Permanent Wave Machine
A revolution in the beauty industry occurred during the early 1920s when a group of African American woman inventors developed products and processes with black women's particular needs in mind that would help them to feel good about their looks ... [... more]
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
LONNIE G. JOHNSON
For years, Lonnie G. Johnson has been inventing thermodynamics systems for NASA and other organizations; but he has won his greatest fame for re-inventing the squirt gun. Johnson capped a childhood of tinkering with appliances in his senior year ... [... more]
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
The Sunbeam® "Mixmaster"
In the years between the First and Second World Wars, Ivar Jepson designed and built dozens of kitchen appliances, including the indomitable Sunbeam "Mixmaster." Born in Sweden in 1903, Jepson loved to design things as a boy, studied [... more]
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Xanthan Gum
Listed among the ingredients of countless foods such as salad dressing, ice cream, canned soup and condiments is a mysterious-sounding substance called xanthan gum. This groundbreaking product and a process for producing it in large quantities ... [... more]
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Lemelson-MIT Program
Most of us know Thomas Jefferson as the man who authored the Declaration of Independence, the United States' first Secretary of State, the third U.S. President, and founder of the University of Virginia. But Jefferson was also an inventor, and ... [... more]
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Brassiere
Mary Phelps Jacob After decades of stuffing themselves into seemingly barbaric undergarments of a mostly corset-like nature, women around the world finally began to get fed up. In 1913, a New York socialite decided to do something about it: the ... [... more]
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
THE SLINKY®
Like Silly Putty, the Slinky® was an accidental by-product of World War II research and development transformed into a hugely successful children's toy. In 1943, engineer Richard James of greater Philadelphia was working in his home laboratory to ... [... more]
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Whitcomb Judson
Most of the fastening devices used in clothing today, like the shoelace, the button, and the safety pin, have existed in some form in various cultures for thousands of years. But the zipper was the brainchild of one American inventor, namely ... [... more]
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Lemelson-MIT Program
Reynold Johnson was born in 1906 in Minnesota. He attended the University of Minnesota, achieving his B.S. in education administration in 1929. He then began teaching science and math at a local high school. His life changed in 1933, when he lost ... [... more]
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
The Personal Computer
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, the duo who began Apple Computer in 1976, are among the most well-known revolutionaries of the computing age. Their invention of the first true personal computer changed people's ideas of what a computer could look ... [... more]
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
HOWARD S. JONES, JR.
In a career spanning over forty years, Howard S. Jones, Jr. has become one of our nation's most respected inventors and mentors in advanced antenna systems. Born in 1921 in Richmond, Virginia, Jones did not discover his interest and talent for ... [... more]
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
FREDERICK M. JONES (1893-1961)
Frederick McKinley Jones applied the mechanical experience he gained at work and at war to revolutionize two industries: cinema and refrigeration. Born in Cincinnati, Jones learned mechanics and electronics more from personal experience than from ... [... more]
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
