Mike Gracia

Marvin Chester Stone is best known as the inventor of the
modern drinking straw. By 1890, his factory in Washington
D.C. was producing more drinking straws than cigarette
holders. A machine was invented in 1906 by Stone’s
“Stone Straw Corporation” to automatically wind the
straws.

    
               Ed Danahue

José Feliciano is 68 today

Alexander Graham Bell’s patent for the telephone was issued on March 7, 1876,
by the U.S. Patent Office. Three days after receiving his patent. Bell succeeded
in getting his invention to work when he accidentally spilled some acid. He spoke
the famous sentence, “Mr. Watson…Come here…I want to see you”. His assistant Thomas Watson, listening at the receiving end of the device in an adjoining room,
heard the words from Bell clearly and rushed to his aide.

 
Thomas A. Watson

The master copy of Bell’s patent for the telephone

Prototype of the “Contour” Coke         A Cocoa Bean Pod  
bottle

The contoured Coca-Cola bottle was one of the first glass containers to ever be 
patented based on its unique shape. The design was said to have been  modeled 
after the Cocoa Bean Pod (above), an ingredient of Coca-Cola. The bottle made
its commercial debut in 1916.

The Coke bottle of 1916