Who Invented the Toaster?

Who Invented the Toaster?

ByFabien

This morning, as I waited for my toast to be perfectly made by my recently acquired toaster, I thought about how much less toast I would eat if I had to put them on the stove. I didn’t know who I had to thank for that low-effort breakfast I was preparing half-awake, so I did some research (after finishing eating my toast, of course).

Who Created the Toaster?

Obviously, people were eating toasted bread before the invention of the toaster. They had to! Especially when they didn’t have electricity. However, the toaster was not invented yesterday, but more than a century ago.

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Who Created Scooby-Doo?

Who Created Scooby-Doo?

ByFabien

As I may have mentioned in one of my earlier posts, I wrote a book about the history of scripted TV shows in the US. It should be published this year in France. What I learned during the research part of the process is how many shows were created by TV execs who had an idea of what they wanted and asked producers to give them exactly that.

Nowadays, the writers get all the credits, but even a show like Lost wasn’t the genius creation of its credited showrunner. I find those stories quite interesting, especially as they show how the creative process really works in what is basically an industrial enterprise. So, I’ll use my work who’s sleeping on a shelf for years now (publishing a book is not a fast process), and explore a bit more about that, starting with the most famous dog detective in the world!

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Who Created the Illuminati?

Who Created the Illuminati?

ByFabien

For a long time, I never really thought about the Illuminati as something other than a conspiracy theorist’s obsession. Then, the Marvel Universe got its Illuminati, and It felt weird. I was looking into some of those comics the other day and I thought that I maybe should look into it. Maybe I could learn something? (spoiler: I did)

Who’s Behind the Invention of the Illuminati?

Through history, we can find multiple references to movements built around the idea of enlightenment like with the Alumbrados in Spain during the 15th century or les Illuminés in France during the 17th century. But the Order of the Illuminati we are talking about was created in Bavaria.

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Who Invented the Crossword Puzzle?

Who Invented the Crossword Puzzle?

ByFabien

Every morning, I don’t solve a complete NY Times Crossword Puzzle, just what they call “The Mini.” It’s only 5 lines by 5 rows, enough for a two-minute distraction after finding the Wordle of the day. Solving crossword puzzles is quite a popular activity, but not a very old one. For once, it seems that the Greek and the Romans had nothing to do with it! So…

Who Created the Crossword Puzzle?

The story of the creation of the crossword puzzle begins as the world was on the brink of World War I, on December 21, 1913. Born in Liverpool, Arthur Wynne was a journalist who emigrated to the United States in 1891 and eventually worked at the New York World newspaper. One day, an editor found himself in need of a new form of entertainment for the paper’s FUN section and asked Wynne to come up with something. This led him to create what would become the prototype for the modern crossword puzzle.

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Who Invented the Unicorn?

Who Invented the Unicorn?

ByFabien

I recently learned that the national animal of Scotland is the unicorn. Apparently, it’s because the unicorn was believed to be the natural enemy of the lion, which explains the choice. For a second, I thought, “I didn’t know that the unicorn originated from Scotland.” I don’t know why I immediately went there, but a few seconds on the web prove me wrong. So…

Who Created the Unicorn?

I don’t know how there would be confusion, but to avoid any, let’s be clear from the start, we are talking about a legendary creature. The unicorn is a kind of a horse (or a goat, depending on the era) with a spiraling horn projecting from its forehead. You never saw one. I never saw one. But we can imagine what one may look like as drawings and video representations of the mythical beast are present in our popular culture.

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Who Invented the Periodic Table?

Who Invented the Periodic Table?

ByFabien

It’s strange how everything can be turned into a T-Shirt nowadays, even the Periodic Table. Some treat it as a pop culture artifact–probably because of Breaking Bad, I suppose. Anyways, I saw someone wearing one the other day and I realized I didn’t even know its origin like it was always here. But it’s definitively not the case.

What is The Periodic Table?

Before exploring its origin story, let’s go back a second to what is the periodic table.

In chemistry, the periodic table of the elements is a logical arrangement of all the chemical elements in ascending order of atomic number–or the total number of protons in an atomic nucleus. When the chemical elements are grouped in this way, a pattern known as the “periodic law” in their properties occurs, wherein elements in the same column (group) exhibit comparable qualities.

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Who Invented Nutella?

Who Invented Nutella?

ByFabien

There are some food you eat, you know you shouldn’t touch, it’s not that healthy. Do you know what I mean? Well, for me, it’s Nutella. I know I should stop buying this sweetened hazelnut cocoa spread, but I can’t! So, as I continue to write about food (see the invention of chocolate), I thought it was time to write about that particular favorite of mine. So…

Who Created Nutella?

I won’t insult anybody by explaining what is Nutella. I mean, I suppose that everybody has eaten some once at least. If not, do yourself a gift and try it. But did you know the hazelnut and cocoa cream was the result of an evolving recipe?

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Who Invented the Satellite?

Who Invented the Satellite?

ByFabien

When we are talking about the space race, the Moon, and everything else in the sky, artificial satellites are rarely at the top of the list of subjects highly debated among us, common people. That probably shouldn’t be the case. At least, that’s what I thought the other day when I read the astronomical number of satellites that already surround Earth. It’s not healthy if you want my nonconsequential opinion. But how did that start?

Who Created the Satellite?

The Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, on October 4, 1957. The Space Age officially began at this crucial point in history, and it also set the stage for decades of scientific discovery and technical development.

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Who Invented Dry cleaning?

Who Invented Dry cleaning?

ByFabien

I’m not very familiar with the process behind dry cleaning, but someone told me the other day that it was a French invention. When I started to dig a little into the subject, I realized it was a bit more complicated, as it is almost always the case when it comes to inventions.

What is Dry cleaning and How It Works?

First of all, as I said, I’m not too familiar with all the processes behind dry cleaning, which led me to believe I may not be alone. So, let’s take a look behind the counter to discover what dry cleaning is and how it works!

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Who Invented the Washing Machine?

Who Invented the Washing Machine?

ByFabien

As I was looking into the articles I wrote on this blog, I stumbled upon the one about the invention of the dishwasher. I was convinced I wrote about the washing machine, but it was not the case. Both are used to washing, but I already got the first (and I don’t use it, but it came with the kitchen), and I really need the second, because the weekly trips to the laundromat are not a fun time. But for now, let’s look into the past with…

Before There Was a Washing Machine

There was a time before the days of modern conveniences when laundry was an arduous and time-consuming task. In ancient times, individuals had to wash their garments by hand, frequently next to a river or stream. Sand, stones, and soap were used to remove stains and grime from the clothes. For example, the Romans constructed public laundries where they utilized fermented human urine, rich in ammonia, to bleach linen. The Gauls employed birch cinders to improve the cleaning process.

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Who Invented the Apple Crumble (during Victorian Times, not after WWII)?

Who Invented the Apple Crumble (during Victorian Times, not after WWII)?

ByFabien

I worked on an article about one of my favorite desserts, the apple crumble. What I mostly found is that it was created during World War II. Most of the website writing about that subject goes in that direction. I talked about that with my sister who tell me that she found a recipe on Reddit from the time of the First World War. I dig a little more after that and found an even older recipe!

Who Created the Apple Crumble?

So, yes, the British apple crumble was a popular dessert during and after World War II, it was also popular during Victorian times! In fact, I read that it was a personal favorite of Queen Victoria herself. It seems that she liked it without any cream and didn’t appreciate that other people at her table eat it any other way. At least, that’s how the anecdote goes.

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Who Invented Kevlar?

Who Invented Kevlar?

ByFabien

As I said in the introduction to my article about the Slinky, I recently rewatched Obit. (2016) a quite interesting documentary about the New York Times journalists who are charged with writing the obituaries. During my watch, I noticed multiple references to articles that might be interesting to read, one was about the inventor of Kevlar.

After a few weeks, I found my notes about that and finally took a look at that story. It’s not a long one, but let me share with you what it is about!

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