Gadgets
The first friction match was invented by English chemist John Walker in 1827. This matches produced rather unpleasant odour when burning, and in 1831, Frenchman Charles Sauria added poisonous white phosphorus to remove the smell. The workers involved in production of these dangerous new matches suffered phossy jaw, a type of bone cancer, while young girls carrying boxes of matches on their heads were bald by age 15.
Early matches were made manually, and a diligent worker could produce about 5000 match sticks per hour.
Sweden is now the biggest producer of matches in the world. In the United States the largest wooden match manufacturer is Diamond. It produces 12 billion matches each year.
The modern ball point pen was invented in 1938 by the Hungarian journalist Laszlo Josef Biro who first tried using the ink used in newspaper printing in a fountain pen. It did not work out though, as the too thick ink would not flow into the nib. So, together with his brother, a chemist, he developed a new kind of pen, which used a freely moving ball as a nib.
Biro patented his invention in 1938 in Paris after fleeing Hungary, and in 1943, when the family moved to Argentine the other patent was filed.
Then a British government official decided that the new pens worked much better than fountain pens at high altitude, and bought the British licensing rights soon after the patent was filed. (The question is though why the aircrews needed the pens at high altitude?)
Laszlo Biro is so highly respected in Argentina that Argentina's Inventor's Day is celebrated on Biro's birthday, September 29.
See the Biromash, ballpoint pen drawing, at biro-art.com.
A polygraph, also known as lie detector, is a device used to detect lies. The term "polygraph" literally means "writing much" (from Greek polys "much" + graphos "writing"). Polygraph measures and records changes in cardiovascular patterns, respiratory patterns and in sweat gland activity during an interrogation.
The original polygraph was invented by forensic psychiatrist John Larson in 1921 in California.
He built a machine that simultaneously measured pulse rate, blood pressure, and respiratory changes while a series of questions was being asked. Later he developed an interviewing technique where relevant (Did you steal the money?) and irrelevant (Are you 30 years old?) questions alternate.
There are few possible explanations for how the condom got its name. The most popular legend says that the condom was named for a British physician who lived during the reign of Charles II (1660-85). Some suggest "condom" come from Italian "guanto" (glove). It also may be derived from Condus, the Latin for receptacle.
Recognized since Roman times, the first condoms were made of linen cloth sheaths, woven fabrics, animal intestines.
In 1500's when the syphilis epidemic spread across Europe linen sheaths were used to prevent infection, and it was only later that the usefulness of the condom for the prevention of pregnancy was recognized.
Mass production of condoms started in the mid-19th century, shortly after the invention of the rubber vulcanization (process that turns the rubber into a strong elastic material: condoms made of vulcanized rubber latex may be stretched in excess of 800% before breaking) by Goodyear and Hancock. By the mid-1930s, 1.5 million condoms were produced a day in the US.
According to Contact Lens Spectrum's annual report about 125 million people use contact lenses worldwide.
Though the concept of contact lenses was described by Leonardo da Vinci as far back as 1508, the first contact lenses were not used until 1888 when the German physiologist Adolf Eugen Fick reported using contact lenses to correct optical defects. He used the lenses made from heavy brown glass initially on rabbits, then on himself, and lastly on a small group of volunteers. These were 18-21mm in diameter.
Such lenses were almost unusable until the 1930s. Then the acrylic was developed, and optometrist, Dr. William Feinbloom introduced in 1936 plastic scleral lenses that were lighter and more convenient than previous ones.
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