Inventing Fun, Facts & Trivia

Famous Products Created By
Independent & Universtiy Inventors —
NOT Big Companies!!!

• Adolph's Meat Tenderizer (Adolph Rempp)
• airbag (Allen Breed)
• air brake (George Westinghouse)
• air conditioning (Willis Carrier)
• airplane (Orville & Wilbur Wright)
• air purifier (Frederick Cottrell)
• alternating current (Nicola Tesla)
• Apple computer (Steve Jobs)
• aqualung for divers (Jacques Cousteau)
• atom "smashers" (Ernest Lawrence and Vandergraff)
• ATM (Luther Simijian)
• audio sound generators (William Hewlett)
• Avery labels (Stan Avery)
   
• baby bottle with hole in the middle (Nickie and William Campbell)
• ball point pen (John Loud)
• Barbie doll (Ruth Handler)
• blender (Stephen Poplawski)
• Blue jeans (Levi Strauss)
• brown 'n serve dinner rolls (Joe Gregor)
• brown paper bag (Margaret Knight)
   
• calculator (William Seward Burroughs)
• can opener (William W. Lyman)
• car radio (Paul Galvin)
• carpet sweeper (Melville Bissell)
• Castro Convertible sofa beds (Bernard Castro)
• CB Walkie-Talkie (Al Gross)
• Celestial Seasonings herbal tea (Mo Siegel)
• celluloid (John Hyatt)
• cereal (George Kellogg)
• Clue board game (Anthony Pratt)
• Coca-Cola (Dr. John S. Pemberton)
• color film - Kodachrome (Leo Godowsky & Leopold Mannes)
• computer mouse (Douglas C. Engelbart)
• condensed milk (Gail Borden)
• cotton gin (Eli Wbitney)
• Cracker Jack (F.W. Rueckheim)
• Crayola crayons (Edwin Binney & Harold Smith)
   
• Delta faucet (Alex Manoogian)
• diesel engine (Rudolph Diesel)
• digital fax (Robert Wernikoff)
• dishwasher (Josephine Garis Cochraine)
• disposable diaper (Marion Donovan)
• disposable paper cup (Hugh Moore)
• DoveBar ice cream (Leo Stefanos)
• Dr. Scholl's foot care products (Dr. William Scholl)
• dynamite (Alfred Nobel)
   
• earmuffs (Chester Greenwood)
• electric blanket (S. I. Russell)
• electronic calculators (An Wang)
• electric shaver (Jacob Schick)
• elevator (Elisha Otis)
• engine-driven generator (Delco) - Charles Kettering
   
• frozen foods (Clarence Birdseye)
• Fig Newton (James Mitchell)
• FM radio (Edwin Armstrong)
• Frisbee (Fred Morrison)
• frozen pizza (Rose Totino)
   
• gas mask (Garrett Morgan)
• Gatling gun (Richard Gatling)
• golf tee (Dr. William Lowell)
• Gatorade (Robert Cade, M.D.)
• grocery cart (Sylvan Goldman)
• gyroscope (Charles Stark Draper)
   
• Hawaiian Tropic suntan oils (Ron Rice)
• helicopter (Igor Sikorsky)
• hot dog roller cooker (Calvin MacCracken)
   
• implantable cardiac pacemaker (Wilson Greatbatch)
• intermittent windshield wiper (Robert Kearns)
   
• Jacuzzi whirlpool (Candido and Roy Jacuzzi)
• Jantzen swimwear (John and Roy Zehntbauer)
• Jolt Cola (C.J. Rapp)
• Kitty Litter (Edward Lowe)
• Knox Gelatin (Rose Markward Knox)
• Koosh Ball (Scott Stillinger)
   
• laser (Gordon Gould)
• La-Z-Boy recliner (Edwin Shoemaker)
• Learjet (Bill Lear)
• Life Savers Candy (Clarence Crane)
• light bulb (Thomas Edison)
• Liquid Paper (Bette Nesmith Graham)
• Louisville Slugger baseball bat (Pete Browning)
   
• magnetic core memory (Kenneth Olsen, founder, Digital Corp.)
• manufacture of aluminum (Charles Hall)
• Maytag washers (Fred Maytag)
• M- 16 weapon (Eugene Stoner)
• microphone & gramophone (Emile Berliner)
• microwave cookware (Stanley Mason)
• Moen faucets (Al Moen)
• Monopoly board game (Charles Barrow)
• mood rings (Marvin Wernick)
• Morse code (Samuel Morse)
• ME (Raymond Damadian)
• Murphy bed (Willliam Murphy)
   
• Nerf ball (Reynolds Guyer)
• Nike shoe (Bill Bowerman)
• nuclear reactor (Enrico Fernii and Leo Szilard)
   
• oasis floral foam (Vemon Smithers)
• Odor-Eaters (Herbert Lapidus)
• outboard motor (Ole Evinrude)
   
• parking meter (Carlton Magee)
• PC-DOS and MS-DOS computer operating systems (Tim Patterson)
• peach (Luther Burbank)
• Pepperidge Farm bakery (Margaret Rudkin)
• Pepsi-Cola (Caleb Bradham)
• permanent wave machine (Marjorie Joyner)
• phonograph (Thomas Edison)
• plastic (Leo Baekeland)
• pneumatic tire (J.B. Dunlop)
• Polaroid camera (Edwin Land)
• Polarizing sunglasses (Edwin Land)
• Pong - I st video game (Nolan Bushnell)
• Popsicles (Frank Epperson)
• pop top can (Ermal Fraze)
• pop-up tissue box (Andrew Olsen)
• pop-up toaster (Charles Strite)
• potato chips (George Crum)
• PowerBars snack food (Brian Maxwell)
• power hand tools (Black & Decker)
• power steering (Francis Davis)
• punch card tabulating machine (Herman Hollerith)
   
• quartz timers (George Pierce and Walter Cady)
   
• radio (Guglielmo Marconi)
• radio tube (Dr. Lee deForest)
• ready mix paint (Henry Sherwin)
• respirator (Dr. Forrest Bird)
• revolver (Samuel Colt)
• rickshaw (Rev. Jonathan Scobie)
• rocketry (Robert Goddard)
• Rollerblades (Scott & Brennan Olsen)
• roll film for cameras (George Eastman)
• Rolodex (Alfred Neustadter)
   
• safety pin (Walter Hunt)
• safety razor (King Gillette)
• Samsonite luggage (Jesse Shwayder)
• Scrabble board game (Alfred Butts)
• ship propeller (John Ericsson)
• silo (Fred Hatch)
• Slinky toy (Richard James)
• snowboard (Tim Sims)
• Snugli baby carrier (Ann Moore)
• soda straw (Otto Diefenbach)
• sonogram. (Robert H. Rines)
• S.O.S. scouring pads (Edwin W. Cox)
• space guidance systems (Charles Draper)
• standardized cooking recipes (Fannie Farmer)
• strobe lights (Harold Edgerton)
• submarine (Cornelius van Drebbel)
• super computer (Seymour Cray)
   
• telephone (Alexander Graham Bell)
• television (Philo Farnsworth)
• traffic light (Garrett Morgan)
• Timex watches (Joakim Lehmkuhl)
• Tabasco Sauce (Edmund McIhenny)
• teddy bear (Morris Michtom, founder, Ideal Toy Co.)
• Toll House cookie recipe (Ruth Wakefield)
• Topsy Tail (Tomima Edmark)
• Tupperware (Earl Tupper)
• tuxedo (Pierre Lorillard)
• TV on-screen programming (Michael Levine)
• 2000 Flushes toilet bowl cleaner (Al Eisen)
• typewriter (Christopher Sholes)
   
• vacuum bottle (James Dewar)
• vacuum cleaner (Ives McGaffhey)
• Velcro (George de Mestral)
• Vicks VapoRub (Lunsford Richardson)
• vulcanized rubber (Charles Goodyear)
   
• Walkman (Jerome Lemelson)
• waterbed (Charlie Hall)
• water skis (Ralph Samuelson)
• water softener (Emmett Culligan)
• Whitman Sampler (Stephen Whitman)
• Wizzzer toy top (Paul Brown)
• World Wide Web (Tim Berners-Lee)
   
• xerography (photocopying - Xerox) (Chester Carlson)
   
• Zamboni ice resurfacer for ice skating rinks (Frank Zamboni)
• zipper (Whitcomb Judson)