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Inventions Trivia

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The first ballpoint pens sold in 1945 were priced at $12.00 apiece.

The first Band-Aid Brand Adhesive Bandages were three inches wide and eighteen inches long. You made your own bandage by cutting off as much as you needed.

Joseph Priestley, the English chemist, invented carbonated water. It was a by-product of his investigations into the chemistry of air.

The first BB gun was invented in 1886. Made for children, it frightened many parents because it was an actual working gun that could cause serious injury. The BB gun was a descendant of the cap gun, which was invented soon after the U.S. Civil War. The BB gun uses compressed air produced by a spring-operated plunger.

Joshua Pusey of Pennsylvania received a patent for his book matches in 1892.

The first black-and-white motion picture to be digitally converted to color was Yankee Doodle Dandy, the 1942 biopic of entertainer George M. Cohen.

Just 50 years after Johannes Gutenberg invented his printing press in the mid-15th century, more than 6 million books had been published on law, science, poetry, politics, and religion.

The first bricks were made by the people of Jericho, in 8000 B.C. A town of 2,000 people, Jericho was one of the oldest known towns in existence.

Karl Benz of Germany is credited with inventing the first automobile in 1885. The automobile had an internal combustion engine and three wheels. In 1926, Benz merged his company with that of fellow German auto creator, Gustave Daimler, to form the Mercedes-Benz.

The first coin-operated machine ever designed was a holy-water dispenser that required a five-drachma piece to operate. It was the brainchild of the Greek scientist Hero in the first century A.D.

Kilts are not native to Scotland. They originated in France.

The first commercial vacuum cleaner was so large it was mounted on a wagon. People threw parties in their homes so guests could watch the new device do its job.

KLEENEX® Cleansing Tissues were invented in 1924 as a sanitary way to remove cold cream.

The first cyanoacrylate (super/krazy glue) was discovered by accident, when chemists at Eastman-Kodak accidentally glued two prisms together when testing new organic compounds for light refracting properties.

Kleenex® tissues were marketed as a cold cream remover when they were first introduced in 1924.

The first drive-in service station in the United States was opened by Gulf Oil Company – on December 1, 1913, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Launched by the Mattel company in 1988, Holiday Barbie was among America's best-selling dolls in 1995 and 1996.

The first envelopes with gummed flaps were produced in 1844. In Britain, they were not immediately popular because it was thought to be a serious insult to send a person's saliva to someone else.

Leonardo da Vinci invented the scissors.

Levi Hutchins of Concord, New Hampshire, invented the first alarm clock in 1787. It only rang at 4 a.m. because that's what time he got up.

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