Manchester City Library

Manchester, NH's Online Library

Manchester City Library header image 2

August is Inventors Month

August 30th, 2010 · 2 Comments · Books, City Library, Local History, Main Branch

spork2Can you imagine life without zippers, kleenex, antibiotics and play-doh? Thousands of inventors have helped to shape the world into what it is today, and choosing the best ones is no easy task. To honor intrepid inventors and the wonderful things they create here is a list of New Hampshire inventors:

George Laramy from Enfield, New Hampshire patented a unique table utensil in 1907. Laramy officially patented that wonderful cafeteria eating utensil: a cross between the fork and the spoon: the spork!

James Wilson was creator of the first commercial globes. Born in New Hampshire in 1763 he decided to make his own globes after seeing some examples of ones at Dartmouth College. After teaching himself the necessary skills, like geography, he made his first globe in 1810 and soon after that his sons took over the business and by 1818 an artificial globe factory was making and selling globes to the world. He must have been a real Renaissance man!

Earl Silas Tupper of Berlin, New Hampshire. Earl’s experimenting with polyethylene led him to the invention of Tupperware in 1947. He also came up with the idea of the “tupperware party” to market and sell these goodies. Through direct home sales he managed to make Tupperware a household name.

Dean Kamen invented the Segway (code named Ginger) which was unveiled in 2001. The Segway Human Transporter is the first self-balancing, electrical transportation machine that can travel up to 17 miles per hour. The Segway takes up the same space that a pedestrian takes up and travels wherever that person can walk.
So be sure to honor New Hampshire inventors: eat your lunch out of a tupperware container using a spork while riding on your Segway!

Tags: ········

2 Comments so far ↓