MIKE CRACIA
Christopher Latham Sholes patented the QWERTY typewriter, revolutionizing communication. His first version was cobbled
together using an old table, a circular piece of glass, a telegraph
key and piano wire.
Christopher Latham Sholes (1819 – 1890)
CAMILLE BOHANNON
June 21, 1788: New Hampshire becomes the ninth and last
necessary state to ratify the Constitution of the United States,
thereby making the document the law of the land.
This date marked the end of government under the Articles
of Confederation and the beginning of the new government
established by the Constitution.
Lonnie George Johnson (75)
On May 27, 1986, the U.S. Patent Office granted a patent
to African American inventor Lonnie Johnson for his toy
design simply titled ”Squirt Gun.”
After a few name changes and additional patents,
Johnson’s invention—ultimately re-named the
“Super Soaker®”—would become the best-selling
water toy of all time, eventually earning its rightful
place in the American National Toy Hall of Fame.
Johnson was formerly employed at the U.S. Air
Force/ NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The National Toy Hall of Fame located in the outdoor Hasbro Game Park at The Strong National Museum of Play in
Rochester, New York.
On May 20, 1873, Levi Strauss and Jacob W. Davis (above)
received a patent for “Improvements in Fastening Pocket-
Openings.”
This was riveted denim work pants under the name Levi
Strauss & Co., a popular blue jean company that is still in
business today.
On February 19, 1878, Thomas Edison was awarded U.S. Patent
No. 200,521 for his invention—the phonograph.
The technology that made the modern music business possible
came into existence in the New Jersey laboratory where Edison
created the first device to both record sound and play it back.
