QUIRKY AND RIDICULOUS STORIES ABOUT INVENTORS

THE MAN WHO INVENTED DIESEL ENGINES,

RUDOLPH DIESEL, KILLED HIMSELF IN 1913

BECAUSE HE THOUGHT HIS INVENTION HAD FAILED

MIKHAIL KALASHNIKOV, INVENTOR OF THE AK-47

RECENTLY QUOTED, "I'M PROUD OF MY

INVENTION, BUT I'M SAD THAT IT IS USED BY

TERRORISTS". THE FORMER SOVIET OFFICER

LATER SAID THAT HE WISHED HE HAD INVENTED

SOMETHING MORE BENIGN, LIKE A LAWNMOWER

KALASHNIKOV'S COMMENT IS REMINISCENT OF

EINSTEIN'S STATEMENT AFTER SEEING THE

DESTRUCTION OF THE NUCLEAR BOMB ("IF ONLY

I HAD KNOWN, I SHOULD HAVE BECOME

A WATCHMAKER")

TEA BAGS WERE INVENTED BY ACCIDENT. IN 1904,

THOMAS SULLIVAN THOUGHT IT WOULD BE

BETTER TO SEND TEA SAMPLES TO CUSTOMERS

IN SMALL SILK BAGS RATHER THAN IN BOXES.

CUSTOMERS THOUGHT THEY WERE MEANT TO

BE DUNKED IN WATER AND SOON THOMAS WAS

INUNDATED WITH REQUESTS FOR HIS "DUNKING BAGS"

RICHARD GATLING, A DOCTOR DURING THE AMERICAN

CIVIL WAR NOTICED THAT MOST SOLDIERS DIED OF

DISEASE AND NOT BULLETS. HE IS FAMOUS FOR

SAYING "IF I COULD INVENT A MACHINE, A GUN,

WHICH COULD BY ITS RAPIDITY OF FIRE, ENABLE

ONE MAN TO DO AS MUCH BATTLE DUTY AS A

HUNDRED, THAT IT WOULD, TO A LARGE EXTENT

SUPERSEDE THE NECESSITY OF LARGE ARMIES

AND CONSEQUENTLY, EXPOSURE TO BATTLE AND

DISEASE WOULD BE GREATLY DIMINISHED".

HE WENT ON TO DEVELOP THE GATLING GUN,

WHICH WAS THE WORLD'S FIRST MACHINE GUN

WHEN PETER M. ROBERTS INVENTED THE QUICK

RELEASE RATCHET AS A TEENAGER, HE CAME

TO SEARS AND THE COMPANY OFFERED HIM

$10,000 FOR THE PATENT SAYING IT HAD NO

VALUE. SEARS WENT ON TO MAKE NEARLY

$50 MILLION OFF OF QUICK RELEASE WRENCHES

EDWIN ARMSTRONG, INVENTOR OF FM RADIO,

WAS BULLIED BY NUMEROUS POWERFUL AM

RADIO SUPPORTERS (NBC AND AT&T) UNTIL HE

COMMITTED SUICIDE IN 1954 THINKING THAT

FM RADIO WAS A FAILURE

RUTH WAKEFIELD, THE INVENTOR OF CHOCOLATE

CHIP COOKIES, SOLD HER INVENTION TO NESTLE

IN RETURN FOR A LIFETIME SUPPLY OF CHOCOLATE