Ever wonder what you'd do without the many things that we use in our daily lives? We have become so used to some stuff that we don't stop to think about how they came into existence. Among the long list of nifty items, read how the following were created by their respective inventors.
ERASERS
The famous scientist Sir Joseph Priestley discovered the use of erasers to remove pencil marks from paper in 1770. That same year, a British engineer Edward Naime created the first eraser. He claims to have accidentally picked up a piece of rubber instead of a bread crumb to erase pencil marks from paper. He was astonished to see that the chunk of rubber could actually wipe out pencil marks from paper. However, rubber's properties meant that it wouldn't keep well for long. Just like a perishable such as food, rubber would deteriorate over time. It was not until 1839 when Charles Goodyear discovered the process of vulcanization to treat rubber and make it more usable and long lasting that erasers became better and more widely available. Erasers then became a staple stationery item.
2-in One
How about the pencil with an attached eraser? Hyman Lipman came up with the idea of attaching an eraser to the ends of pencils. A handy creation. Lipman even applied for a patent for the item, but was denied since it just combined two already invented products.
COCA COLA
One probably hardly stops to think about how the popular soft drink coke came into existence. John Pemberton was a pharmacist in Atlanta who was trying to concoct a medicine for common ailments. It had a mixture of caffeine extracts from the kola nut, cocaine from the coca leaf and a sweetener. (Cocaine was removed from the drink in 1905). Pemberton mixed this blend with fizzy water and sold it at a local pharmacy. Initial reaction to the drink was positive although the store sold only about 9 servings in a day. Initially the drink was sold only in drug stores across America. Pemberton's associate suggested that they name the drink ‘Coca Cola' and created the lettering for the name.
