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Busting myths that surround popular inventions and their inventors

Thomas Edison

There are many misconceptions not only about inventions but also regarding those people who actually invented things that have made our lives easy and worth living. In most cases, those people who improved on the already invented ideas got the credit of the original inventions. Let us have a look at a few of these famous inventions and the story behind:

Flush toilet invented by Thomas Crapper

Image Source : PerthWorst.Files

Around 26th centaury BCE, people started using flush toilet in Indus valley civilization, which brought some great positive changes in human life. It is however, falsely believed that Thomas Crapper invented flush toilet as the Elizabethan courtier Sir John Harington had already invented it. The credit of adding some great changes that made it more usable certainly goes to Crapper. He introduced ballcock mechanism to fill toilet tanks and some other changes that made the flush toilet popular.

Light bulb and Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison

Image Source : history.com

The credit to invent light bulb is largely given to the famous American inventor Thomas Edison, whose contribution no doubt was remarkable. The truth of the matter is that he was not the only person who contributed in the invention. It was in the year 1880 that Thomas Edison made use of a carbonized bamboo filament to invent the first light bulb. Joseph Swan invented the more efficient version of light bulb, which used a cellulose filament only after one year in 1881.

James Watt and steam engine

Image Source : Telegraph.Co.Uk

Each one of use grew up believing that James Watt invented the steam engine, which is only partially true. There are many inventions in history for which the actual credit is given to those people who made certain changes in the real invention and made it more usable and popular. Similar was the case with steam engine.

Watt was not the exact person who took an inspiration by the kettle lid pressure open by steam. He only made some changes in already invented Newcomen’s steam engine in the 1760s and 1770s. Watt invented the external condenser and made the steam engine more efficient and usable. He discovered a way to convert a reciprocating motion into rotary motion, but that does not mean you must give him the whole credit. He made it even more popular for sure, and the credit to do that must go to him.

Telescope and Galileo

Image Source : History-Of-The-Microscope.Org

Dutch spectacle maker Hans Lippershey can be credited with the invention of the telescope. One day when he was in his workshop, he noticed that a distant windmill seemed much closer when seen through various lenses. Two kids who were playing there held theses lenses in their hands, which laid the foundation of the invention of the telescope. A year later Galileo Galilei improved the design, shaping the telescope into the gadget we know.

Henry Ford invented the automobile

Image Source : AutoMuseum.Org

One of the most popular inventions in human history was the unearthing of automobile, which was actually the creation of a German engineer Karl Benz, the founder of Mercedes-Benz. Almost seventeen years before Henry Ford discovered his Ford Quadricycle, Karl Benz had invented the first gasoline-powered automobile. In 1879, Karl Benz had already demonstrated the first ever automobile.

Radio and Guglielmo Marconi

Image Source : RackCdn.Com

You must credit Guglielmo Marconi for improving the previous designs of radio but it was originally the invention of David Edward Hughes. It was David who found out how radio waves can actually transmit sounds. David had actually invented radio almost fifteen years before Guglielmo made some changes in it. Guglielmo surely made some great discoveries regarding range.

Theses inventions change the way we look at your life. Life would have been different and quite monotonous without these inventions that have brought great changes to civilization.]]>

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