Frozen Fun
On a cold night in 1905, 11-year-old Frank Epperson left his fruit-flavored drink outside on the porch with a stirring stick resting in the cup. The next morning, Frank ate the tasty frozen drink and named his creation the “Epsicle.”
At first, there wasn’t much interest in the Epsicle. By the time Frank applied for a patent for his “frozen ice on a stick” and put it on the market 18 years later, he had a wife and family of his own.
One of his children convinced him to rename the Epsicle the Popsicle.
Two years later, in 1925, Frank sold his Popsicle rights to Joe Lowe Co. of New York. Today, Good Humor owns the rights to the Popsicle.
Some of history’s most famous inventors were young when they made their mark. Thomas Edison patented his first idea – a vote-counting machine – at 21. Alexander Graham Bell created the telephone at 29. History also proves you don’t need years of experience or a pedigree to be a world-famous inventor.
Up and Away
Inspired by the drawings of Leonardo da Vinci and Jules Verne, author of Around the World in 80 Days, Russian immigrant Igor Sikorsky was 19 when he drafted the first modern helicopter design.
At 12, Igor built a model helicopter powered by a simple rubber band, which may have served as the basis for the final rotor wing design. Igor always tested his own helicopter inventions and even taught Charles Lindbergh, arguably one of history’s most distinguished pilots, how to fly one of his choppers.
For the past 50 years, the Sikorsky Aircraft line of helicopters has transported each U.S. president while in office.
Good with Numbers
In 17th-century France, 18-year-old Blaise Pascal invented a simple model to assist his father, a tax collector, to add large numbers. Using movable dials, Pascal’s mathematical device became the foundation for the modern calculator.
He also happened to be the first person to wear a pocket watch on his wrist, effectively introducing the wristwatch to the world.
Water Child Ralph Samuelson, an 18-year-old from Lake City, Minn., figured if he could ski on snow, then he should be able to ski on water.
In 1922, Ralph set out to a nearby lake to test his revised design of skis built for water. After five days of experimenting and a day shy of his 19th birthday, Ralph learned how to ski on water, leaning backwards with his ski tips pointing up as his brother towed him from a boat.
Green Acres Philo Farnsworth of Rigby, Idaho, invented a product in 1920 that he rarely used, but we now turn on all the time.
Much like parents today, he even discouraged his own children from using it.
His product was so revolutionary and ahead of his time that when he drew it on the chalkboard for his chemistry teacher, the idea was too complex for the instructor to understand.
It was the simple design of his family’s potato farm that offered him the “eureka” moment. Philo saw how rows of freshly plowed potatoes formed horizontal lines. Inspired, he conceived that parallel lines of electrons could be used to display images.
Philo was just 15 when he became the father of television.
