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But it leads us to today's
story, which focuses on several common myths, misnomers and
misunderstandings -- as well as a few truths -- about inventions and
inventors. Your job is to decide which of these seven subheadings
are fact and which ones are fiction.
Fact or fiction? Charles Goodyear founded the Goodyear Tire &
Rubber Company.
While Charles Goodyear did invent the process of vulcanizing
rubber, he did not found the company that bears his name. Then who
did start the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company? It was Frank
Seiberling in 1898; he named it Goodyear as a tribute to Charles
Goodyear 38 years after Goodyear died. So the first one is fiction.
Fact or fiction? The person who established the Nobel Prizes
also invented dynamite.
How ironic would it be if the person who established the Nobel
Prizes also invented something that led to the deaths of thousands
of people? Oddly enough, this one's a fact, as Alfred Nobel left
over $1 million in his will for the five awards: peace; physics;
chemistry; physiology and medicine; and literature.
Fact or fiction? Presidential inventor Thomas Jefferson, who
established the U.S. patent office 11 years before he became
president, never patented any of his own inventions because he
considered patents to be an unfair monopoly.
This one is also a fact. Jefferson invented many items that are
still in use today, including the swivel chair, the dumbwaiter and
double doors. He also introduced french fries and macaroni to
America, and he was our nation's first patent commissioner.
Fact or fiction? Women have always had the same rights to own
patents as men do.
During parts of the 1700s and early 1800s, women were not allowed
to own property, including patents, so this one is fiction. Many
women skirted the law (no pun intended) by either applying for
patents in their husband's name or by simply using their initials on
their patent applications.
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Fact or fiction? The inventor of Liquid Paper was also the
mother of one of the band members of The Monkees.
Fact-a-mundo, as The Fonz would say. If you've been a loyal
Invention Mysteries reader since this column began in 2003, then you
might remember that the mother of Monkees guitarist Michael Nesmith
sold her Liquid Paper Corporation to Gillette for $47 million plus
royalties. Maybe that's why he skipped their 1997 reunion tour, as
he certainly didn't need the money.
Fact or fiction? The world's first metal detector was used to
try to save a U.S. president's life.
The inventor was Alexander Graham Bell, and he used his metal
detector to try to locate a bullet that had wounded President James
Garfield, so this one's a fact. Every time the metal detector made a
buzzing noise, the doctors assumed that they had found the location
of the bullet, so they continued to probe his body looking for it.
The metal turned out to be the metal springs of President Garfield's
bed, so the metal detector, along with the doctors, probably did
more harm than good. President Garfield would later die.
Fact or fiction? The inventor of the World Wide Web chose not
to patent the Web, so that it could reach its full potential.
Since you know you don't have to pay to use the Web, this one
must be fact. The Web's inventor, Tim Berners-Lee, probably would
have faced at least 600 lawsuits from imposters claiming to have
invented it, just as Alexander Graham Bell did when his "other"
invention became a big hit.
That's a good one to end today's story with. And that's a fact.
[Paul Niemann]
Paul Niemann may be reached at
niemann7@aol.com.
© Paul Niemann 2005
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