Browsing: Inventions

A Brief History On July 18, 1806, a powder magazine exploded accidentally at Birgu, Malta, creating massive damage to the military and civilian infrastructure nearby and killing at least 200 people.  Such accidental explosions have often taken place throughout the history of gunpowder and other explosives, and today we take a look at 10 of those memorable events.  (“Gunpowder” includes black powder, the original explosive and propellant, as well as modern “smokeless” nitro based powders and modern explosives.) Digging Deeper USS Maine, 1898 We list this disaster first, because of the battle cry, “Remember the Maine!”  How could we forget? …

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A Brief History On May 30, 1883, panicked public people pushed, prodded, poked, and pummeled each other in a mad dash to get away from the Brooklyn Bridge when an unfounded rumor circulated that collapse was imminent.  This ridiculous rumor was not true, and the incident provided the impetus for our previous article about Stupid Rumors.  Today we take a look at more of these persistent beliefs that people have that get passed around to the point that vast numbers of people actually believe them to be fact, which of course they are not. Digging Deeper Covid vaccine has some…

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A Brief History On May 9, 1960, the Searle manufactured drug, Enovid, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration of the United States as a birth control measure, making Enovid the first oral contraceptive pill approved for use by any nation.  While most American women rejoiced at the sexual freedom afforded by this “miracle” drug, not everyone was happy about the approval and to this day, such birth control drugs remain controversial. Digging Deeper A major boon to the Women’s Liberation Movement, American women largely celebrated the advent of this empowering drug that permitted women to avoid the “tyranny”…

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A Brief History On October 9, 2012, just eight years ago, 15 year old Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani Muslim girl, was shot in the face by Taliban Islamic extremist terrorists for the “crime” of being a girl that wanted to go to school to learn to read and write.  This intrepid young lady went on to become a major player in the battle for women’s rights in the Islamic world, and has served as an inspiration for people across the globe.  At the age of 16, she was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize!  We have previously cited this brave…

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A Brief History On July 5, 1946, the bikini swimsuit went on sale after being debuted at the Molitor Pool of Paris, France.  Ever since, continued developments in this fashion icon have kept the interest of men over most of the globe, and provided Sports Illustrated Magazine with an annual blockbuster issue.  Here we list 10 more of our (subjective) favorite 20th Century inventions, a sequel list to our prior article on this subject. Digging Deeper 1. Digital Camera and Video, 1959 We can thank Mohamed M. Atalla and Dawon Kahng at Bell Labs for this marvelous invention, dating back…

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