Things You Didn't Realize Were American Inventions
Things You Didn't Realize Were American Inventions
Americans are responsible for some of the world's most life-saving medicine, the world's most interconnecting technology, and inventions that revolutionized almost every industry on the planet. From the airplane to the lightbulb and everything in between, here are some inventions that you may not have realized were American.
Smoke Detectors
As every firefighter will tell you, smoke detectors are life-saving devices. Whether yours is hard-wired into your electrical system, or operates solely off a battery (or has a combination of both), the smoke detector is an American invention. It was invented by Francis Robbins Upton in 1890 and (hilariously) labeled as a "Portable Electric Tire-Alarm" on the patent, probably due to a typo.
The Ferris Wheel
While the London Eye may be among the world's most famous Ferris wheels, the invention of the spinning wheel on-high was actually invented in the United States, in 1891 by George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. Luckily, he chose the right part of his name to give to his invention. The original Ferris wheel is referred to as the "Chicago Wheel" and was unveiled in 1893.
The Stop Sign
Have you ever wondered where those great big, red octagonal signs come from? It turns out, it was invented in 1890, along with the first set of traffic laws, by a man named William Phelps Eno of Connecticut, who published the idea of a stop sign in a Rider and Driver article. But, the actual sign was not adopted until 1915, when officials in Detroit installed a black-letter/white-background "STOP" sign.
Schrader Valves
That thing you pump air through on your bicycle tire? Unless you're using a 700cc tire, it's called a Schrader valve. It was developed in 1891 by father/son duo George and August Schrader, a pair of German-American immigrants to the United States. They patented the valve in 1893.
