Inventions Facts for Kids
Genius facts about great inventions
The first email was sent in 1971 by computer engineer Ray Tomlinson, who also decided to use the @ symbol to separate the user's name from the computer's name. He cannot remember what the first message said, as it was just a test.
The hovercraft was invented by British engineer Christopher Cockerell in 1955, who tested his idea using two tin cans and a vacuum cleaner. The SR.N1, the first full-size hovercraft, crossed the English Channel in 1959.
The postcode (known as a ZIP code in the USA) was introduced in Britain in 1959 and in the USA in 1963 to help sort mail automatically by machine. The first postcode system in the world was introduced in Germany in 1941.
The 'safety bicycle' with a chain drive and two equal-sized wheels was introduced by John Kemp Starley in 1885, making cycling accessible to women and the general public for the first time. It is essentially the same design as modern bicycles.
Cat litter was invented in 1947 when Edward Lowe gave his neighbour some absorbent clay pellets as a substitute for the sand she was using in her cat's tray. She found it worked brilliantly, and Lowe soon began selling it at local pet shops.
Early astronauts used Velcro to attach their food trays, pens, and equipment to walls inside spacecraft so nothing floated away. NASA ordered so much Velcro for the Gemini programme that it helped make the product commercially successful worldwide.
Wellington boots were inspired by the short boots worn by the Duke of Wellington in the early 1800s, who asked his shoemaker for a more practical riding boot. Vulcanised rubber Wellingtons, as we know them today, were first made by Hiram Hutchinson in France in 1853.
When escalators were first installed in department stores in the early 1900s, stores stationed staff at the top and bottom to help customers who were too frightened to step on or off. Some shops even offered brandy to nervous passengers who made it to the top.
The first digital camera was invented by Kodak engineer Steve Sasson in 1975 — but Kodak kept it secret for fear it would damage their film business. The prototype weighed nearly 4 kilograms and took 23 seconds to record a single black-and-white image.
Velcro was invented in 1941 by Swiss engineer George de Mestral after he noticed burrs stuck to his dog's fur during a hike. Under a microscope, he saw tiny hooks on the burrs that latched onto loops of fur. He spent years perfecting a fabric version, and today Velcro is used in everything from shoes to spacesuits.