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Since the very beginning, humans have tried to make sense out of chaos...
... to learn more about the world around us....
and invent things that help us shape our world.
But the road hasn't always been easy...
Some inventors tried and failed, and tried and failed again...
In the 1950s Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes were trying to make 3D plastic wallpaper. It was a complete failure. Today we know it as Bubble Wrap...
[or Edwin Beard Budding, the inventor of the lawnmower, would only test his creation at night so his neighbors wouldn't think he was crazy...]
[or Thomas Adams was experimenting with chicle, the sap from a South American tree, as a substitute for rubber. After mounting failures, the dejected inventor popped a piece into his mouth, and chewing gum was born...]
... Some people even sacrificed their lives along the way.
Like Marie Curie, who's pioneering work with radioactivity (even carrying tubes of radium around in her pockets) eventually led to her early demise.
Today her notebooks are kept in lead-lined boxes as they still emit dangerous levels of radioactivity...
Other inventions happened by complete accident, like dry cleaning...
Someone unintentionally knocked over a kerosene lamp and discovered it could remove stains from their clothes...
[or In 1904, tea bags were invented accidentally. The inventor, Thomas Sullivan, decided that it was cheaper to send small samples to potential customers in silk bags instead of boxes. The recipients believed they were meant to be dunked and soon Sullivan was flooded with orders for his “tea bags.”]
Unlikely figures can often change our world.
Take Hedy Lamarr.
Some inventions are disputed...
Four different countries lay claim to the invention of the radio...
...while others are misunderstood.
Did you know that Humphry Davy actually invented the lightbulb before Thomas Edison?
However, Edison did invent the tattoo gun...
You might not even realize that some things were invented at all.
Take the number '0'.
The concept of zero first appeared in India around 458 CE, called śūnya in Sanskrit, which meant "void" or "empty".
For millenia, humans have looked up and pondered the big questions...
...looked inside and examined the tiny building blocks of, well, everything
...and looked around at each other, exploring how we can make our world a better place for everyone...
[AI/CRISPR]
What's next?
Tiny discoveries can have a big impact.
Who knows - what you try today could shape the future for all of us.
Back to Once Upon a Try.
Back to Once Upon A Try
Extra facts that could be used:
Queen Elizabeth I is believed to be the inventor of gingerbread men, as the first documented instance of the sweet treat was at the court of Elizabeth I of England. The Queen had the gingerbread men made and presented in the likeness of some of her invited guests.
Unlikely figures often changed our world.
Take Bertha Benz.
She was the wife of automobile inventor Karl Benz. Her more famous husband was a terrible businessman, and Berta was the brains - and bank - of the situation.
Although Bertha financed the development process, and would hold patent rights under modern law, as a married woman she was not allowed to apply for the patent in her day...