Amazing Inventions

We use thousands of inventions everyday. The following are some of the most popular inventions developed recently:

    * World Wide Web
      Millions of people use the World Wide Web (WWW) every day at home, at school, and in the office. Tim Berners-Lee came up with the idea for the WWW while working at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. While at CERN, Berners-Lee found it difficult to share information with other scientists, and created the Web as a new way to share information. This new graphical system was very easy to use and allowed information to be shared all around the world using the Internet. The World Wide Web was first introduced in 1991, and is the fastest growing part of the Internet today.
* DVD
      A company named Matshusita first introduced Digital Video Disc (DVD) in 1995. It can store more information than a compact disc (CD), and has already begun to replace VHS videotapes. There are two main types of DVD: DVD-Video and DVD-Audio. DVD-Video is the disc that many people are familiar with from watching movies in their homes. DVD-Audio is similar to a music CD. Both types can also be used on a computer and will probably gradually replace CD-ROM. DVD allows a large amount of high-quality information to be stored at little cost. 
* Cellular Telephones
      If you look around, you will see many people having conversations on cellular telephones or cell phones. Cell phones were first introduced in 1947. AT&T and Bell Labs came up with the idea for certain radio frequency areas to be divided into "cells" to allow more phone service. In 1973 the first cell-phone call was made. In 1977 AT&T and Motorola started to build a cellular telephone market. It took many years before cell phones reached the high level of service that exists today. There are now more than 100 million cell phone users in the United States.

Thousands of creative people come up with ideas for new inventions every year. There are so many new and interesting products that each year a famous American magazine votes on its favorite inventions. In 2002, the "phone tooth" was chosen as a favorite. This is a tiny device placed in a person’s tooth so that they can receive telephone calls in secret. The device converts information into vibrations that travel from the tooth to the ear. Only the person with the "phone tooth" can hear the information! What will be the next exciting invention? Only time can tell!
*ADHESIVE TAPE
Richard G. Drew (1899-1980) invented masking tape and clear adhesive tape (also called cellophane tape or Scotch tape). Drew was an engineer for the 3M company (the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing).

Drew's first tape invention was a masking tape made for painters in 1923 (this tape was designed to help painters paint a straight border between two colors). This early masking tape was a wide paper tape with adhesive on only the edges of the tape - not in the middle. Drew made an improved tape called Scotch (TM) Brand Cellulose Tape in 1930. This tape was a clear, all-purpose adhesive tape that was soon adopted worldwide. The first tape dispenser with a built-in cutting edge was invented in 1932 by John A. Borden, another 3M employee.
*AEROSOL SPRAY CAN
The forerunner of the aerosol can was invented by Erik Rotheim of Norway. On November 23, 1927, Rotheim patented a can with a valve and propellant systems - it could hold and dispense liquids.

The first aerosol can (a can than contains a propellant [a liquefied gas like flurocarbon] and has a spray nozzle) was invented in 1944 by Lyle David Goodloe and W.N. Sullivan. They were working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and were trying to find a way to spray and kill malaria carrying mosquitos during World War II for the soldiers overseas. The "clog-free" spray valve was invented by Robert H. Abplanal in 1953.

The first spray paint was invented by Edward H. Seymour in 1949. Seymour's wife Bonnie had given him the idea of an aerosol applicator for paint. The first spray paint he developed was aluminum colored. Seymour formed the company, Seymour of Sycamore, Inc. of Chicago, USA, which is still in operation.