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Anton van Leeuwenhoek (October 24, 1632–August 30, 1723) invented the first practical microscopes and used them to become the first person to see and describe bacteria, among other microscopic discoveries.
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Whitney received a patent for his cotton gin in 1794 (his idea was based on earlier gins and also on ideas from other people, including Greene and enslaved laborers; some say that these were the rightful inventors of the cotton gin).
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Thomas Jennings invented a process he called "dry-scouring," receiving a patent in 1821 and becoming the first African American to be granted a patent. His dry scouring process was a predecessor to today's dry cleaning methods.
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Charles Goodyear (December 29, 1800 – July 1, 1860) was an American self-taught chemist and manufacturing engineer who developed vulcanized rubber, for which he received patent number 3633 from the United States Patent Office on June 15, 1844. vulcanize rubber discovered in 1839, process perfected and patented in 1844.
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Elias Howe patented the first ever lockstitch sewing machine in the world in 1846. His invention helped the mass production of sewing machines and clothing. That in turn revolutionized the sewing industry and freed women from some of the drudgery of daily life at the time.
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Ezra Warner patented the first can opener on January 5, 1858 (US Patent No. 19,063), almost 50 years after metal cans appeared. Warner designed a tool with a cutting blade and a guard that prevented the blade from penetrating too far into the contents of a can.
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On May 20, 1873, San Francisco businessman Levi Strauss and Reno, Nevada, tailor Jacob Davis are given a patent to create work pants reinforced with metal rivets, marking the birth of one of the world's most famous garments: blue jeans.
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Alexander Graham Bell is credited with being the inventor of the telephone since his patent and demonstrations for an apparatus designed for “transmitting vocal or other sounds telegraphically… causing electrical undulations” were successful. First Bell Telephone, June 1875.
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On May 8, 1886, Dr. John Pemberton sold the first glass of Coca-Cola at Jacobs' Pharmacy in downtown Atlanta. Serving nine drinks per day in its first year, Coca-Cola was new refreshment in its beginning. See the story here of how it all began.
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The Ferris wheel owes its famous design to George Washington Gale Ferris Jr., a structural engineer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who inspected steel for the fair. Ferris brought the idea for an enormous metal wheel to Daniel Burnham, the fair's lead architect, after Burnham requested an iconic structure.
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It was 1903 when the crayon made its debut. Before that a child's crayon was just a stick of colored clay or chalk. It looked nice but when put to paper, nothing much happened not a pretty picture. Binney & Smith was a small, 21-year-old firm, owned by Edwin Binney and C.
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Orville takes off with Wilbur running beside, December 17, 1903. At 10:35, he released the restraining wire. The flyer moved down the rail as Wilbur steadied the wings.
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Born in Helensburgh in Scotland, inventor and engineer John Logie Baird (1888-1946) achieved many 'firsts' in television technology. He started experimenting with television in 1922 and took out his first television patent in 1923. He demonstrated the first prototype television in 1925.
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However, it wasn't until 1928 that bubblegum was created. Walter Diemer, working for the Frank H. Fleer Gum Company, discovered bubblegum by accident while experimenting in the lab during his breaks. The gum was named Dubble Bubble.
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Not long afterwards, in the early 1950s, the first successful vaccine was created by US physician Jonas Salk. Salk tested his experimental killed-virus vaccine on himself and his family in 1953, and a year later on 1.6 million children in Canada, Finland and the USA.
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