Whether inspired by a particular need or stumbled across by accident, many of the everyday objects we take for granted have a long and interesting history, and often started life with a much humbler role than that which they’ve acquired. Here are the surprising stories behind just a few inventions and discoveries that have changed the world.
Oil Wells and Boreholes
When the extraction of petroleum began in California in 1860 the method used was almost identical to that pioneered in China in the third century CE. After finding a way to drill holes as deep as 600 metres – by using beams to push a drill bit into the ground and teams of buffalo or oxen to pull an arm that rotated a boring tool – Chinese engineers started digging for oil. The fuel was used to power the conversion of brine into salt and there are records of bamboo pipelines connecting salt flats and oil wells that date back to the tenth century.
Band-Aids
This staple of first aid kits has its origin in the New Jersey home of Earle and Josephine Dickson in 1920. Josephine was prone to cutting herself while working in the kitchen and in anticipation of her next mishap Earle placed pieces of gauze on a strip of tape. He soon convinced his employers, Johnson & Johnson, of the idea’s commercial potential but it was more than 30 years later before a refined version of the product was patented.
Velcro
The word ‘velcro’ is an amalgamation of ‘velour’ and ‘crochet’. It came about in 1948 after Swiss inventor George de Mestral examined the burrs that collected on his dog following a walk in the woods – he spotted the adhesive power of their hooked structure and teamed up with a French weaver to apply the characteristic to a fabric. While commonly incorporated into clothing Velcro has also found a use in space shuttles where it keeps equipment in place.
The Credit Card
It was in 1888 that the idea of a money card first emerged, in American writer Edward Bellamy’s novel Looking Backward 2000–1887, but a further 62 years before it became a reality. After finding himself in a New York restaurant without his chequebook or any cash, financier Frank McNamara became intrigued with finding a way to avoid such an inconvenience and launched the world’s first credit card, the Diner’s Club. It was immediately successful and eight years later Bank of America sent 60,000 credit cards to people in Fresno in California – regardless of whether they wanted one – and a new era of consumerism began.
Graphene
Formed from sheets of carbon molecules just a single atom thick, graphene is two hundred times stronger than the equivalent thickness of steel, ten times faster than silicon at transporting electric currents, heat resistant and boasts a high melting point. First extracted in 2006, it has the potential to revolutionize many products and industries including improving the efficiency of solar panels, batteries and computers, and creating water filtration systems.
