Author Topic: ~ Invention Stories ~  (Read 7556 times)

Offline MysteRy

  • Global Moderator
  • Classic Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 218307
  • Total likes: 23035
  • Karma: +2/-0
  • Gender: Female
  • ♥♥ Positive Thinking Will Let U Do Everything ♥♥
    • http://friendstamilchat.com/
Re: ~ Invention Stories ~
« Reply #15 on: July 31, 2014, 10:10:36 AM »
Invention Story of Walkman



Walkman, the name itself arouses curiosity. And not only does it have an interesting name but is an interesting gadget too. Walkman got its name from brand Sony. It brought a revolution in the music listening habits by allowing people to carry their favorite music while they were on move. Launch of pre-recorded tapes towards the end of 1960s had unwrapped new market already. And Compact tape size worked for Walkman and made it fit for mobility and car stereos as compared to 8 –tracks or vinyl.
 
In July 1979, Sony Corporation launched Sony Walkman, silver and blue colored portable player with flashy buttons, leather case and headphones. It also offered an extra earphone jack to let two people listen music at the same time but was a little bulky. One day Sony’s co-founder, Masura Ibuka while travelling for business, asked his executive deputy president to design a model that could be used with headphones. And then high quality, compact music player was launched.
 
This device now needed a name. Originally Walkman was launched in US with the name of Sound- About and in UK with Stowaway. But the only problem was that coming up uncopyrighted , new names for each country proved expensive. However Sony chose ‘Walkman’ as the name. Released first in Japan, the production proved to be a big hit. While the company had predicted sale of only 5000 units in the month, Walkman was sold, more than 50,000 in first two months.
 
Sony was although not the first company to launch portable audio or the portable transistors. Regency TR 1 which was of size of index card made its debut in 1954. But unique combination of privacy and portability offered by Walkman made it ideal product for consumers looking for portable stereos. TPS L2 was launched later in June 1980.

1980’s can be very well known as the decade of Walkman. Apart from Sony, brands such as Toshiba, Panasonic and Aiwa helped tapes to outsell the vinyl records in year 1983 for the first time. And by year 1986, word ‘Walkman’ had made a place in Oxford Dictionary. Fortunately, its invention clashed with beginning of aerobics craze among people and millions of them used it for keeping themselves entertained while working out. Between years 1987-97, popularity of Walkman reached to its highest.
Sony did not stop rolling out variations of the product in the market. Innovations such as bass boost, FM/ AM receivers, auto reverse were a part of later models. The company even launched water resistant Walkman, device with two cassette players and one that worked with solar energy.
 
But capturing such a large part of the market was not a cakewalk for the company. Sony had to face many entry barriers. Just before Walkman was making an entry into market, its image was stained by press, which considered a cassette player without recorder worthless and letdown to the company. Sony without paying attention at negative comments, geared up for the product launch. Management of the company did not want to promote the product in traditional manner. So they organized a bus tour with journalists.
 
All journalists were handed over Walkman and were taken to a garden. These journalists were asked to put on their headphones and listen to product’s explanation. Meanwhile, staff members carried out product demonstrations. Use of Walkman while walking, skating, cycling and while indulging all other fitness activities was explained. This inventive promotion style allowed the journalists to enjoy great audio quality of the product personally. And they were impressed with innovative launch and ability of the product to keep people entertained with music anywhere, anytime.
 
Even after impressing journalists, Sony had to pump its promotions up to increase the sales. They got their staff to travel in the trains to promote Walkman. The company was targeting young crowd and hence hired young staff with Walkman to walk around Ginza, Tokyo. These young staff members were instructed to let passersby try the product for free and experience the great audio quality.
 
Management even got young stars to pose with their product and got the pictures printed in the magazines to add to their product’s popularity. They also resorted to demonstrations and word of mouth to advertise Walkman. The creative promotional style added to Walkman’s success and it became a big hit.
 
And it was not just the entry barriers but the Stereobelt conflict that made the company’s journey a little hard. Sony had to confront lawsuit by Andreas Pavel. Andreas claimed that he was the one who invented portable player known as Stereobelt in year 1972. He also claimed that he got in touch with Philips and Yamaha but his invention was rejected by manufacturers on the basis that it would not work. He even filed patent for Stereobelt in Italy and then in UK, US, Japan and Germany.
 
Legal issues between the Sony and Andreas started in year 1980 and after 6 long years Sony agreed to pay for royalties for Walkman sold in Germany. But it did not satisfy Andreas as the company was not acknowledging him as an inventor of product and he filed lawsuits again in 1989. In year 2003, he warned Sony to file the infringement lawsuits in countries where he had applied for patent and then Sony agreed for out of court settlement. Now a handsome sum was paid to Andreas and he was made to sign a contract that disabled him from filing lawsuits against the company.

And after Walkman had its share of fame, the time for bidding it goodbye came its way. 1986 marked decline of the product. Sony introduced upgraded model of the music player known as Discman. The new technology gained fans with better audio quality. Being market leader in portable players, the company decided to retain Walkman as name and scrapped name Discman. And this how early Walkman had paved way for the portable players. Developments in technology lead to outdating cassette players but some deluxe models are still sold in Japan and South Korea.   

Offline MysteRy

  • Global Moderator
  • Classic Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 218307
  • Total likes: 23035
  • Karma: +2/-0
  • Gender: Female
  • ♥♥ Positive Thinking Will Let U Do Everything ♥♥
    • http://friendstamilchat.com/
Re: ~ Invention Stories ~
« Reply #16 on: July 31, 2014, 10:11:58 AM »
Invention Story of MP3 Player



Sometimes I wonder if all of it is real. The world is full of gadgets. You can find them anywhere and everywhere. There would not be any man on this planet whose life is untouched by gadgets in one way or the other. One of these gadgets that have added to the delight of music buffs is MP3 player. A lot of us would really love to thank the people behind this useful gadget. This invention has surely made most of our lives filled with music. Infact  most of us feel incomplete without our MP3 players.
 
MP3 technology started in German in the year 1987. German Company named Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft started the research program for coding music with the high quality and low bit rate sampling at its institute. The project was controlled by an expert in mathematics and electronics, Harlheinz Bradenburg. Based on his 10 year long experience in music compression, Harlheinz Bradenburg invented MP3 players. He completed the project in less than 2 years and applied for German patent in 1989. Earliest record label that produced and released music in this format was SubPOP, Washington. And in 1996, US patent was also applied for MP3 compression.
 
Then in 1997, Tomislav Uzelac who was an employee of Advanced Multimedia Products Company, made the first successful MP3 player after Frauenhofer’s MP3 became a disaster. Seven years later, He managed to produce, prototype as well as release first MP3 in the US markets. This was the earliest Portable player and was known as AMP MP3 Playback Engine.
 
A Korean company by the name of Seoul created first solid state version of MP3 player. The memory storage was around 32 MB along with expandable option of 64 MB. Reception of this player was not that good in the world market initially but Rio PMP300 offered better reception capability. MP3 players like Rio PMP300 make use of hardware coding to decompress MP3 files and play music for the listener. 
Another name that is mentioned with invention of MP3 is Kane Kramer. He is believed to have first conceived the idea of downloading music, video, and music through the telephone line in 1979. With James Campbell, he went on pioneer digital recording and also built world’s earliest digital player. Kane had the vision of revolutionizing the music industry with this equipment and he quite did too. 1981 patent along with IXI system report describes idea around which electronic music distribution revolved and traveled through the telephone lines. Interestingly this happened many years before the internet was launched.
 
Even though, history of these players goes a long way back, it was not really realized as it is today, until MPMAN commercialized MP3 players in the whole world. Ever since, it is known to have developed a plethora of MP3 and MP4 players throughout Europe and Asia. Headquartered in various parts of the world, the company offers a range of players with different memory and player sizes.
 
Software programs used for decompressing allow one to playback on the computer. These software programs have added to the popularity of the MP3 players. Two students named Dmitry Boldyrev and Justin Frankel developed famous software application known as WinAMP, used for the MP3 playback. WinAMP is widely used utility for listening to the MP3 encoded music. Windows Media Player and iTunes are also two popular programs used for MP3 playback and can used for downloading free music.
 
MP3 Players these days let the users’ playback their favorite music using portable speakers or headphones. Convenience of the instant audio playback and the library lets you carry music where ever you are going. Various MP3 choices are replacing CD players to much an extent. There are many possibilities that one can choose from as the technology has developed so much. Many manufacturers have also combined FM/AM and Stereo reception capabilities with MP3 players.
 
From the time when idea of playing music through a device like MP3 was first conceived till now, there have been many efforts put into this device. The technology has undoubtedly come a long way and continues to grow in use and popularity each day. And still developments on MP3 players have not come to end.   

Offline MysteRy

  • Global Moderator
  • Classic Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 218307
  • Total likes: 23035
  • Karma: +2/-0
  • Gender: Female
  • ♥♥ Positive Thinking Will Let U Do Everything ♥♥
    • http://friendstamilchat.com/
Re: ~ Invention Stories ~
« Reply #17 on: July 31, 2014, 10:13:32 AM »
Invention Story of Submarines



History of inventions does not have a more interesting chapter than that of submarines. Sailing under ocean’s waves was an allure for all the heroes that led to making of this masterpiece.
 
In 1830s and 40s, various French inventors including Petit Villeroi, Payerne, DeMontgery hadprovided submersible concepts and some of them were actually built too. But only after French Navy became keen in the design offered by naval constructor Charles Brun and Captain Bourgeois, notable progress was made in these wonder machines.
 
In 1859, Brun and Bourgeois started putting in their efforts on Le Plongeur, which was earliest submarine, independent of human power for propulsion. Motorized by reciprocating engine, compelled by the stored compressed air, this 14 foot could manage standard 5 knots submerged. She was incredible sight with displacement of around 420 tons. This was largest submarine to make a debut before 20th century. The giant size of this submarine was due to storage space required for huge bottles with compressed air. She was also the first ever to utilize compressed air for empting the ballast tanks.
 
But soon after the launch in 1863, imperfections in Le Plongeur came to the surface. The machine suffered from insufficient stability because of her flatness and length. The system of pistons and pipes used from one end to another end for longitudinal equilibrium control worked slowly. The submarine would tumble downwards at the steep angles and correcting gears would come to action. It also took breaks for surface, where other correction processes would start all over again. After working on it for three years without any notable improvements, experiments on Le Plongeur were abandoned.
 

Then invention by Narcis Monturiol, a Spanish engineer, came to limelight. He first conceived building submarine to help the coral fishermen. By 1859, 7 m long Ictíneo was all set for first real life test. But its propeller was hand driven by four people. Monturiol began construction on a larger submarine, Ictineo II, in 1862.  The length of submarine was 17 m and it displaced 65 tons. Launched in 1864, the bigger submarine’s propeller was operated with help of 16 men.
 
Ictineo II was equipped with single cannon that could be fired when completely submerged. Due to its bad performance, Monturiol decided to replace human power with steam engine of 6 Hp. And his creation was re-launched in 1867, propelled by one cylinder set in stern of the boat. The submarine did around 13 submersions to 30 m of depth. But the fate of this wonder piece was bad. It was seized by the creditors due to financial problems and was broken up to be sold for the metal as scrap.
 
Jules Verne acted as an inspiration for submarines pioneers of late 1900and early 2000 centuries. Better known as father of the science fiction, Jules authored Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea in year 1870. Though he lacked formal training in engineering and science, Jules has been an immense source of motivation for submarine inventors. Futuristic submarine for his protagonist named Captain Nemo had inspired many and Simon Lake was one of them. Lake even credited his ever growing interest in Sea exploration to Jules’s Novel. He was pleasantly surprised when he got Congratulations telegram on his Argonaut’s ocean voyage completion from the inspiring author.
 
In 1872, James McClintock traveled to Nova Scotia to conduct a meeting with the Royal Navy. Reason behind the trip was significant, he wanted to talk about his work in the submarine warfare and also express the desire of building submersible torpedo vessel for the Navy. Though, he had proposed engine that could be driven with ammoniacal gas and all other elements that he considered  best for his boat, he was aware of its shortcomings too. Basic problems that were faced by this piece were inexact compass readings, lack of self propelling power and inability to keep a track of horizontal movements. Resurgam, soon followed these submarines. Reverend George Garrett intended on demonstrating 12m vehicle to British Navy and it was not free of mechanical problems.
 
And Fish torpedo, earliest self propelled torpedo by Navy, was created in 1871 by Naval Torpedo station. Its design was based on physical attributes of Early Whitehead torpedo by Whitehead. Next entered John Phillip Holland, the submarine pioneer of the 20th century who is now called father of modern submarine. He had launched the first ever submersible design in 1875. He determined to separate ballast water and air internally with the help of oiled and flexible silk partitions. Called Holland Boat No. 1, John’s boat was laid in Albany Iron Works, New York. In 1878, this boat was shifted to another Iron Works in Peterson. Weighing 2-1/4 tons, 14 feet long Holland 1 propelled by four horsepower engine. Though he did not get any funding for his first proposal, improvised steam supply in this 14 foot long craft was enough to get funding from Fenian Brotherhood for following prototype.
 
Holland integrated key concepts that he had figured out about the submarine navigation and confirmed Holland 1 in Fenian Ram in New York. This 19 ton submersible was propelled by Brayton engine 17 horsepower and equipped with dynamite gun for tests at the New York harbor. Consistent progress of Holland came to a halt in 1883 because of internal disagreement among Fenian Brotherhood.
 
And later that year, Philip Holland met Edmund L. Zalinski who marketed the dynamite gun for Fenian Ram. He hoped to provide financing for building new submarine featuring his own pneumatic gun as chief armament. He also offered Philip Holland a position with his company ,which was quickly accepted by him. Both these men started a company named Nautilus Submarine Boat Company and in the mid 1884, Philip Holland started on with construction of Zalinski Boat.

Since then there has been many improvements in Submarines. Submarines of today are a resultant of combined effort of many brains. After gaining their inspiration from Verne’s Novel or any other source, these heroes have bestowed us with a machine to discover a world under the water. And who knows one of us takes this machinery to another level soon.

Offline MysteRy

  • Global Moderator
  • Classic Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 218307
  • Total likes: 23035
  • Karma: +2/-0
  • Gender: Female
  • ♥♥ Positive Thinking Will Let U Do Everything ♥♥
    • http://friendstamilchat.com/
Re: ~ Invention Stories ~
« Reply #18 on: July 31, 2014, 10:14:58 AM »
Invention Story of Television



One of the most popular inventions of 21st century has been surrounded by controversies. Television, which has become an indispensible part of our lives, is a result of several discoveries.
Early development stages of television witnessed various inventors employing combination of electronic, optical and mechanical technologies for capturing, transferring and broadcasting visual images. Towards the end of 1800s, images were transferred through fax machine for the first time. Soon after telephone came into being, electrically powered transmission of moving TV images, known as telephonoscope, was started. Science fiction writers were of the view that light would pass via wires like sound some day. And many people have worked hard to offer this exquisite instrument of entertainment.
 
Revolutionary works of Michael Faraday and Joseph Henry in 1831, launch of pantelegraph by Abbe Caselli and works by inventors and scientists Sheldon Bidwell, George Carey, Edison, Bell and Eugen Goldstein, all made way to Nipkow invention.
Paul Gottlieb Nipkow from Germany developed rotating disc technology known as Nipkow disc. In the year 1884, this young student patented electromagnetic TV system, employing scanning disk with various holes spiraling to center, for the purpose of rasterization. Holes on the disk were situated at equivalent angular intervals in way that the disc allowed light to pass through each hole in one rotation over light receptive selenium sensor that produced electrical pulses. But the design could only be used for transmission of halftone images.

Eventually, designs that used rotating mirror-drum scanner for capturing images and CRT as displaying device came into being. However, moving images were still not available due to bad sensitivity of selenium sensors. In year 1907, Boris, Russian scientist employed CRT in his experimental TV’s receiver. He made use of mirror drum scanner for transmitting geometric shapes to CRT.
After some decades, in 1920s, a Scots inventor named John Baird patented the technology that used various transparent rods for broadcasting images to be viewed and delivered on TV sets. The back lit figures were replaced by 30-line resolution. John clarified that his patented technology was based on Nipkow’s invention. He transmitted first ever televised images of moving objects, human faces and real time moving entities in the years 1924, 1925 and 1926 respectively. Baird was the first person to invent Phonovision, video recording mechanism. By using traditional audio recording mechanism, he modulated output signals of TV camera, down to audio range while capturing signals on wax audio discs. Some of his recordings stayed alive and were decoded to viewable pictures in 1990s with signal processing technologies.
 
In the year 1926, Hungarian engineer named Kalman Tihanyi also designed Television that showcased fully electronic display and scanning elements. This instrument used principle of the charge storage in scanning tube. And the invention was soon followed by mirror drum based TV by a Russian Inventor named Leon Theremin in 1927. Herbert Ives from the Bell Labs transferred moving images from 50 apeture disk.
Philo Farnsworth, the electronic inventor discovered earliest electronic television. He made a TV system that offered electronic scanning of display and pickup services.  In year 1927, he achieved almost double resolution compared to Baird. Philo transmitted dollar sign image that comprised of around 60 horizontal lines. He displayed his invention in front of press in September 1928.
 
In 1938, Werner Flechsig, a German engineer disclosed his shadow mask color TV. He showcased ancestor of today’s analog signal television. And in year 1939, TV was first displayed at the World Fair at New York and International Exposition at San Francisco. David Sarnoff telecasted earliest Presidential speech at World Fair.
 
In year 1938, TV set manufacturing was initiated by DuMont Company and in no time these sets had become standard to which all other TVs were assessed. The DuMont labs started exploring and working cathode ray mechanism in year 1931. In year 1946, the company’s TV network became world’s first network. This network was basically established for selling television sets.
Under the guidance of Peter Goldmark, CBA scientists produced mechanical color TV based on Baird’s designs in 1940. Goldsmark showed his color TV system in 1946 to Federal Communications Commission. His set worked with the help of blue, green and red wheel spin in face of ray tube. In year 1948, around one million television sets were sold in United Stated.
 
Pennsylvanian mountains gave rise to cable TV that was known CATV in year 1940. Earliest color TV was commercially televised by FCC in 1953. First ever TV control known as Lazy Bones was introduced in 1950 by Zenith Corporation and it made entry in American homes in 1956.
 
Television has now become one of most important sources for entertainment for a lot of us. It works as a rejuvenator, companion and entertainer each day. Starting from black and whites, Television has transformed completely. 3D TV is latest edition to world of entertainment. It takes the viewer to a new world where landscapes seem realistic. This technology creates an illusion of viewing TV not just from a single angle but various angles. Equipped with infrared emitters, 3D technology TVs are offering exclusive experience to the users.
Not only in terms of viewing experience, TV has progressed in terms of looks and features too. A plethora of features are offered by latest LED TVs. Great audio and video clarity adds to the delight of viewers. The best part about these televisions is that they consume much less energy as compared to the conventional ones. Savings in electricity bills have persuaded people to invest in these televisions. Ultra thin and sleek look of this TV allows the users to adorn in any corner of the place.
 
Equipped with USB ports, one can easily watch movies or view other videos by connecting the device through TV. Whether it is LED or the 3D TV, TV viewing experience for the users have improved leaps and bounds. There has been remarkable improvement in the television since the time it was first launched. And the development has not stopped; there is a lot to come in near future too.

Offline MysteRy

  • Global Moderator
  • Classic Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 218307
  • Total likes: 23035
  • Karma: +2/-0
  • Gender: Female
  • ♥♥ Positive Thinking Will Let U Do Everything ♥♥
    • http://friendstamilchat.com/
Re: ~ Invention Stories ~
« Reply #19 on: July 31, 2014, 10:16:33 AM »
Invention Story of Satellite



It all started with basketball-sized pack of technology known as Sputnik 1. World’s first ever satellite was launched on October 4, 1957 by Soviet Union. Weighing 183 pounds, it took around 98 minutes to orbit Earth. While launch of the satellite was just a single event, it marked the beginning of space age and steered new military, political, scientific and technological developments.
 
The seed of its invention was sown back in year 1952, when International Council of Scientific Unions came to a decision of establishing July 1, 1957-December 31, 1958 as International Geophysical yr. It was decided so because scientists knew solar activity cycle would be at high points around this time. And eventually, council took up a resolution calling launch of the artificial satellites during International Geophysical yr. for mapping Earth’s surface.
 
White House declared plans of launching earth orbiting satellite and requested proposals from different governmental research agencies for undertaking development in July 1955. Vanguard proposal by Naval Research lab was picked for representing U.S during International Geophysical yr. And launch of Sputnik revolutionized everything. The technical achievement of Sputnik was that it did not just grab world’s attention but America’s public off-guard too. The size of this satellite was impressive as compared to Vangaurd and anticipated payload of 3.5 pounds. Additionally, public feared Soviet’s ability to commence satellites also translated to capability for launching ballistic missiles that could be used to transfer missiles from Europe to U.S. After that, Soviet’s had hit back with launch of Sputnik II on November 3, 1957.
 
Also, immediately after the launch of Sputnik 1, Defense department of U.S retorted to political disturbance with fund approval for Satellite project. Later as an alternative to the Vangaurd, work was initiated on Explorer project. Eventually, U.S launched Explorer 1 on January 31, 1958.
 
And the race into space did not end here; new way of viewing earth came into being. First ever aerial pictures were taken centuries ago by a hot air balloonist. Balloons were used for gathering military intelligence at the time of U.S civil war until their non immunity to gunfire was noticed. After that, many attempts were made to view ground from height including use of little cameras, kites or pigeons too. But effective aerial photography was not initiated until passenger on airplane snapped a scene of ground in year 1908. 
Another revolutionizing element that the satellites brought was cellular telephones. These telephones have made communication not easy but handy too. Staying connected is easy as a pie with these phones. In the year, 1976 February, COMSAT launched MARISAT, a new type of satellite for offering mobile services to US Navy and all other marine clients. And in no later time, Europeans also commenced MARECS series for providing same services in 1980. Maritime organization UN international had funded INMARSAT in year 1979. And INMARSAT leased MARECS and MARISAT satellite transponders initially but soon in 1990 October started its own satellite named INMARSAT II F-1. Third generation of the satellite has been commenced too.
 
The contract of building an aeronautical satellite was given to General Motors in mid 1970s but was cancelled soon and IMARSAT provided the service. Perceived as means of offering traffic monitoring and telephone services on ships initially but it has offered a lot more than that. Gulf War brought the technology to public notice.
 
Many companies have worked hard to present version of Personal Communication System with the use of satellites in the Low Earth Orbits (LEO). As compared to initial LEO satellites, these systems orbited around 500 miles below belt. Among most ambitious LEO systems, Iridium by Motorola ruled the roost. At an altitude of 400 miles, it planned to start 66 satellites in the polar orbit. All the six orbits had 11 satellites each. And it started offering communication services of the cellular phones back in 1998. Apart from the large scaled LEO systems, there were many small ones too. But these companies planned to provide limited services, basically radio and data determination. Classic of these was known as ORBCOM which has now become a global leading provider of cellular data communications based asset management, tracking and remote controlling.
 
By 20th century’s end, around 2,200 satellites were orbiting the planet with many of them offering scientific data with shots of earth that were not even imagined before. Along with latest imaging techniques, satellites bestow ordinary human beings with super sight. Remote sensing uses aerial photography and lets humans’ view, which is otherwise not possible with an unaided eye. Different techniques allow identification of vegetation, soil, seasonal crops, mineral resources and changes brought around by floods and storms. These are also use for detecting surface temperatures, finding out groundwater movements. The key ability of remote sensing device is that it can see energies in the wavelength that is not visible to the human eye. Remote sensing, which is just a step child of space age, is prying many innermost secrets of Earth.

Offline MysteRy

  • Global Moderator
  • Classic Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 218307
  • Total likes: 23035
  • Karma: +2/-0
  • Gender: Female
  • ♥♥ Positive Thinking Will Let U Do Everything ♥♥
    • http://friendstamilchat.com/
Re: ~ Invention Stories ~
« Reply #20 on: August 01, 2014, 02:24:19 PM »
Invention Story of Rocket



Since the time human beings saw birds soaring through sky, they wished to fly. Ancient Romans and Greeks portrayed many mythological animals and gods with wings. In fact as per the legend of Daedalus and Icarus, both the father and his son broke away from prison by affixing wings made of feathers and wax to their respective bodies. Icarus flew too close to the sun and its heat melted his feathers and wax, leading him to the sea whereas Daedalus landed safe in Sicily.
 
Legendary characters were known to fly through heavens using mythological powers. Around 100 BC, Hero of Alexandria, a Greek Inventor, introduced a device known as aeolipile. The device used mechanical interaction of water and heat to work. Steam generated through the two elements was its driving force. By mounting sphere above the water kettle and firing it, he turned water into the steam so that gas travelled through pipes to sphere. He also placed two L shaped pipes on opposite ends of sphere to allow the gas to escape. All this gave thrust to sphere and helped it to rotate. The thrust sounded like fireworks than the rockets.
 
Initially, Chinese used rockets at the time of celebrations and warfares. According to a legend, Wan-Hoo, a Chinese official tried a trip to the moon with a huge wicker chair, fastened using 47 big rockets. His 47 assistants helped him to light fuses and in a blink of an eye, a roar escorted with smoke clouds, was witnessed by the onlookers. As the smoke cleared, Wan-Hoo and his chair, both were gone. Throughout the span of 13 to 15th century, many such rocket experiments took place.
 
One of other early devices that used principles of rocket flight was wooden bird. Aulus Gellius’s writings narrate story of Archytas from Taretum. Back in 400 B.C, he entertained and amused locals by flying his wooden pigeon suspended on the wires. This pigeon used principle of action and reaction, which was made a part of scientific law in 17th century. But for many centuries, these experimented rockets were small and use was restricted to weaponry, firework displays, signaling and sea rescues.
Towards the end of 17th century, scientific fundamentals were laid for the contemporary rocketry. Isaac Newton had worked on his perception of physical motion in 3 scientific laws. His laws give a peep into how the rockets functions and how are they able to work in vacuum of the outer space. His laws were soon seen to impact designing of the rockets. Dutch professor named Willem Gravesande had designed model cars that were driven by steam jets. And soon Russian and German experimenters worked with rockets with mass of around 45 Kgs. Out of these, some rockets were so powerful that they made deep holes in ground with their exhaust flames.
 
Towards end of 18th and beginning of 19th century, rockets witnessed revival as war weapon. Success of Indian rocket bombardments against British, led to their revival as a weapon. Congreve designed rockets that could be used by British military. Even with his work, accuracy of the rockets did not improve much. War rockets were known for their numbers than their power or accuracy. So rocket experimenters all over the globe worked on making the rockets accurate. And eventually, spin stabilization technique was established by William Hale. This mechanism allowed exhaust gases to struck vane at rocket’s bottom, causing it to spin like bullet in flights. In fact variations of this principle are used even today in rockets.
 
A clear understanding of rocket principles emerged in 20th century and eventually large rockets evolved too. Today’s remarkable collection of rockets have the roots from technology and scientific experimentation of past. Natural outgrowth of these pieces of human ingenuity, have taken many years of research and experimentation. Initially rockets used a single engine but soon fuel run-out became a big problem. And placing a small rocket on bigger rocket and firing it after first burned out, seemed good way to achieve speed. US army soon after, captured the V-2s for the experimental flights to high atmosphere and replaced payload with other rocket, “WAC Corporal”, launched from top of orbit. Weighing around 3 tons, burned out V2s were dropped using small rockets that reached a higher altitude. These days, every space rocket makes use of different stages, dropping every burned out stage while continuing with much lighter and smaller booster.
 
Rockets have made launch of machines and humans in space possible. Astronauts can orbit around the Earth and can land on the Moon. Hardly did anyone of us know that we can progress to this extent that we would have access to Moon. Space has been opened for commercial exploitation and exploration just because of rockets. Satellites have allowed scientist to examine our world, communicate instantly, forecast weather throughout the world with ease.
 
Rockets are everywhere today. Space shutters are using liquid propellant in the huge containers to relieve liftoff. Military has unmanned rockets like Minuteman. There are smarter missiles and rockets that make use of satellites for their guidance. Initial space launches by US placed astronaut on Titan Missiles.
 
The latest series of rockets has been named as Ares series. Ares I would be a smaller rocket planned to carry new manned capsule- Orion into space. Ares V would be much larger that would be carry heavier loads to orbit. This would have the capability to lift around 286,000 pounds. Cargo then can be transported to Mars or to Moon. Orion would be ready for launch in year 2014.

Future of this marvelous technology is in use of newer fuels. It certainly needs certain amount of effort to leave Earth’s gravity. Once spacecraft is in orbit, new kinds of propulsion would be needed. Scientists are working on development of fusion engines for the long term fuel requirements. New mission to the Jupiter may use fusion reactor to power spacecrafts for decades. Engineers are also putting in their efforts to develop spacecrafts with the huge sails to harness power of Sun and its lasers based on Earth.

Offline MysteRy

  • Global Moderator
  • Classic Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 218307
  • Total likes: 23035
  • Karma: +2/-0
  • Gender: Female
  • ♥♥ Positive Thinking Will Let U Do Everything ♥♥
    • http://friendstamilchat.com/
Re: ~ Invention Stories ~
« Reply #21 on: August 01, 2014, 02:25:34 PM »
Invention Story of Radio



Radio is indebted to two other discoveries for its birth- telephone and telegraph. These three technologies are very closely related. Radio started as wireless telegraphy. And it all began with invention of radio waves, which have capacity to send out speech, music, picture and all other data through air. A range of devices like radio, cordless phones, microwave TV broadcasts work with the help of electromagnetic waves.
 
During 1860s, James Maxwell, a Scottish physicist forecasted presence of radio waves. And in year 1886, Heinrich Hertz showcased projection of swift variation of the electric current into space in form of radio waves.
 
Twenty years after invention of telephone, music was set down on telephone line and Guglielmo Marconi was responsible for the radio signals. This Italian discoverer demonstrated radio communication’s feasibility. Fascinated by Hertz’s discovery of the radio waves, he realized that it could be used for receiving and sending the telegraph messages, referring to it as wireless telegraphs.
 
His earliest radio transmissions, the coded signals transmitted to only a mile far in 1896. Marconi then recognized its high potential and offered the discovery to Italian Government that had turned it down. He then realized a patent and experimented further after moving to England. In 1898, he flashed the results of Kingstown Regatta to Dublin Newspaper’s office, making first ever public broadcast of sports event. The following year, he opened his radio factory in Essex, thus establishing link between France and Britain. He then established link with USA in year 1901. And Marconi shared Nobel Prize in Physics for wireless telegraph in year 1909.

But his wireless telegraph only transmitted signals. Voice in radio came in the 1921. Soon after, in 1922, he introduced short wave transmissions. Marconi however was not the first one to invent radio. Nikola Tesla who moved to US in 1884, launched radio’s theoretical model prior to Marconi. In 1915, Tesla tried to acquire court’s injunction against Marconi. And in year 1943, Supreme Court US reviewed decision. And due to this Tesla was acknowledged as inventor of radio even when he did ever build working radio.
J.C. Bose was another claimant to throne of radio inventors. He showcased radio transmission to British Governor General in 1896 at Calcutta.  The transmission was for a distance of around 3 miles. His instruments, Mercury Coherer attached to telephone detector, are still showcased Calcutta University’s Science College.
Bose had taken care of Hertz’s problem of not being able to penetrate through water, mountains or walls. Marconi’s Coherer is known to be exact copy of Bose’s Coherer. Initially, Bose was reluctant in applying for patent because he believed in free flow of inventions in the field of science. But eventually due to persuasion by his American friends he had applied for patent in 1901. US patent was awarded to him in year 1904.
 
There has been tremendous growth of the radio over the years. Transmitters earlier were known as spark gap machines. It was established for ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore communication. The communication was just confined to two points then and was not public broadcasting as it is today. Wireless signals demonstrated effective communication for the purpose of rescue in case of sea disasters. Range of ocean liners installed the wireless equipments and in 1899, US Army established the wireless communication. Just after two years, Navy adopted wireless system and it was relief as Navy had been using homing pigeons and visual signaling for communication.
Radiotelegraph services were instituted in Hawaiian Islands in 1901. Marconi station situated in Massachusetts carried greetings between King Edward VII and Theodore Roosevelt. In year 1905, Port Arthur’s naval battle was also reported over wireless and US weather department tried radiotelegraphy for speeding notice weather condition.
 
Eventually radio transmitters were improved. Overseas radiotelegraph services were slowly developed, basically because early transmitter discharged the electricity between electrodes and within circuit causing high interference. DeForest and Alexanderson alternator took care of many such technical issues.
Lee Deforest was inventor of space telegraphy, Audion and triode amplifier. In early 1990s, delicate and effective detector of the electromagnetic radiation was needed for developing the radio further. And Lee Deforest discovered the detector. He was the first person to use term ‘radio’. His work resulted in discovery of AM radio that capably broadcasted various radio stations which early gap transmitters did not allow.
 
Since that time, there has been no looking back. Radio has now become a popular medium of portable entertainment. In 21stcentury, technological advancements have given birth to internet radio. Satellite radio is also recent development in the field. One can listen to various international radio stations without any hassles. Besides all these latest editions, Ham radio would be next big thing. This technology is gearing up to hit the market soon. Radio lovers have a reason to rejoice as there is a lot in store for them.

Offline MysteRy

  • Global Moderator
  • Classic Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 218307
  • Total likes: 23035
  • Karma: +2/-0
  • Gender: Female
  • ♥♥ Positive Thinking Will Let U Do Everything ♥♥
    • http://friendstamilchat.com/
Re: ~ Invention Stories ~
« Reply #22 on: August 01, 2014, 02:26:42 PM »
Invention Story of Gun



Weapons have been used from time immemorial. But they have been developed from time to time, catering to the needs of humans. Longbow ended hundred year war in Europe. People from history have prevailed battles due to some improvements in swords. Rat race of collecting arms for the national détente is not new. Whether for purpose of self defense or offence, guns have a fascinating history.
 
Though the firearms started as the primeval popguns in middle ages, they have reformed through centuries and have become intricate weaponry of the day. Starting with the gunpowder, bullet weapons were introduced for firing. What started off with a weak, small cannon, guns have undergone a complete transformation.
 
Conventionally, Chinese invented gunpowder in 19th century. But their use was confined to firecrackers only. Robert Bacon is also known to be the inventor of gunpowder according to a theory. He is supposedly said to have found its recipe among the chemical formulas. Regardless of who gunpowder’s inventor was, mythical monk from Germany is believed to have given idea of propelling projectile with the gunpowder in the 1300s. And Arabs are known to be inventors of earliest cannon named madfaa. This cannon was a wooden bowl with gunpowder in it and cannonball was made to stand on bowl’s rim. Metal cannon named pot de fer soon followed madfaa. Its name that meant pot of fire, described how the iron bottle gripped gunpowder. Modern cannons were developed from this model only.
 
The subsequent cannons looked nothing more than simple pipes that were closed from one end that fired lead balls or stones. Some cannons were made of wooden tubes fastened by iron. Due to lack of support, these cannons were laid on the ground and were supported with dirt mounds. Although roaring noises made by these cannons were frightening, their force was dubious. Even after hitting the knights in full armor, it would hardly create a dent.
 
Soon these cannons were enlarged to take care of the popgun qualities they had. Their large versions were known as bombards. These bombards made use of stone balls as there was dearth of cast iron ones. Slow match, which was rope boiled in gunpowder and lye, was attached to the cannon and was burned continuously. Slow matches lead huge cannons to establish as first handgun towards the end of 14th century. Little lead balls, earliest of bullets were fired by the hand gun.

Due to better accuracy and strength culverin replaced crossbow in the end of 16th century. Discovery of priming pan made firing even easier. Until 19th century, priming pan held gunpowder in small dish fastened to gun barrels.
Weighty and tiresome, the matchlock was introduced in 15th century. Also known musket, matchlock had better balance and was better stocked and used pioneering device for firing. Serpentine, the device was S-shaped and lowered slow match in priming pan whenever a gunman pressed the trigger. Introduction of this device had modernized gunnery while letting the aimers shoot and aim using both their hands. Musket was around 5-6 feet long with twenty pounds of weight. Supported by forked stick, musket users were known as musketeers.
 
Even though serpentine made firing much easier, slow match lighting was still a tedious job. To make it stay alight in damp weather particularly, posed a problem. Means of starting fire inside guns was discovered in year 1515. Monk’s gun had first ever wheel lock. This mechanism worked in a way that when spun by finger, it produced spark by rubbing against flint. Sparks then reached touch hole and ignited gunpowder.
 
This wheel lock led to introduction of pistols. Slightly curved and with length of two feet made their way as gun of cavalry. But wheel lock used in the pistols was costly and hence army prepared cheaper matchlocks as replacements. Only wealthy men or sportsmen could afford these little devils then. Due to its cost, wheel lock could not replace matchlock for common man.
 
In early 1600s, launch of flintlock offered reliable and inexpensive firearm to an average marksman. It was simple to operate as it used thumb cocking system. The gun had small flint fixed to hammer and little gun powder placed in flash pan. A small lock was used to protect the gun powder. On pulling the trigger, hammer was released and flint struck lock out of way of pan and created needed spark simultaneously. Gun makers then perfected the mass production and delivered quality guns during the time. Flintlock was a combination of best of matchlock and wheel lock’s features and gave a new way to ignite the powder. But this weapon was not accurate in the shooting and wars often misfired. This is reason why this period of fighting is known by its fire volume than accuracy.
 
In 1800s, breech loading rifle was introduced. Percussion caps brought the air of change. Reverend Forsyth launched percussion cap in 1805. This was a priming pan that looked like scent bottle. Screw fixe in center of cap doled out gunpowder in apt quantities. This bottle like pan could hold gunpowder for twenty shots.
 
Slowly, repeating weapons came around. Earliest machine gun known as Mitrailleuse was employed by French towards the end of 1800s. Though it was a secret till the time it was used correctly on battle ground. Earliest machines guns were used in large quantities during the World War 1. Machines gun was bent for shooting the aeroplanes and was soon known as anticraft gun. The improvements in the guns did not stop there. They were mounted on airplanes, submarines, ships, tanks, trains for various reasons.

These days, guns also use radar for locating targets along laser sights for assuring accuracy. Handguns are a common weapon for criminals and homeowners using them for security. Starting from bowls that held gunpowder, guns have become today’s sophisticated machinery. Gone are the days when marksmen had to handle accuracy issues. One can now shoot up to several miles accurately using the latest guns available in the market.

Offline MysteRy

  • Global Moderator
  • Classic Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 218307
  • Total likes: 23035
  • Karma: +2/-0
  • Gender: Female
  • ♥♥ Positive Thinking Will Let U Do Everything ♥♥
    • http://friendstamilchat.com/
Re: ~ Invention Stories ~
« Reply #23 on: August 01, 2014, 02:27:55 PM »
Invention Story of Electric Bulb



We all are a part of an electrified world. Light bulb, particularly, profoundly revolutionized human existence. It not just helped in illuminating nights but also made human existence hospitable for an array of human activities. History of electric light, which adds to our daily convenience, bears testimony of many scientists, physicist’s efforts. Some people who took a step forward in the field were James Lindsay, Frederick Moleyns, Heinrich Göbel, Humphrey Davy and Warren Rue and Thomas Edison.

 
Humphrey Davy offered a miner lamp by working out on formulation for electric arc. In year 1802, he demonstrated workings of electric arc with the help of 2 wires- one attached to battery and other to the thin charcoal piece. In 1820, Warner Rue produced light bulb by using platinum coil in empty tube and passing electric current through it. But this bulb was not really commercially feasible due to costly platinum used.
 
Hence various scientists started the search for finding suitable filament for bulb. Soon James Joule advocated that the electric current when passed via conductor with the high resistance produces thermal energy, generating light energy. But quest for finding right filament which was practical, inexpensive, commercially feasible was still on. In 1840, Joseph Swan established earliest functional light bulb with the help of carbonized, paper filament. He also patented the bulb in year 1860. But the bulb produced dim light and was not at all long lasting. It needed a power source nearby to function all the time.
 
With similar technology, Sir Thomas Eliot made the bulb commercially feasible in the year 1875. He had tirelessly worked towards making light bulb better. He also introduced a bamboo filament lamp soon after working on light bulb. By using Herman Spiegel’s vacuum pump, he successfully created vacuum inside his lamp’s chamber.
 
Another known name that contributed to development of electric, incandescent light is Thomas Edison. He did not really invented light bulb but had worked on it to offer an improved version. In 1879, with the help of low current electricity, improved vacuum, carbonized filament, he produced long lasting ad reliable source of light. He tried to offer practical lighting for homes. Eventually he not only gave us incandescent lighting but also gave electrical lighting mechanism containing necessary elements to make incandescent light safe, economical and practical. After working for around 18 months, Edison attained success in form of incandescent lamp that had filament of the carbonized thread that burned for around fourteen hours.
While using most of energies on what kind of filament would work for bulb; Edison was inventing seven systemic elements critical for practical use of electric lights. These lights were an alternative to gas lights that were used then. He publically demonstrated his incandescent lighting mechanism in December 1879 and then spent several following years in development of electric industry.
 
Electric light’s success brought name to Thomas Edison. He achieved great heights of wealth and fame as the electricity had spread throughout. His different companies continued to expand until 1889 and then Edison General Electric came into being. Even though company was in his name, he did not control it. Need for capital for developing lighting industry persuaded him to involve bankers like J.P Morgan. In year 1892, he merged the company with leading opponent Thompson-Houston and company’s name became General Electric.
 
Originally, shape of glass bulb was designed by Matthew Evans and Henry Woodward. During this period, scientists had been working on new figure of electric arc, discharge lamps, first with help of carbon dioxide within bulb and then by using noble gases krypton and argon. They did this to add to the bulb’s efficiency.
 
In 1901, Peter Hewitt introduced mercury vapor lamp that emitted bluish white lighting. Later on, brighter lamp using sodium vapor was invented. Willies Whitney came up with metal covering or carbon filament to prevent it from burning and charring, in turn making the bulb black. In 1906, General Electric launched tungsten filament that had higher melting point.
 
Though Thomas Eliot knew the use of the metal but he did have machinery for developing it during his time. In the year 1910, another engineer named William Coolidge invented tungsten filament that lasted longer. Beginning of 1920 witnessed discovery of frosted light bulb and its use in neon lights and cars. In the year 1930, photographic flash bulb was discovered. And with 1940s entered soft incandescent bulbs, with 1950s came quartz glass for halogen bulbs. 1960s and 70s made way for the ellipsoid reflector, metal halide lamp. And finally in year 1990, Philips launched 60,000-hour bulb using magnetic induction.
 
Now bulbs have come a long way and scientists are working 24x7 to offer power saving, efficient and environment savvy bulbs. CFLS and LED bulbs are replacing the incandescent bulbs. Though a little costlier, they are environment friendly and power saving. Incandescent bulbs can be reasonably characterized just as heater that produces lights. As the typical incandescent offers only 3-5% light of the total energy it takes up. Remaining energy is wasted as heat. CFLs on the other side employ 75% lesser energy in the comparison and lasts 10 times longer. Useful long life and efficiency adds to the popularity of CFLs.
 
LED is also used by a lot of people and is more energy efficient than CFLs too. Standard LED offers around 35 lumens of light per watt as compared to around 12 lumen offered by an incandescent bulb. LED bulbs are getting developed and soon they would offer 131 lumens every watt. LEDs are used at a lot of places. These are used in trail lights of trucks and cars, watch dials, digital clocks, traffic signals, Christmas lights. Long life and durability has made it popular these days. It has become an ideal lighting for homes. One can find a range of LED bulbs in the market.
 
From simple light bulbs to CFLs and LEDs, bulbs have covered a long way. Hardly did we know that small thing like bulb can literally illuminate our lives.

Offline MysteRy

  • Global Moderator
  • Classic Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 218307
  • Total likes: 23035
  • Karma: +2/-0
  • Gender: Female
  • ♥♥ Positive Thinking Will Let U Do Everything ♥♥
    • http://friendstamilchat.com/
Re: ~ Invention Stories ~
« Reply #24 on: August 01, 2014, 02:29:05 PM »
Invention Story of Digicam



Digital technology is the buzzword these days. Have you ever pictured life without digital technology? How would celebrations be without pictures? How would you preserve the special moments of life with your loved ones without pictures? Today each one of us is impacted by digital technology. And Digital cameras are an important invention in this field.
 
Earliest of ideas for creation of images on wall were established in Ancient Greece by passing the light though small hole. Actual word ‘photography’ comes from Latin word and means drawing with light. First ever picture was developed in year 1827. But a lot of patience was required for getting finished pictures as it took around 8 hours. French Inventor named Joseph Niepce has an important contribution to field of photography.
 
In October 1969, Willard Boyle and George Smith discovered Charged Coupled Device (CCD) which is known to be heart of every digital camera. Boyle and Smith were trying to make new type of semiconductor for the computers then. They also wanted to develop solid state cameras for their use in video phones at the same time. These geniuses just took one hour to draw basic structure of CCD, define its operations and outline its best suited applications.
 
By 1970, Boyle and Smith built CCD into earliest solid state video camera. And soon after, in year 1975, both of them showcased first CCD camera with sharp image quality for the broadcast TV. CCD technology has not just become imperative in broadcasting but in various video applications too. From desktop video-conferencing, security monitoring to endoscopy, it is used everywhere. Image scanners, copying machines, bar codes, facsimile machines also use CCDs for turning light patterns into valuable information.
 
Not until 1981, Sony Corporation launched prototype digicam, Mavica electronic still camera. This camera recorded pictures as the magnetic impulses on small 2 inch video floppy. Capturing of these images was done through 2 CCD chips. One of these chips was used for storing the luminance information while other recorded chrominance information. The camera produced 720,000-pixeled images. One could store these images either in field or frame mode in the floppy.
 
On selection of frame mode, sensors recorded two copies of the same picture. And Upto 25 images could be stored in each disk. While on selection of field mode, sensor recorded every picture on one track only, allowing upto 50 images. These images had fewer details as compared to the ones in frame mode.
MVC 5000 was known as leader in the image quality during that time. Early Mavica is not considered as true digicam even though it started revolution of digicams. It was video camera that could take video freeze frames. These attributes made Mavica bulky affair. It was perceived more as floppy box than a conventional camera.
 
In year 1986, world’s earliest megapixel sensor was launched by the Kodak scientists. This sensor was proficient enough to record 1.4 million pixels, producing 5x7 inches photo prints. Next year, the company introduced various products for manipulating, recording, storing, printing and transmitting video images. In 1990, Kodak released Photo CD system. The following year, the company launched professional digicam, Nikon F3 equipped by Kodak along with 1.3 megapixels. This range was targeted at photojournalists.
 
XapShot was another Hi-band video camera model during the time. This camera had built in self timer, flash along with rechargeable lead batteries. American version of the camera came with VCR/TV signaling capability for recording and playback of images. Basic software worked under the system 6/7 in combination with unique video capturing card attached to camera.
 
And soon after in 1990, world’s earliest digital consumer cam was introduced by Logitech. Dycam Model 1, black and white stored around 32 compressed pictures. It used one MB RAM on CCD of 376 x 240 pixels to store the images in around 256 gray shades, TIFF format. Going by today’s standards, Dycam had 8mm fixed lens, shutter speed of around 1 by 30 to 1 by 1000 second. This camera worked in a similar manner like XapShot but included digitalizing hardware. Users had to connect this camera to the PC for transferring images.
 
The earliest digital camera for consumer markets, working with home computer through serial cable was Apple QuickTake- 100. The camera made its debut in 1994. With built in flash, camera featured 640 x 480 pixels CCD producing 8 images recorded in the internal memory. The problem was posed by the small computer present inside the camera. Since onboard computer in the camera, CCD processor, took a lot of space, manufacturers such as Fuji designed square shaped digicams. These devices were not just difficult to use but also demanded the user to learn new way of handling them. Miniaturizing sensors helped companies such as Toshiba, Nikon, Olympus and Kodak to create smaller cameras.
 
NASA is still researching in the field of digital photography. They were the initiators of the research and are keeping pace with it. They have been working on replacement of CCDs now. Latest developments include Active Pixel Sensor which would soon replace CCD. It costs one third less than CCD and follows computer technology’s progression. Digicams using APS technology would be smaller and would also offer better quality images. These cameras come with range of accessories. New range of SLR cameras allows the users to change camera lens according to their needs. This opens doors to various digicam lenses. Even though history of digicams is just a few decades old, it is surely moving forward at great pace.

Offline MysteRy

  • Global Moderator
  • Classic Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 218307
  • Total likes: 23035
  • Karma: +2/-0
  • Gender: Female
  • ♥♥ Positive Thinking Will Let U Do Everything ♥♥
    • http://friendstamilchat.com/
Re: ~ Invention Stories ~
« Reply #25 on: August 01, 2014, 02:30:21 PM »
Invention Story of Ball Point Pen



Every invention has a story which sizzles right behind the scenes. Ball Pen is also one invention, which though is of huge importance, yet not many know where it originated from. The history of the pen can be traced back to 1880s, when the first patent on a ball pen was issued to John Loud. This leather tanner attempted to make a writing object with which he could write on the leather he tanned. The pen, he had invented, constituted of a rotating steel ball as the tip held in a socket. It could write on the leather as intended by Loud. However, the invention proved futile for others as it proved way too coarse and messy for letter writing; so was disapproved commercially. The original patent lapsed with the failure of this invention on the grounds of practicality and usability.
 
The second innings for the ball pen was in the making and it all began again with the first and very famous stylized fountain pen. Invented by Cross, the fountain pen is identified as daddy to the ball pens. This invention triggered more of brainstorming that lasted till ball pen was born. Laszlo Jozsef Biro, a native of Budapest owns the patent of the ball pen to his name. What he had invented was a ball pen that contained ink cartridge in the pressurized form. A journalist named Biro took no time in noticing the quick drying capability of the ink used in the newspapers, and thought that if the same ink was utilized in a pen that smudged letters problem could be resolved. Being a proof reader, Biro had to refill his fountain pen from an ink bottle incessantly and this drove him crazy at times.
In the beginning of 1930s, along with his brother Georg, a chemist, Biro began with the experiment of a pen that would not need to be refilled and at the same time would not smudge the pages too. The concept revolved around a ball which was used on the tip of the pen and as this pen was moved on the paper, the ball would rotate pulling the ink from the cartridge. This time, the design of the pen was acclimatized with practicality and hence, the two brothers used a sealed reservoir which would store the ink inside the pen. In terms of consistency too, the ink was changed to thicker and quick drying ink. As the designing flaws were bid goodbye, Laszlo Biro was issued a patent to the pen in the year 1938. It could well be summed up, that even though Laszlo was not the first inventor of a ball pen; he was however, the successful inventor of a working design of ball pen which is now universally acceptable.
 
The story doesn't end here; in the year 1943, the two brothers began their quest for getting their invention worldwide recognition as well as financial support. They moved to Argentina and discovered someone who willingly financed the Birome pen and in no time, a factory was started to manufacture more ball pens. The ball pen was initially advertised as the only pen which could write even under the water. There were demonstrations witnessed by huge audiences, plenty of those who longed to write with the ball pen under the water. The company led by Biro became the leading producers of ball pens. The British soon caught wind of it and fascinated by the qualities of the ball pen, they bought the patent. The company was thus, sold to BIC Corporation who started producing and supplying pens to the Royal Air Force. Biro pens were considered highly useful for the pilots as they could write even in the pressure of high altitudes. This was also a major breakthrough for the ball pen that faced huge rivalry from the fountain pen as initially it was marked as a useful and fashionable accessory, but then being used at high altitudes added to the technological specification of the pen.
 
At a much reduced price, the ball pen made a foray into the British market. Laszlo Biro, the inventor continued his display of entrepreneurial flair and managed to secure significant financial scores to his name, however, he soon lost the Biro Company to Henry Martin who took over the production of ball pen from Laszlo Biro. Martin made the ball pen an established name (Biro Swan) in the market, but the credentials to bring ball pen to the position that it enjoys today, go to Marcel Bich. He founded a company that manufactured his own patented ball pen designs. BIC Cristal, that directly succeeded Biro, enjoys the largest share in the market today. Pen had discovered a market for itself a lot earlier, but the quality practices which underwent in making the ball pen as perfect as it is today are owed to Bich who established the ball pen high on the international benchmarks. Ever since then, the ball pen has been evolving and a lot has been added to the history of pens.
 
Today, ball pens are manufactured in almost every country. What goes in their making is also a well defined geographical needs criterion to ensure that the ink viscosity and tip tolerances are as per the environment, where the pens are meant to be used. The present scenario is such that the market is flooded with pens in unlimited varieties, designs and colors. It is a “choose as you may” situation for the users. Ranging from handcrafted ball pens to simple and sober ones, you will find them all in a variety unimaginable. Ever wondered, such a small item has given the world so much. A small invention has now become an indispensable part of our lives. It might not be the most technologically high-end instrument, but probably one of the most essential ones, one we can’t do without. How many times have you complained your pen got stolen? That is just because a lot of us need them in our everyday lives. Whether to a student or a business man, pen is highly useful tool.