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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Steinbach Mennonite Heritage Village Manitoba - Who Invented School?

Who invented School?

ByFabien

In France, we have a song about Charlemagne who invented school, but he didn’t. I don’t know what the lore is in other countries, so I started searching for the truth that is not taught in school:

Who created School?

The idea of people coming together to learn has always existed for all we know. In ancient Greece, they had an Academy—a word coming from the Athenian hero, Akademos—where Plato taught philosophy, for example.

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Who Invented Peanut Butter?

Who Invented Peanut Butter?

ByFabien

Living in France, Peanut Butter was not a part of my diet for a very long time. Nowadays, it’s easier to find some in any food store, but you won’t find it in a lot of kitchens here. The average European eats less than 1 tbsp of peanut butter a year, according to NPR. Researching its history, I understand why. It’s simply not European food.

Who Created Peanut Butter?

The answer is not George Washington Carver, even if a lot of people have credited him for it (and called him the “grandfather of peanuts”). The first peanut butter was eaten by the Aztecs and the Incas of Peru. But it’s not the kind of peanut butter we are talking about today.

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Who Invented the Bra?

Who Invented the Bra?

ByFabien

The other day, I don’t remember why, but my sister was ranting about bras. That’s when I learned that it was invented just a century ago, and I’m like… What? Only a century? But…

Who Created the Bra?

The invention of the bra is technically a century old, but not really. Once again, it’s a case of patents. The oldest “bra” found is as old as ancient Greece. For as long as we know, women had their ways of binding and supporting their breasts. But we are here to talk about the modern bra.

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Who Invented The Body Farm?

Who Invented The Body Farm?

ByFabien

There’s a new old CSI show on CBS with the famous Gil Grisson played by William Petersen. It’s watchable television, but I’m just here for the Grissom bits like when he was overjoyed to take a trip to the Body Farm. Of course, it led me to ask myself:

Who Created the Body Farm?

First, for those who don’t watch too many police procedural dramas, a Body Farm is a research facility where human decomposition is studied in various settings, as a way of objectifying the timing and circumstances of death from human remains (source).

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Who Invented the Bechdel Test?

Who Invented the Bechdel Test?

ByFabien

Maybe I should change the way I titled my articles, because some readers may think the answer is in it. Like with the Laws of Robotics, there’s a history behind the Bechdel Test. But first, if you don’t know what we are talking about today:

What is the Bechdel Test?

According to Merriam-Webster, the Bechdel Test is a set of criteria used as a test to evaluate a work of fiction (such as a film) on the basis of its inclusion and representation of female characters:

  1. The movie has to have at least two women in it,
  2. who talk to each other,
  3. about something other than a man.
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