A 29-year-old Alexander Graham Bell was granted U.S.
Patent No. 174,465 for the telephone on March 7, 1876.
The patent, often called the most valuable in U.S. history,
was filed on February 14, 1876—just hours before a similar
caveat by Elisha Gray—securing Bell the rights to the
invention.
Three days later, on March 10, 1876, Bell made the first
successful telephone call to his assistant…Thomas
Watson.
The German company Bayer patents aspirin on March 6,
1899. Now the most common drug in household medicine
cabinets, acetylsalicylic acid was originally made from a
chemical found in the bark of willow trees.
In its primitive form, the active ingredient, salicin, was used
for centuries in folk medicine, beginning in ancient Greece
when Hippocrates used it to relieve pain and fever.
Known to doctors since the mid-19th century, it was used
sparingly due to its unpleasant taste and tendency to
damage the stomach.
Aspirin was made available in tablet form and without a
prescription in 1915.
German chemist professor Felix Hoffman, the father of aspirin.
Inspired by a boy who came into his confectionery shop
and couldn’t decide between chocolate and ice cream,
Christian K. Nelson combines the two, receiving a
patent for the Eskimo Pie—originally marketed as
"I-Scream" bars.
it became a nationwide sensation, with 1922 sales
averaging one million units a day and earning Nelson
$2,000 daily in royalties.
MIKE DANAHUE
Singer José Montserrate Feliciano GarcÃa is 80 years
old today.
On August 10, 1937, the United States Patent Office recognized
the electric guitar—the instrument that revolutionized jazz,
blues and country music and made the later rise of rock and
roll possible—with the award of Patent #2,089.171.
It went to George D. Beauchamp, a musician-turned-inventor
for an electrified instrument known as the Rickenbacker
Frying Pan (shown above).
