What do popsicles, ear muffs, television and Braille have in common? These Famous Inventions were all thought up and created by children! January 17th is Kid Inventors Day, so there’s no better way to celebrate than to recount what led to these wonderful inventions. Share these stories with your children and grandchildren and hopefully they will be inspired to come up with ideas that will be the famous inventions of the future!
Inspirational Stories Of Young Inventors And Their Famous Inventions
1. Popsicle
In 1905, an 11 year old, Frank Epperson, wasn’t thinking of famous inventions when he accidentally made himself a drink of flavored soda water powder with water and left it out on the porch with his stir stick still in the mixture. Due to an unseasonable temperature drop for San Francisco, California, the drink froze on the stick. It took until 1922 before he perfected his famous inventions and served the first “Epsicle” creations at a party. People loved the “ice on a stick” and the name was later changed to “popsicle”.
2. Ear Muffs
Some famous inventions came about because of necessity. Take 15 year old Chester Greenwood, for example, who hated to come in from skating because his ears were cold. In the 1870s, he designed a wire frame with two loops and asked his grandmother to sew some fur into them to wear on his head to keep his ears warm. His famous inventions instantly became a fashion statement still worn by people over 100 years later!
3. Television
The famous inventions that continue to evolve over time are born through passion and a willingness for constant improvement. When the earliest prototypes of the television were introduced, the public believed that this would go down in history as being the best of all of the famous inventions. In 1921, 15 year old Philo T. Farnworth started sketching designs for electronic television sets. By his death in 1971, the average television sets of the time contained 100 items that he originally patented throughout his life.
4. Braille
Circumstances have also played a strong role in famous inventions. In 1812, Louis Braille lost his sight at the age of 3 due to an injury that left him blind. With a strong desire to communicate with the seeing world, he designed the system of using raised dots in specific patterns to create an alphabet and way for blind people to “read” the world around them. He worked diligently on this until the Braille system was launched in 1829. Not completely satisfied, he wrote code for numbers as well, allowing the blind to do mathematics in 1837!
5. Bottle cap Accessories
If you are not inspired by these famous inventions of the past, one of the more recent ones was 5th grade Maddie Bradshaw, who wanted magnets for her school locker. Her uncle gave her a bag full of bottle caps and an empire was born! Her magnets soon expanded to bottle cap necklaces and bracelets that tweens couldn’t get enough of. And before you laugh or smirk at the endeavor, please note that this young lady is going off to college next year a millionaire!
Since you never know what inspirations will become famous inventions, make sure to ask your children or grandchildren what they would do if they could invent something. On Kid Inventors Day, take apart an old appliance that you aren’t using anymore and give the pieces to a child and ask him or her to create something new. I’m sure you’ll be amazed at what they can dream up and we have lots of Kids Christmas Ornaments representing their interests. Maybe their ideas will become the famous inventions of the future!
