In The Can
Canned Food was first invented for the British Navy in 1813 by Peter Durand. Made of solid iron, the tins usually weighed more than the food inside them!
Seeing The Light
The traffic light was first installed outside the Houses of Parliament in 1914. Created to prevent the large number of horse-drawn carriages in the area from colliding, a pair of alternating green and red gas lamps quickly progressed to become the automated system used today.
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Plastic Fantastic
Wealthy Americans invented the worlds first credit card during the 1920s when oil companies and hotel chains began to reward regular customers with a credit scheme. In 1950 the Diners Club issued an international credit card to 200 customers who could use the card at 27 New York restaurants.
Office Rodents
Did you know the computer mouse was invented in the 1970s by Stanford University Professor, Douglas Englehart. |
A larger, foot-operated version, which Englehart named the rat, failed to catch on!
Cool Shades
Sunglasses are believed to have been invented by the Innuit people, formerly known as Eskimos, who used a piece of whalebone, pierced with narrow slits, to cover the eyes in an attempt to avoid Arctic snow-blindness!
Instant Success
Teabags were first invented by Thomas Sullivan way back in 1904, whilst Mr G Washington, an |
Englishman living in Guatemala, produced the first instant coffee two years later in 1906. Swiss company, Nestle, first introduced its famous instant blend, Nescafe, in 1938.
Domestic Bliss
Households rejoiced at the invention of the electric food mixer in 1918, while Kenneth Wood patented his own version, the Kenwood Chef Food Mixer in 1948. The first electric hand iron was sold in London in 1920 and the worlds first launderette, the washeteria opened in Texas in 1934. |
Bathing bliss came care of Roy Jacuzzi who invented the first whirlpool bath in 1968.
Food For Thought
Establishing a truly British tradition, Harry Ramsden opened the first chip shop in Bradford, England, in 1928. A year later, Kelloggs put the snap, crackle and pop into the cereal market with the introduction of Rice Krispies. And did you know that M&Ms were first launched in military ration packs way back in 1940.
Karen Morris |
