15 Amazing Technological Advancements by Kids and Teenagers
![15 Amazing Technological Advancements by Kids and Teenagers](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/9/877709_320x180.jpg)
Quickly, everybody think of an inventor. No, not Steve Jobs, he was a tweaker. No, not Elon Musk, he’s a hype-man (and many other things, but do not even get us started). Also, no, not Thomas Edi – no, wait, actually, yes, exactly like Thomas Edison. We’re team Nikola Tesla anyway, but Thomas “elephants are overrated” Edison works just fine. We tend to think of inventors as grown-ass men, like Edison, Tesla, Graham Bell, Leonardo, or Homer Simpson. But considering the insane creativity that characterizes childhood, it is no surprise some of it becomes actual badass inventions.
In this Pictofact, we discuss 15 amazing technological advancements made by kids and teenagers. We’re also considering a few youngsters in their early 20s, because of reasons we still need to come up with but that’ll absolutely convince you, trust us. In each case, though, what we will witness is the unbound imagination of the early years. These young people saw a problem, figured out how to solve it, and in the older cases, we’re still enjoying the world they helped create. You know, the world that the mere existence of people like Elon Musk is quickly turning into a wasteland. Quickly, everybody ask your 12-year-old family members what to do about billionaires.
TV
![YOUNG INVENTORS A KID INVENTED TV (SO WE CAN ALL WATCH TOO MUCH TV). 15-year-old Philo Farnsworth came up with diagrams on how to make an actual electronic TV system. In 1921. By 1927, he had created an image dissector that could indeed transmit images. Later, he developed a complete TV system, camera and all. VHE 13 86OL 12 17 - PICTURE UHF -88 PL ASTOJATI SOLID STATE HUE COLOR - CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/2/5/877725.jpg)
Revolver
![YOUNG INVENTORS A TEENAGER INVENTED THE REVOLVER. In 1835, Sam Colt patented his first revolver at age 26, but the idea of a gun with a rotating cylinder first came to him when he was 17. His first model blew up, but he got there eventually. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/2/4/877724.jpg)
Braille
![YOUNG INVENTORS A BADASS 15-YEAR-OLD BLIND KID INVENTED BRAILLE. 10-year-old Louis Braille got to attend the only school for the blind in the entire world, in France. But he still felt he could learn even more if he could just read, so he got to work, and by age 15 he had invented the Braille alphabet as it is today. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/2/1/877721.jpg)
Water Talkie
![CRACKED.COM YOUNG INVENTORS AN 11-YEAR-OLD DISCOVERED HOW TO TALK UNDERWATER. Little Richie Stachowski wanted to talk to his dad while swimming, so he literally researched water acoustics and came up with the Water Talki, a cone- shaped device that allows swimmers to talk to each other from as far as 15 feet away. Sometime later he gor an order for 50,000 units from Toys R Us, and in 1993 he sold his company.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/2/3/877723.jpg)
Trampoline
![YOUNG INVENTORS A TEENAGER INVENTED THE TRAMPOLINE. Today we have to tell kids to stop messing around with the trampoline, but in 1930 someone had to start messing around with it. 16-year-old George Nissen thought it'd be cool if circus acrobats could continue doing tricks after falling in their nets. After a few tries, he created a metal frame with a nylon canvas, for more bounce. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/2/6/877726.jpg)
Train Brakes
![YOUNG INVENTORS A 22-YEAR-OLD INVENTED GAME-CHANGING TRAIN BRAKES. In 1869, young George Westinghouse invented brakes based on compressed air. They could be released simultaneously on all train cars, and they would be activated even if there was a disconnection in the brake system, stopping the train before brakes were even necessary. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/2/2/877722.jpg)
Snowmobile
![YOUNG INVENTORS A 15-YEAR-OLD INVENTED THE SNOWMOBILE. Quebec-born Joseph Bombardier took an old Model T and added a sleigh frame and a hand-whittled propeller to it. By 1937, at age 30, he was already selling Bombardier snowmobiles that sat seven people, but it all started at an age at which some of us were just discovering late-night Cinemax movies. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/9/877719.jpg)
Water Skiing
![YOUNG INVENTORS A TEEN INVENTED THE GEAR FOR A SPORT (AND THE SPORT). Water skiing was pretty much invented by 18-year- old Ralph Samuelson in Lake Pepin, Minnesota, in 1922. Не made his own skis made of pine board, after wooden barrel staves and snow skis proved not to be able to do the job. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/5/877715.jpg)
Writing in the Dark
![YOUNG INVENTORS A 10-YEAR-OLD GIRL INVENTED A WAY TO WRITE IN THE DARK. In 1972, Becky Schroeder thought of of painting a clipboard with phosphorescent paint, and then placing paper on top, which would allow writing in the dark. She named her invention Glow Sheet, patented it in 1974, and got calls from NASA-while still being around 12 years old. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/2/0/877720.jpg)
Swimming Flippers
![YOUNG INVENTORS SOME KID NAMED BENJAMIN FRANKLIN INVENTED SWIMMING FLIPPERS. Yup, it was that Ben Franklin. When he was 11, he loved to swim but wasn't too good at it, so he came up with lily pad-shaped wooden planks to move with his hands. They did help swim faster, but they got his wrists tired so he abandoned the idea. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/4/877714.jpg)
COVID Tracking
![YOUNG INVENTORS A RAD TEEN MADE A COVID TRACKING WEBSITE. 17-year-old Avi Schiffmann, from Washington Stat, created one of the world's most-visited and accurate coronavirus tracking sites. Не did it in late 2019, before COVID literally took over the world. And then he turned down $8 million to run ads. 22 NH CORONAVIRUS COVID-19 NM OF HN PULSE82 125 COM 54 38 E NH FORD STAT STARLE TEUR 1042 NH CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/7/877717.jpg)
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Wikipedia
Christmas Lights
![YOUNG INVENTORS A KID SAID, HEY, MAYBE LET'S NOT HAVE ACTUAL FIRE IN OUR CHRISTMAS TREES. Yup, Christmas trees used to have candles. By 1925, though, Christmas lights existed, but they were way too expensive. Enter Albert Sadacca. At age 15, he adapted the novelty lighting sold by his parents into a battery-powered version, and the rest is frustratedly untangling Christmas lights history. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/6/877716.jpg)
Bacon
![YOUNG INVENTORS AN 8-YEAR-OLD KID GAVE US BACON. Alright, bacon existed way before, but in 1993, an girl in Minnesota had a brilliant idea while watching her parents' messy way of microwaving bacon: a rack to hang bacon strips while the excess grease falls in a pan below. It's like hanging clothes to dry, but with bacon-and you've surely seen the TV ads for the final product: Makin' Bacon. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/2/877712.jpg)
Calculator
![YOUNG INVENTORS 19-YEAR-OLD BLAISE PASCAL INVENTED THE FIRST FUNCTIONING CALCULATOR. In 1642, the French mathematician and philosopher started developing a machine that could add and subtract (and multiply and divide by repeating additions or subtractions). Pascal built around 70 prototypes until 1645, nine of which still survive. 3 2 5 3 dizar new Containir malla Containne do mille de mill one OWO CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/8/877718.jpg)
Cancer Detection
![YOUNG INVENTORS A HIGH-SCHOOL STUDENT CAME UP WUTH A METHOD TO DIAGNOSE CANCER. Jack Andraka created an award-winning method of finding pancreatic cancer early. It's a paper strip dipped in a solution that allows it to specifically detect, erm, stuff way over our heads. Still, the method has required a lot of tinkering, and widespread use is still to be seen. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/3/877713.jpg)