Category: Inventions

Invention of Pizza

The invention of pizza cannot date back to a specific time and place, the main reason being that pizza was part of an evolution and evolved into that which we eat today.

The controversy surrounding the invention of pizza, and what the first pizza was made of, may possibly never be solved, but if we look more closely at the invention of the ‘modern-world’ pizza we all know, then it is easier to provide facts.

Dating back many centuries, pizza was a popular peasant meal in Italy. Years ago, as early as 1000 AD, the word pizza was used by the Romans, which actually meant pie. Ancient Romans would typically have meals consisting of flat bread with other food items on top of it. This form of pizza is what we today call ‘focaccia’.

The invention of pizza started in Naples in 1830 through a shop called the Port Alba. This shop still sells pizza to date. The pizza that was sold was the basic pizza we know as the Margarita. It consisted of flat bread, pasted with tomato and topped with cheese. Of course, its taste does differ today.

Raffaele Esposito of Naples created the modern day pizza in Campania, Italy in 1889. This new type of pizza was specially prepared during the visits of Italian King Umberto I and Queen Margherita. It was no longer a meal for peasants.

America , a popular country known for its love of pizza only opened their first ‘Pizza Hut’ during the late 1930’s, run by Italian immigrants. The first American states to have pizza were New York, San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia.

The pizza was sold the same way as it was in Naples, using metal washtubs. A peddler would walk the streets selling pieces of pizza for 2c. Soon after, grocery shops and cafés were also selling pizza. The invention of pizza had taken the world by storm.

The invention of pizza truly changed the face of the world, and unfortunately, not all in a great way. Pizza is known to contain fat and cholesterol, a large health problem for many Americans. Pizza is a fast food, it is affordable, and tastes great.

Many Americans have contributed their weight gain to pizza. It is also a food that is available anywhere. We live our lives to make it as convenient and easy as possible; after all, why do extra work when there is a simpler solution? Well, pizza is definitely a simpler solution for many, so even though it was created many centuries ago, it actually helped define modernism in today’s world.

January 3, 2013
History of Invention of Television

The invention of television history and all the pioneers with their innovations and brilliant ideas changed the way the world would work forever. Today, education, entertainment and lazy afternoons are all learned and spent in front of the television.

Television evolved from black and white screens with no sound, to 42” plasma screens with surround sound! There have, of course, been many years of technology and bright minds in between, but the person who was the first to think of and develop something so great was truly an innovator.

There are many contributors to the invention of the television but the history of the invention of the television lies with Philo Farnsworth. Born in 1906, Philo was an American engineer who was interested in picture transmission and had thought of the idea at the tender age of 14. He was the very first inventor to transmit a television image in 1927.

The transmission of the television image was done using a dissector tube. It would, however, be unfair to say that the history of the television lies with one sole inventor; in fact, history of the invention of the television dates on a timeline. Different people with various ideas and inventions together created the phenomenon we know today.

Mechanical television history started back in 1884 where a man by the name of Paul Nipkow developed a rotating-disc technology that could send pictures over wire. This was the very first electromechanical television scanning system but was rejected due to improved inventions.

On June 14, 1923, Charles Jenkins claimed to have invented a way to transmit silhouette images. In 1897, Karl Braun invented the cathode ray tube, still used in television sets to this day. The history of invention of television can be contributed to many great minds. It was not just a single idea that came to the fore, but rather a combination of pioneers’ inventions.

Colour Television’s invention history began in the early 1900’s and received a German patent in 1904. It did not however generate great interest until 1925 when Zworykin filed a patent for an electronic color television. Louis Parker received a patent for a changeable television receiver in 1948 and cable television started in Pennsylvania in the late 1940’s.

Whilst discussing the history of invention of television, one should also take care to mention about the extra ‘equipment’ we cannot go without. The remote control, known as ‘Lazy Bones’ was developed in 1950 by a company called Zenith Radio Corporation. Since then, history of invention of television has continued, from the black and white screens to the plasma screens, the history of inventions for television will never end, and technology will always improve.

January 3, 2013
Invention Of Softball

While many sports have roots that trace back to ancient athletics, some have clear beginnings in modern history. Like the invention of softball.

As we’ve increasingly embraced athletics, teamwork and good old-fashioned fun, new sports have cropped up to keep us challenged and entertained. This constant search for new ways to play led to many developments, including the invention of softball.

The invention of softball happened Chicago in 1887 by George Hancock.

On a windy day in November, George Hancock was at the Farragut Boat Club along with a group of Harvard and Yale alumni. The alumni were anxiously awaiting the results of a football game played between Harvard and Yale.

When the results came through of Harvard’s defeat, an excited Yale supporter threw an old boxing glove at a Harvard alumni. The Harvard alumni then hit it back with a stick.

This sparked an idea in George Hancock’s mind. Hancock, a reporter for the Chicago Board of Trade, tied the laces tightly together on the old boxing glove to make a makeshift ball and used a broomstick as a bat. He then used a piece of chalk to mark out the playing area in the gymnasium of the Farragut Boat Club. He marked out a smaller version of a baseball field. The players were divided into teams and they then played a game that was like a smaller, indoor version of baseball.

The invention of softball had gotten under way; that was the first softball game played, with a final score of 41-40.

That day may have been the first and last day of the softball invention process if Hancock did not pursue his idea. However, by the next week, Hancock had created a rubber-tipped bat and an oversized ball.

He then made permanent markings on the gymnasium floor and wrote up a book of rules for the sport he named ‘indoor baseball’. The game gained immediate popularity both locally and internationally. ‘Indoor baseball’ was the precursory name for the invention of softball.

The first league to be formed was in Toronto and a published Indoor Baseball Guide also appeared within 1887. Hancock’s new game was first played outdoors in the spring of 1888. It was called indoor-outdoor.

Due to its increasing appeal and popularity, in 1889 Hancock was prompted to write another set of indoor-outdoor rules.

Although Hancock’s game was slowly spreading throughout the country, the efforts of a Fire Department lieutenant by the name of Louis Rober caused the invention of softball game to flourish. Rober, of Minneapolis, was looking for a sport or game to keep the firemen fit when they were not working. He marked out a plot of vacant land alongside the fire station with bases and a pitching distance of 35 feet.

Rober and his team played the game with a small sized ball and a bat with a diameter of two inches. The game became very popular among fire stations and they started playing against each other. Rober’s first organized team was called the Kittens, and the game was then called ‘Kitten Ball’ until 1925.

In 1925 the game was renamed diamond ball by the Minneapolis Parks Board. Softball only got its name in 1926 when this name was suggested by a Denver YMCA official called William Hakanson. In 1933, organized softball tournaments were arranged within America such that state and national teams were formed.

The first national softball tournament took place in Chicago in conjunction with the World’s Fair. Fifty-five teams participated in the tournament, with subdivisions of fastballers, slow pitchers and women.

With George Hancock’s simple invention of a new game, softball has grown into a national pastime enjoyed by both sexes of all ages. As new interests and ideas develop, sports are adapted and designed, leading to a constant change in the athletic landscape.

So now you’ve learned about the invention of softball, how about a game?

January 3, 2013
Invention Of The Ice Cream Cone

There has been much controversy about where the invention of the ice cream cone began. What is certain, however, is that edible ice-creams cones have been enjoyed by people for over one hundred years.

Conical shaped ice-cream cones are the typically shaped cones people all around the world have learned to love.

Paper, glass and metal cones were used for serving ice cream during the 19th century in Germany, Britain and France. During this time ice cream was only affordable to the wealthy, due to its luxurious ingredients and storage expenses.

During the time of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s ice cream became more popular and less expensive, and vendors on the street were selling ice cream to anyone who could afford to pay a penny.

History of the invention of the ice cream cone dates back to the year 1904, at the St. Louis World fair where Ernest A. Hamwi had a store that was selling a crisp waffle pastry known as zalabis. The store of Mr Hamwi was next to an ice cream vendor.

During this time ice cream was immensely popular and eventually the owner of the vendor ran out of dishes in which to serve the ice-cream. Mr Hamwi stated that he folded one of his pastries into a conical shape, allowed it to cool and placed some ice cream into it. The invention of the ice cream cone was underway.

The people buying the ice cream were thrilled, and it became one of the greatest food inventions in modern times. Today, one can choose from a variety of cones ranging from the waffle cone to the sugar cone and cake cup cone.

Controversy surrounding the actual invention of the ice cream cone still exists today, it is said that Hamwi may possibly have sold the first edible ice cream cone but he is not the first person to have patented the idea. It has also been argued that during the night of the fair on 23 July 1904, there were over 50 stores selling ice cream and it is possible that more than one was using waffle pastry as an ice cream cone.

Nick Kabbaz, a Syrian immigrant, has said that he and his brother Albert were the creators of the first edible cone. Apparently, Mr Kabbaz and his brother were working for Mr Hamwi at his booth the night of the fair. Mr Kabbaz claims that he came up with the idea of eating ice cream with the waffle pastry and when folding it, created the iconical cone shape. Kabbaz eventually became the president of an ice cream cone company in St. Louis. Either way, a definite certainty is that the popularity of the cone is ascribable to the St. Louis World Fair in 1904.

Previous recordings of the ice cream cone have been found which makes the settling of the dispute of the first cone ever created even harder to solve. Dating back to as early as 1807 a painting was found which showed a woman eating from what looked like a cone.

In 1888 Mrs Marshall’s cookbook mentions the use of a cone to serve ice cream, in the year 1902 Antonio Valvona patented a machine creating ice cream biscuit cups. Despite stories told and untold about the invention of the ice cream cone we do know for sure that the cone has been popular for over a century and that a little creation as such created a huge and successful enterprise.

January 3, 2013
Invention Of The Telephone Timeline
Exploring the invention of the telephone timeline is beneficial to anyone who is interested in how the telephone originated. The world of communications has undergone significant changes, especially in the last couple of centuries. Possibly one of the greatest leaps in communication advances was the invention of the telephone.

The invention of the telephone timeline of the process underscores the amount of work and innovation that goes into major technological advances.

The telephone is a means of communication that has revolutionized our everyday world. A telephone is a device that sends out and receives sound. It is most commonly used to send and receive voice over a distance.

These days, most telephones function through a large network where electrical signals are transmitted. This allows a phone user to contact almost any other phone user.

Exactly who invented the first modern telephone still remains a dispute to this day. Among those given credit for the invention of the telephone are Alexander Graham Bell, Antonio Meucci, Johann Philipp Reis and Elisha Gray.

They all worked independently of each other, yet worked towards a common goal: allowing people to communicate over large distances.

The progression of the invention of the telephone timeline can viewed as follows:
- It was proven that vibrations on metal could be converted into electrical impulses by Michael Faraday.
- Antonio Meucci demonstrated a telephone-like device to people in Havana.
- In Germany, Johann Philipp Reis built a device that was capable of converting sound into electricity and back into sound again.
- Meucci files an intention to patent.
- Elisha Gray founded the Western Electric Manufacturing Company.
- Thomas Edison builds a rheostat based on the principle of pressure on carbon molecules causing variable resistance.
- An electromagnetic device that can transmit musical notes is invented by Gray.
- 1876 Gray puts forward a caveat or notice of intention to patent for the telephone.
- 1876 About 2 hours after Gray, Alexander Graham Bell puts forward his application to patent the telephone.
- Alexander Graham Bell’s US patent is granted. The first full sentence was transmitted through the telephone on the 6 th of March 1876 by Bell. The first sentence was ‘Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you.’
After the first sentence was transmitted through a telephone, many advances were then made to get to the telephone system we use today. Bell founded the Bell Telephone Company, which then became AT&T – the world’s largest telephone company. The first telephone system, or exchange, was installed in 1877 in Connecticut.

This allowed communication between people who had telephones. This was done through a large switchboard with operators who would connect the calls manually. The first automatic switchboard system was installed in 1892 by Almon Strowger of Kansas City.

William Gray patented the first coin-operated telephone in 1889. In the early 1960’s, touch-tone home telephones were introduced. Low-cost transistors made this possible.

The positioning of the numbers on the phone was done after extensive tests to determine what number layout will increase dialing speed and reduce errors when dialing.

In 1965 Terri Pall invented the cordless telephone. The base unit is connected to the landline. The base unit then communicates to the remote handsets via a radio signal.

Although this allows the user to communicate within a certain range of the base, it does not work during power outages due to the power supply needed.

In 1978, AT&T began testing a mobile phone system. These systems are cell structures, which means that a handset can communicate to a cell-site via radio. If the handset gets out of range from a particular cell-site then communication is taken up by a closer cell-site without any interruptions to the call.

The mobile, or cellular telephone, was introduced nationwide throughout the United States in 1983.

Through the efforts of many people, and with many changes and innovations occurring along the way, the timeline of the invention of the telephone timeline extends into the future as new technologies and advances are developed.

This demonstrates the ever changing face of innovation, and the fact that the process of invention is never truly complete.
January 3, 2013