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Mostly useless histories concerning the origins of various devices and products that enhance our lives, delight our senses, and blight our existence when they stop working. Alexander Graham Bell applied for the patent on the telephone three days before he had gotten it to work. Had Bell waited until he had a working model, Elisha Gray would have been awarded the patent. Benjamin Franklin invented swim fins. The ancient Chinese invented eyeglasses. The abacus was invented in Egypt in 2000 B.C. Alexander Graham Bell got the patent on the telephone, although Elisha Gray filed a patent application the same day. The telephone system we use is technically more like that described in Gray's patent. Benjamin Franklin invented the rocking chair. Archimedes (the Greek mathematician) invented the screw. The parachute was invented one 120 years before the airplane. It was intended to save people who had to jump from burning buildings. Scissors were invented by Leonardo DaVinci. The first pull-top can was invented by Ermal Cleon Fraze in 1959, after he had to use his car bumper to open a can of soda. Kleenex was originally invented to remove make-up. Maybe that's why they're still called "facial tissues." Roulette was invented by Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician and scientist Kotex was first manufactured as bandages, during WWI. The first brassiere was invented in 1913 by teenage debutante Mary Phelps Jacob.
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Generally Useless Facts
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