💡 #7 answers: Inventions Day

Play-Doh was first made in Ohio in the 1930s as a wallpaper cleaner, not as a toy for children.

When homes stopped heating with coal, it found a second life in nursery schools.

“The product was first manufactured in Cincinnati, Ohio, as a wallpaper cleaner in the 1930s.”

Velcro was inspired by burrs that kept sticking to an engineer's clothes and to his dog's fur.

George de Mestral copied the burrs' tiny hooks after a hunting trip in the Alps.

“He took a close look at the burs of burdock that kept sticking to his clothes and his dog's fur.”

Alexander Graham Bell was awarded the first United States patent for the telephone in March 1876.

His work grew out of research on hearing and speech.

“His research on hearing and speech further led him to experiment with hearing devices, which eventually culminated in his being awarded the first U.S. patent for the telephone, on March 7, 1876.”

The first text message, sent to a mobile phone in December 1992, simply said 'Merry Christmas'.

An engineer sent it from a computer to a colleague's phone.

“The first SMS message was sent on 3 December 1992, when Neil Papworth, a test engineer for Sema Group, sent "Merry Christmas" to the Orbitel 901 phone of colleague Richard Jarvis.”

The ancient Greek Antikythera mechanism could predict eclipses decades ahead and is the oldest known analogue computer.

It was found in a shipwreck in 1901 and has dozens of bronze gears.

“It is the oldest known example of an analogue computer. It could be used to predict astronomical positions and eclipses decades in advance.”

Paper-making developed in China, and it is traditionally credited to a court official named Cai Lun.

He refined the process around 105 CE, though paper-like material is older.

“The papermaking process developed in East Asia at least as early as 105 CE by the Han court eunuch Cai Lun, although archaeological evidence exists of 2nd century BCE paper-like material in China.”

Bubble wrap was invented by accident in 1957 by two men who were trying to make 3D plastic wallpaper.

The wallpaper flopped, but the bubbles turned out to be perfect for packing.

“In 1957, two inventors named Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes were attempting to create a three-dimensional plastic wallpaper.”

The microwave oven began when an engineer noticed that a radar set had melted a candy bar in his pocket.

Percy Spencer then tried popcorn, and then an egg, which exploded.

“While employed at Raytheon, he noticed that microwaves from an active radar set he was working on started to melt a candy bar he had in his pocket.”

Earmuffs for keeping warm were invented in 1873 by Chester Greenwood of Maine, when he was just 15.

He and his workers went on making them in his home town for nearly 60 years.

“Thermal earmuffs were invented by Chester Greenwood of Farmington, Maine in 1873, when he was 15.”

The Slinky was invented after a naval engineer saw a spring 'step' downwards after falling off a shelf.

Richard James spent the next year finding a steel spring that would 'walk' properly.

“James, a naval mechanical engineer, observed a spring "stepping" downward after being knocked off a shelf, then coming to rest in a vertical position.”