Who Invented The Metric System?

Who Invented The Metric System?

ByFabien

I like to watch those YouTube videos about tiny houses and interior design. Being French, every time they talk square feet, I have to use Google to convert the dimensions. You know when the ones behind the videos are not Americans when they put the dimensions of the houses in feet and meters. This led me to search for the origin of the metric system.

Who Created the Metric System?

First of all, the metric system is now part of the International System of Units (like the kilogram, the ampere, the Kelvin, and a lot more units).

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Who Discovered Pluto?

Who Discovered Pluto?

ByFabien

I’m not an astronomy aficionado. In fact, I can’t identify any constellation. I find the subject interesting as much as it is overwhelming, and that’s probably why I never really took the time to familiarize myself with all the wonders in the sky.

That said, even if I’m not invested in the space news, I heard about the Pluto confusion (I’m into science fiction, after all, space is in my life in some way). At one point, I just asked myself what it was all about and that led me on the path to learning about the discovery of Pluto and everything else. So, let’s start at the beginning:

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Who Invented the QR Code?

Who Invented the QR Code?

ByFabien

As a follow-up to my article “Who Invented the Barcode?”, I thought I would take a look at the QR Code, mostly because it seems that everybody adopted it except me.

My old phone is always full and it asks me constantly to delete apps I don’t often use, like the QR Code reader. When I need it, I always have to install it again. It’s a chore. It’s my problem, I know… Well, the question of today is:

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Who Invented Wind Turbines?

Who Invented Wind Turbines?

ByFabien

The other day, I was reading in a local magazine published by my city an article about the Bollée family. They are pretty famous around here (here is Le Mans, remember, I’m French) because of their involvement in the automobile industry.

I didn’t know a lot about Ernest Sylvain Bollée or his sons beyond that (except the fact that there was a football stadium with their name on it and a street too). I was a little surprised to learn that Ernest created the wind turbines. Turns out, he didn’t really create it. It’s a bit more complicated than that. So…

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Who Invented the Time Capsule?

Who Invented the Time Capsule?

ByFabien

In his the last video, Brent from Cerro Gordo (aka Ghost Town Living) talked about “Time Capsules” as he was preparing one to be buried in the mines under his city. I’m only familiar with the concept because I’m watching American television (reminder: I’m French) and it intrigued me. Naturally, I started to look into:

Who made the first time capsule?

Before I forget, here is the definition of “time capsule” from Merriam-Webster: a container holding historical records or objects representative of current culture that is deposited (as in a cornerstone) for preservation until discovery by some future age.

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Who Invented the Barcode?

Who Invented the Barcode?

ByFabien

The other day, I was doing my shopping. As I was using the Self-checkout, always searching where the barcodes are on every item, I naturally started thinking about who would have the idea to invent such a thing—you may have noticed, that I’m always asking that question, that’s why I created this blog! Well, here’s the answer!

Who Created the Barcode?

The short and not complete answer is that the barcode was invented by Norman Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver and patented in the US in 1951. Of course, I should have begun with a definition, what is a barcode?

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Who Invented Science-Fiction?

Who Invented Science-Fiction?

ByFabien

I was going to write about the inventor of a total science-fiction thing—meaning it was thought, but never created outside of sci-fi books—and I realized I already wrote multiple articles about sci-fi things (like the Laws of Robotics, teleportation, Solarpunk or Cyberpunk). This led me to think I should write about the genre itself. And so, I asked myself:

Who wrote the original science-fiction story?

There’s not an easy answer to that question. Why? Because everybody doesn’t seem to agree on what science-fiction is.

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Who invented the Ballpoint pen?

Who invented the Ballpoint pen?

ByFabien

I don’t know about you, but I always have difficulties finding a good pen to write. Nowadays, working on the Internet, I mostly write on my computer, but I still use notebooks and I have a stock of old pens to finish before the ink dried up. One of them is a ballpoint pen and, I may be stupid, but how do you conceive a thing like that? I need an answer.

Who created the Ballpoint pen?

As always, I first ask my old friend Merriam-Webster for a good definition of the subject of the day.

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Who Discovered Global Warming?

Who Discovered Global Warming?

ByFabien

Sometimes you watch the news and people are using scientific terms like we all know what they mean. I find it irritating, especially with words almost nobody who isn’t a scientific specialized in a specific discipline (notably news anchors) has ever heard before.

With Global Warming and climate change, we act like we all know what it is about. I read about it, but I don’t even know where it was discovered and by whom. So, I dug up a bit more on the subject. Here we go…

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Who Invented Kleenex?

Who Invented Kleenex?

ByFabien

It’s cold outside and the need to blow my nose increased visibly with the drop in temperature. I’m probably not alone, taking a walk, blowing my nose here and there, especially with the face masks. Winter is harsh. But…

Who Created Kleenex?

First things first, I’m saying Kleenex, but it’s one of those “brand name instead of product name” cases. When I’m talking Kleenex, I’m really talking about facial tissue (or paper tissue), soft, absorbent, disposable papers quite useful for the expulsion of nasal mucus from the nose.

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Who Invented Christmas?

Who Invented Christmas?

ByFabien

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Christmas is upon us. The great capitalist holiday. Well, it didn’t start that way, of course. For a lot of people, it’s even not all about presents, but it’s hard to miss the capitalist part of Christmas. It’s so overwhelming. Anyway, as I said, it was not like that at first… I mean, I don’t know. I just think it wasn’t, because I don’t even know when we went from Jesus’s birthday to Santa Claus. So…

Who Created Christmas?

It was not Charles Dickens. There’s literally a movie called The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017) about Charles Dickens. But it wasn’t him.

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Who Invented Cryptocurrency?

Who Invented Cryptocurrency?

ByFabien

Like many of you, probably, I don’t really understand cryptocurrency. I know it’s virtual money, but why we should care about it, invest in it, or—simply put—trust it? I thought I needed to know a bit more, and you know me, I searched:

Who Created Cryptocurrency?

Apparently, Satoshi Nakamoto is the inventor. But who knows? Really, who knows?? From what I understand, Satoshi Nakamoto is the name used by the presumed pseudonymous person or persons who developed Bitcoin.

Maybe there’s a Satoshi Nakamoto somewhere, maybe not. Maybe there’s an internet community that hides behind the name. In that regard, Nakamoto seems to be the Banksy of virtual money.

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