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Behind every invention, there is a story. Discover those stories here.

 

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Newsprint ad for the “Snow Surfer,” retailing at $5.77. Text reads, in part, “Enjy the fun of skiing, tobogganing, and sledding all rolled into one with this exciting new sport.”
Blog

Sherman Poppen’s Snurfer

A look at the slippery slope of commercializing an invention.

A toy mouse in a yellow, wedge-shaped car
Blog

The Power of a Challenge

Some famous inventions have come about because of a competition. What will you invent if challenged?

Cover for book Not a Box showing a line drawing of a rabbit standing next to a box
Blog

My Favorite Invention Books

We’ve filled the Spark!Lab Thinking Spot with children’s books that promote inventive creativity.

3 Sparky stick figures tumbling around a drawing of a light bulb.
Blog

How Many People Does It Take to Rotate a Spark!Lab?

Counting heads and hands that took part in the August transition.

Detail of drawing for Edison's "Autographic Printing" patent, 1876
Blog

What’s Edison Got to Do with Tattoos?

Sorry Mom! At least my tattoos are helping me with something work-related!

U-Sketch pick your color green orange blue lavender purple black

Story Tags

  • African American inventors (Relevance: 22.988505747126%)
  • Agriculture and horticulture (Relevance: 28.16091954023%)
  • Air and space (Relevance: 24.137931034483%)
  • Art (Relevance: 18.965517241379%)
  • Behind-the-scenes (Relevance: 18.390804597701%)
  • Computers (Relevance: 28.16091954023%)
  • Environment (Relevance: 22.413793103448%)
  • Food and drink (Relevance: 100%)
  • Household technology (Relevance: 29.885057471264%)
  • Industry and manufacturing (Relevance: 25.287356321839%)
  • Medicine, health, and life sciences (Relevance: 50%)
  • Military technology (Relevance: 21.264367816092%)
  • Music (Relevance: 36.781609195402%)
  • Photography, film, television, and video (Relevance: 25.862068965517%)
  • Places of Invention (Relevance: 40.229885057471%)
  • Play (Relevance: 18.390804597701%)
  • Sports (Relevance: 48.275862068966%)
  • Textiles and clothing (Relevance: 28.735632183908%)
  • Toys and games (Relevance: 22.988505747126%)
  • Transportation (Relevance: 45.402298850575%)
  • Women inventors (Relevance: 40.229885057471%)
Detail of Print ad for the Traver Circle Swing, “The Best Park Attraction,” includes a photo of the swing tower in operation in Rockford, Illinois.
Blog

A Swinging Amusement

The Traver Circle Swing Company, builders of the world's greatest amusement, brought thrills to the masses.

Computer-generated drawing of a swimmer in a LZR suit in the water, legs and arms extended.
Blog

The Impact of Invention on Sport

A look at the Speedo LZR Racer, an invention that made too big of a splash.

Detail of cartoon drawing of men sitting around an old-time general store. One man is nailing up a sign that reads, in part, “Pump Salesmen Wanted. Must be experts upon water meters, filters, . . . engines . . . compressors . . . etc.”
Blog

Looking Beyond Steam Pumps

Buried inside the unprocessed papers of a steam pump manufacturer were drawings and illustrations illuminating the work culture and life within the company.

James McLurkin
Blog

Inspirational “Innovative Lives”

Celebrating twenty-four years—and counting—of highlighting diverse inventors and innovators in the Lemelson Center’s “Innovative Lives” program series.

An older woman and a very young boy work together on a hands-on activity
Blog

What Does It Take to Make a Spark!Lab?

Looking at your world through the lens of invention.

Detail of poster featuring colorized images of Thomas Edison listening to his first phonograph; a young girl working at a hands on activity; and inventor James McClurkin holding one of his robotic ants.
Blog

Making a Book about Making Innovators

Historian Eric Hintz describes the five-year collaboration behind the publication of Does America Need More Innovators?, the latest title in our Lemelson Center book series.

A graffiti artist is bent over, holding a spray paint can, finishing his colorful artwork that looks like a green slime monster with sharp teeth and bloodshot, bugged-out eyes, with its tongue flapping in the wind. The monster holds a skateboard reading, “Gums and Tongue.”
Blog

Innoskate London

The Smithsonian and skateboarding? In England? Sick.

Article from The Woman Inventor, 1890, titled “Colored Woman Inventor,” with the story of Ellen Eglin who invented a clothes-wringer but was afraid that white women would not buy the wringer if they knew it had been invented by an African American woman. Eglin sold her invention to an agent for $18 in 1888 and made no further profit from it.
Blog

Who Invents and Who Gets the Credit?

The complex story of an African American woman inventor, hidden behind a simple clothes wringer.

Patricia Bath stands amongst a group of students during a Lemelson Center Innovative Lives program in 2000.
Blog

Remembering Dr. Patricia Bath

Pathbreaker, physician, educator, role model, and inventor of the Laserphaco Probe for the treatment of cataracts.

Detail from seven groups of script characters, broken into groups A–G, show all of the characters in the Devanagari font
Blog

Devanagari Script for the Mergenthaler Linotype

Inventor Hari Govil worked with the Mergenthaler Linotype Company to design and perfect printing equipment for the Hindi language based on the Devanagari alphabet.

High jumper Dick Fosbury goes over the bar head first with his back to the bar.
Blog

Testing Exhibition Ideas about Sport and Invention

Innovation can take different forms when applied to the topic of sports, so we asked visitors what was most important to them.

A detail from the logo banner for Military Invention Day 2018, showing stylized drawings of an armored vehicle, a parachute, a hypodermic syringe, a scuba diver, an integrated circuit, and a drafting compass, set among a mosaic of squares in shades of green, brown, and blue.
Invention Stories

Military Invention Day 2019

Come to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History on Saturday, May 18, to see leading-edge technologies from armed forces research, meet scientists and engineers, and try your hand at family-friendly invention challenges.

Masthead illustration for The Woman Inventor, 1890, depicting women at work in drafting, agriculture, and industry
Invention Stories

Inventive Minds: Women Inventors

The word “inventor” may conjure images of men like Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell, but the history of women inventors is as long as that of their male counterparts.

Luis von Ahn stands in front of a large red ReCAPTCHA logo while speaking at the 2009 Pop!Tech conference in Camden, Maine.
Blog

Human Computation Pioneer Luis von Ahn

Meet Luis von Ahn, winner of the 2018 Lemelson-MIT Prize honoring world-changing inventors!

A yellow comment card completed by an eight year old Spark Lab visitor. The card prompts the visitor to fill out responses to what they invented, what they learned, what they loved, and what they didn't like. This visitor invented a new kind of top, learned that when they spin something it stays up straight, they loved inventing it, and they didn't like all the work.
Blog

Evaluation in Spark!Lab

We iterate our process not just by doing the job, but also by improving how we do it each time.

See More Stories

VIEW 2389 Matching Results

Found 2389 Stories

  • Agriculture and horticulture (Relevance: 5.3578903306823%)
  • Air and space (Relevance: 6.613645876936%)
  • Chemistry (Relevance: 2.846379238175%)
  • Food and drink (Relevance: 2.8882377563834%)
  • Industry and manufacturing (Relevance: 7.3670992046882%)
  • Maritime (Relevance: 2.8882377563834%)
  • Medicine, health, and life sciences (Relevance: 4.3951444118878%)
  • Military technology (Relevance: 3.3486814566764%)
  • Mining and drilling (Relevance: 3.5579740477187%)
  • Patents and trademarks (Relevance: 12.097111762244%)
  • Photography, film, television, and video (Relevance: 3.5579740477187%)
  • Power generation, motors, and engines (Relevance: 3.8509836751779%)
  • Research and development (Relevance: 3.0556718292172%)
  • Telegraph, telephone, and telecommunications (Relevance: 3.1812473838426%)
  • Textiles and clothing (Relevance: 3.2649644202595%)
  • Transportation (Relevance: 6.1113436584345%)
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