TALES OF THE ORDINARY

The Extraordinary Stories Behind These 10 Everyday Inventions

Image: Museums Victoria

Sometimes it’s easy to forget how behind every commonplace object there is an interesting story. Each of these invention stories stems from the need to solve a problem or make our lives a little easier.

Delve with us into the fascinating history of these 10 commonplace items that, in one way or another, have shaped our modern world.

Image: Antoine Dautry

Where would we be without ballpoint pens? Still leaking ink everywhere, I assume. In 1938, Hungarian journalist Laszlo Biro patented the first successful ballpoint pen, inspired by the quick-drying ink used in newspaper printing. This revolutionary writing instrument provided a smoother, more reliable alternative to fountain pens, making on-the-go writing easier and more accessible.

Image: Nina Cuk

Zippers are one of those inventions that are absolutely everywhere, and our lives would certainly be more complicated without them. Imagine buttoning up a camping tent!

Initially patented in 1851 by Elias Howe, the zipper struggled to gain traction until Swedish-American electrical engineer Gideon Sundbäck improved upon the design in the early 20th century. Once intended as a fastening device for shoes, the zipper's versatility soon led to its widespread use in clothing, luggage, and beyond.

Image: Diana Polekhina

Who knew there was a love story behind the ubiquitous Band-Aid? In 1920, a Johnson & Johnson employee called Earle Dickson invented the Band-Aid as a solution to his wife's frequent kitchen injuries.

Combining adhesive tape with sterile gauze, Dickson created a convenient and effective way to dress small wounds. During World War II, millions were shipped overseas, popularizing the product everywhere and becoming the household staple we know today.

Image: Jacek Halicki, CC BY-SA 4.0

Safety pins are a straightforward invention - a clothespin that protects its user from the sharp point. Yet, this commonplace fabric fastener did not exist before 1849, when it was patented by American mechanic Walter Hunt. Hunt didn’t think much of his invention and sold the patent to W. R. Grace and Company for only 400 dollars, which made millions off his design.

Image: Tyler Nix

German entrepreneur Melitta Bentz revolutionized the coffee industry in 1908 with her patented invention: the disposable paper coffee filter.

Tired of finding grounds in her coffee as well as of the bitter taste that most brewing methods of her time produced due to over-brewing, Bentz began experimenting with conical blotting paper filters. This led to her creating the simple yet effective filtration method that remains a staple of coffee preparation today.

Image: Andres Siimon

Originally crafted from natural rubber, the first rubber bands emerged in the mid-19th century as a solution for securing bundles of papers and banknotes. Although many others had previously worked on the idea, British businessman Stephen Perry is often recognized as the true inventor of rubber bands. The first commercially successful version of the product was made simply by slicing hollow tubes of vulcanized rubber, almost the same process that is still used today.

Image: Alex Padurariu

Before toothbrushes, people used just about anything they could find to maintain their oral hygiene. Twigs, feathers, animal hair, and even porcupine quills have been used in the quest for a shining smile.

But it wasn’t until the 1930s that the first practical nylon toothbrushes were invented, by American giant DuPont. Surprisingly, the first electric toothbrush was invented only twenty years later, by a Swiss company in 1954.

Image: Mitchell Luo

After watching auto-engineers try different methods to achieve smooth painting on two-color cars, 3M engineer Richard Drew designed the first masking tape in 1925, later developing the product into the clear adhesive tape we know today.

With its transparent and moisture-resistant design, the Scotch tape revolutionized the world of adhesive products, finding applications in every field, from house repairs to industrial uses.

Image: Rob Wicks

While their exact origin is debated, the widespread use of self-igniting matches dates back to the early 19th century. However, the first designs utilized highly dangerous white phosphorus, causing dangerous intoxications in both factory workers and users.

After a series of worker strikes and international bans, the industry switched to red phosphorus, a much safer alternative to produce and manipulate.

Image: Carlos Lindner

While the concept of cooling indoor air dates back to ancient civilizations - and even Benjamin Franklin experimented with various cooling methods - modern air conditioning as we know it was pioneered by Willis Carrier in 1902.

Originally designed to control humidity in a Brooklyn printing plant, Carrier's invention revolutionized not only industrial processes but also comfort in homes, businesses, and even hospitals.

Flashy Latin names

Animals with celebrity status: 12 creatures named after famous people

Image: jay huang

Between 15,000 and 18,000 new species of plants and animals are discovered every year, and, as it happens, they all need a name. Most of those names are just descriptive, but every now and then, an inspired scientist decides to honor a famous individual by naming the newly discovered species after him or her. The reference is usually hidden within a Latin name, but it is there, as these 12 examples show.

Image: Ottr Dan

King Charles led many environmental causes during his life. And, when scientists discovered a stream tree frog in Ecuador’s rainforests, they named it Hyloscirtus princecharlesi, honoring his rainforest conservation efforts.

Image: Duncan Sanchez

The "Hips Don’t Lie" singer was honored by scientists who discovered a wasp in the Ecuadorian mountains and named it Aleiodes shakirae. This parasitic wasp laid its eggs inside caterpillars that twisted in a way that reminded them of the famous dance moves of the singer.

Image: Emily Bauman

A horsefly with a distinctive shiny body with a patch of golden hairs was named after the female pop star. The fly, named Plinthina beyonceae, reminded the researchers of her song ‘Bootylicious’, and because they thought it was the "all-time diva of flies".

Image: Noah Näf

Marking the 40th anniversary of the band’s founding, a researcher named not one but four species of damselflies after the members of Queen. The names? Heteragrion freddiemercuryi, H. brianmayi, H. rogertaylori, and H. johndeaconi.

Image: Peter F. Wolf

It seems as if naming creatures after musical artists is a thing among researchers. The Sericomyrmex radioheadi ant was named after the British musical group, in appreciation of the band’s environmental activism, especially in raising climate-change awareness.

Image: 베아 밀러

Not just a single species, but a whole taxonomic group was named after Pink Floyd. We are talking about the Pinkfloydia genus of orb-weaver spiders.

According to the scientists who came up with the name, they wanted to reflect the uniqueness of the spiders, which have very distinctive physical features.

Image: Gerald Schömbs

No one should be surprised, at this point, that a shark was named after the Jaws author. The ninja lanternshark, Etmopterus benchleyi, was named so after Peter Benchley, the famous author.

Image: Rosa Rafael

The name Taylor Swift is guaranteed to make headlines every time it appears. Even if it is the name of a millipede.

In 2022, a new millipede species, Nannaria swiftae, was named after the singer-songwriter by Dr Derek Hennen, a self-confessed fan of her music.

Image: Raimond Klavins

The last creature on this list to be named after a musical artist, the Baicalellia daftpunka, honors the French duo Daft Punk.

This flatworm is said to resemble the iconic look of the duo’s helmets, which they used to conceal their identities when playing live.

Image: Jonathan Kemper

It should come as no surprise that a famous environmental activist like Greta Thunberg, who has been active for a couple of years now, has had a few animal species named after her.

Among these, a whole genus of huntsman spiders, Thunberga, has been named after her.

Image: Sam Tsonis

Some of the celebrities who have been bestowed with this honor are the very same individuals who discovered the species. Such is the case of Steve Irwin and the Elseya irwini turtle, which was found by the late zookeeper, conservationist, and TV personality.

Image: KP Bandyopadhyay

The last entry on our list is a curious case. The Idris elba parasitic wasp was not named after the actor, even though it shares the same denomination.

It is fair to say that the famous actor’s name does sound exotic, and it would not at all be hard to believe of a species named after him, especially after all the examples we have just read about.