Wacky Facts

Arthur Wynne published the first modern crossword in the New York World in 1913.

Johannes Gutenberg’s movable-type printing press (around 1440) let a workshop print thousands of pages a day, compared with hand copying. It sped the spread of knowledge across Europe.

Walter Hunt patented it in 1849 and reportedly sold the rights for $400 to settle a debt.

Pencil “lead” is graphite mixed with clay. The name stuck from ancient lead styluses.

Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone in 1876 and spoke these words to his assistant Thomas Watson in the first successful call.

Work by Australia’s CSIRO on radio astronomy led to a patented technique for reducing signal echoes indoors, which became part of Wi-Fi standards in the late 1990s.

On 26 June 1974, a pack of Wrigley’s chewing gum was the first product scanned with a UPC barcode at a supermarket in Ohio, USA.

The word comes from the Hindi “chāmpo”, meaning to press or massage. Sake Dean Mahomed introduced head-massage “shampooing” baths in England in the early 1800s.

Ray Tomlinson sent the first networked email between two computers on ARPANET in 1971 and chose the @ sign to separate user and computer. He said the message was probably something like “QWERTYUIOP”.

Douglas Engelbart and Bill English built the first mouse prototype in the 1960s: a wooden shell with two wheels. Engelbart showed it in the famous 1968 “Mother of All Demos”.

In 1943 the US briefly banned sliced bread to save resources during World War II.

Eli Whitney’s 1793 machine separated seeds from fibre far faster than by hand.

Swiss engineer George de Mestral examined burdock burrs under a microscope after a walk and saw tiny hooks. He developed hook-and-loop fastening and patented it in the 1950s.

Cai Lun, an official of the Han dynasty, is traditionally credited with improving papermaking around 105 CE using bark, hemp and rags.

An early “inclined elevator” was installed at Coney Island in 1896 as an amusement.

Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes created bubble wrap in 1957 while trying to make textured wallpaper. It later found its real purpose as packaging.

Nicéphore Niépce’s “View from the Window at Le Gras” (c. 1826–27) is the oldest surviving camera photograph. Its exposure is estimated at many hours, possibly several days, which is why sunlight appears on both sides of the buildings.

Leo Baekeland created Bakelite, the first fully synthetic plastic.

Indian mathematicians treated zero as a number with its own rules; Brahmagupta described arithmetic with zero in 628 CE. The idea spread through the Arab world to Europe.

Chess developed from chaturanga, a strategy game played in India around the 6th century CE. Its pieces represented the four divisions of an army: infantry, cavalry, elephants and chariots.

Tim Berners-Lee proposed the Web at CERN in 1989 so scientists could link and share information. The first website went online in 1991.

On 3 December 1992, engineer Neil Papworth sent “Merry Christmas” from a computer to a mobile phone on the Vodafone network in the UK.

In 1928 Alexander Fleming noticed that mould contaminating a bacteria culture had killed the bacteria around it. The mould produced penicillin, the first widely used antibiotic.

Raytheon’s 1947 Radarange stood about 1.8 m tall and weighed around 340 kg.

Levi Strauss and tailor Jacob Davis patented copper-riveted work trousers.

Charles Babbage designed the Analytical Engine in 1837 but it was never completed in his lifetime.

3M scientist Spencer Silver created a low-tack reusable adhesive in 1968. Years later colleague Art Fry used it for bookmarks in his hymn book, and Post-it Notes launched in 1980.

Hungarian journalist László Bíró, frustrated by smudging fountain pens, developed a ballpoint pen with quick-drying ink and patented it in 1938.

3M engineer Richard Drew invented masking tape in 1925 to help car painters make clean two-tone lines.

Denso Wave, a Toyota group company, created the QR code in 1994 to track components in car manufacturing. It is now used everywhere, including UPI payments.

Hero of Alexandria described a coin-operated holy-water dispenser in the 1st century CE.

Kodak engineer Steven Sasson built it in 1975; one photo took 23 seconds to record to cassette tape.

Engineer Percy Spencer noticed a candy bar melting while he worked near radar equipment in the 1940s. Raytheon filed a patent for microwave cooking in 1945.

Invented by Ernő Rubik in 1974, it can be solved in 20 moves or fewer from any position.

Willow bark was used for pain for thousands of years; Bayer launched aspirin in 1899.

Joseph Swan and others built working bulbs; Edison’s team made a long-lasting practical version in 1879.

Louis Braille, blind since childhood, developed his raised-dot system in 1824.