The first successful passenger elevator was installed on this day at 488 Broadway in New York City.
All in Inventions
The Strowger Switch
An undertaker invented a pivotal piece of technology that would automate phone exchanges.
QWERTY
Christopher Latham Sholes was a newspaper publisher, politician and most notably - the inventor of the QWERTY keyboard.
Father of the Grill
George A. Stephen died on this day. He left behind one of the greatest gifts in American history, the Weber grill.
The Parachute Cape
It was on this day that an Austrian tailor/inventor fell to his death from the Eiffel Tower.
The List Maker
He is remembered for publishing the Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases, but that is just one of his many contributions to history.
King Camp Gillette
King realized that what the world needed was a razor that was sharp enough to give you a good shave, but not big enough to slice open your jugular.
Last Roll of Kodachrome
The last roll of Kodachrome film was developed on this day.
The First Crossword
The puzzle was the brainchild of journalist Arthur Wynne, and he modeled it after a word game he had played as a child called "Magic Squares."
First Recording
Edison stepped up to the machine and blurted out the first thing that popped into his head.
Crazy Drake
In 1859 a semi-retired train conductor named Edwin Drake engineered the world's first successful oil drilling operation.
TRS-80
In 1977, Radio Shack introduced its first foray into the home computing business.
Howard Hughes Crashes
Howard Hughes took one of the fastest planes ever built on a maiden flight that almost killed him.
The Best Thing Since...
The machine that Otto Rohwedder created not only sliced bread, but it also wrapped it.
Birth of the Bikini
Louis Réard sliced a bit off the design so that the belly button could be revealed. He advertised his alteration as "smaller than the world's smallest swimsuit."
Radioactive Boy Scout
A hazmat crew rolled into the suburban address and carefully dismantled a workspace that had been used by a 17-year-old Eagle Scout to create a primitive nuclear reactor.
Nugget Man
Robert C. Baker invented some of the most popular fast food items of all time.
The Pap in Smear
A doctor who in 1928 figured out that cervical and uterine cancer could be easily detected using a vaginal smear.
The Man Behind the Maneuver
Henry Heimlich is credited with the lifesaving abdominal thrust, but that was just one of his contributions to the world.