREAD BY LEATHERMAN IS A CUSTOMIZED 29-TOOL BRACELET, ASSEMBLED FROM YOUR CHOICE OF STAINLESS STEEL LINKS, EACH CONTAINING TWO OR THREE DIFFERENT TOOLS. LEATHERMAN To use any of them you just have to take GRAGKED.COM the bracelet off and fold it so the one you need is facing up, with the rest of the band serving as a handle.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/2/7/812927.jpg)
![A ton of modern tech has Zuflufskanal been around way longer than you think: Turbine 300 The Fax The Digital Machine Was Calculator Was Invented Invented in Before the Civil 1640 War Contact They Had Seismographs Lenses Around the Time Existed in the of the New 19th Century Testament The Videodisc Is Older Than the Great Depression READ MORE HERE!](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/2/3/812923.jpg)
![The holes in electric prongs keep the plug from slipping out. Bumps inside the socket slide into the holes, ensuring the plug stays firmly in place. Otherwise, the weight of the plug and cord would make the plug easily fall out. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/2/8/812928.jpg)
Invisible, Super-Smart Gadgets That Are Hidden All Around Us
![The Rectal Tool Kit hides tools in your butt. In 1960, the CIA made a special kit for helping spies to escape from any sticky situation. It's a capsule filled with various little drills, tools, and knives. FIG. Z FIG. 1 Fortunately, it's not swallowed like a pill. Unfortunately, it's shoved up the spy's ass. FIG. 3 CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/2/1/812921.jpg)
![Semiconductors are made with water so clean, it would poison you. It's called ultra-pure water (UPW), and it's bad for you because it would leech minerals from your body (which makes it great for cleaning). NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/2/5/812925.jpg)
![Dr Pepper was inspired by the smell of a drug store Pedper A pharmacist enjoyed the smell of the soda fountain flavors mixed together, so he created a drink that tasted like the smell. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/3/0/812930.jpg)
![CRACKED.COM THE JACUZZI WAS INVENTED AS THERAPY FOR A BABY. In the 1940s, Italian immigrant Candido Jacuzzi designed a pump that could turn any bathtub into a healing spa. His purpose was to help treat his 15-month-old son Kenny, who had been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and could only get relief with the help of hydrotherapy.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/2/0/812920.jpg)
Everyday Objects That Started Out As Something Else Entirely
![In 1878 the New York Times published an editorial that called Thomas Edison's invention, the phonograph, a depraved ingenuity. They claimed that the invention would destroy society because everyone would be too scared about being recorded to trust anyone else. CRACKED COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/2/9/812929.jpg)
![Bikinis are sinful! GRACKED.COM The early modern bikini was so scandalous, its creator, Louis Reard, couldn't find a model willing to wear it. Не had to hire a stripper. The Vatican labeled it sinful, and various U.S. states banned it.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/2/6/812926.jpg)