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

 

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Blog

Videos for Young Learners Encourage Object-Based Discovery

Use our History Time videos to engage your young learner in close noticing skills—and practice with objects from the museum’s collection.

A young child in a wheelchair works with a Spark!Lab facilitator on a stadium-building activity.
Blog

Spark!Lab Goes to Qatar!

The Lemelson Center team brought a pop-up Spark!Lab to Qatar.

Chien-Shiung Wu in profile, sitting at a desk with a panel of knobs and dials in front of her.
Blog

Diverse Voices: Chien-Shiung Wu, “The Chinese Marie Curie”

Chinese-born scientist Dr. Chien-Shiung Wu made significant contributions to experimental physics that helped change what we know about the atomic world.

Green metal button with “environment” in black letters above the Earth Day logo
Blog

Who Invented the Environment?

The work of artists, scientists, inventors, activists, and government regulators helps shape our changing ideas about the environment.

Cartoon-like drawing of a wrench with the words “tweak it”
Blog

Spark!Lab Reboot: Reflect and Tweak

Inventive thinking can turn interruptions into opportunities.

Detail of cover of a brochure showing different types of egg crates, about 1900
Blog

Egg-citing Inventions

The egg carton traces its origins to the early 20th century, with inventors from Great Britain, Canada, and the United States contributing to its evolution.

A round medal that looks like a coin, embossed with Morgan’s portrait and the words Garrett A. Morgan, Inventor, 1877–1963
Blog

Diverse Voices: Inventor Garrett Morgan

Garrett Morgan, called the “Black Edison,” invented safety devices in the early 20th century and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Portrait painting of Charles Drew, wearing a lab coat and holding a microscope
Blog

Diverse Voices: Blood Transfusion Pioneer Dr. Charles Drew

Raise a pint (of blood) in honor of Dr. Charles Drew’s life-saving research and inventions!

Fans pass walk past a tent labeled NFL Instant Replay
Blog

The Invention of Instant Replay

Tony Verna revolutionized the way we watch and officiate sports when he invented instant replay in 1963.

A handful of peanuts against a black background
Blog

Inventing Life-Saving Epinephrine Auto-Injectors

Peanuts—a tough nut to crack for those with allergies.

Patent drawing of a wagon tipping out trash
Blog

Sanitation Engineering Inventions Create a Healthier World

Prior to 1850, few, if any, United States cities had built sewage systems.

Drawing of a brain with a circuit diagram overlaid
Blog

Recognizing Artificial Intelligence Systems as Inventors

I doubt, therefore I invent?

Close-up of the Zip-R-Lok security clasp on a red purse
Blog

Defeating Pickpockets with Invention

If you have ever been concerned about theft from your bag, this invention story is for you.

3 young girls, an adult woman, and a woman facilitator work on building a vehicle with PVC pipe
Blog

Welcoming Morris Museum to the Spark!Lab Network

Where art, sound, and motion meet invention!

A horse looking through the slats of a fence
Blog

Equine Identification Inventions

People aren’t the only ones who have to show ID.

Kretchmer company print ad for bee supplies
Blog

Bee Hives Buzzing with Invention

Edward Kretchmer was born into a family of beekeepers and became an inventor and entrepreneur focused on the needs of his buzzing friends.

A smiling Eric Hintz holds up his book for the camera, with a full box of books in front of him
Blog

The Persistence of American Independent Inventors

Eric S. Hintz reflects on his new book, American Independent Inventors in an Era of Corporate R&D, published in the Lemelson Center Studies in Invention and Innovation book series with MIT Press.

Metal button with image of Smokey the Bear’s head and the words “Help Smokey Prevent Forest Fires” around the outer edge
Blog

Mother Nature and Invention

Many inventions make our time in nature more enjoyable.

Vans blue and white checked skateboarding shoe with a dark blue suede toe and eyestay, white leather sidestripe, and the trademark deep tan, waffle pattern soles.
Blog

The Invention of the Iconic Vans Skateboarding Shoe

How the van Doren Brothers, through ingenuity and collaboration, took their company “off the wall.”

Hand tools and a CNC router
Blog

Missing the Physical World of Spark!Lab

What ever happened to touching stuff as a means of experience?

See More Stories

VIEW 2735 Matching Results

Found 2735 Stories

  • Agriculture and horticulture (Relevance: 5.1919561243144%)
  • Air and space (Relevance: 6.764168190128%)
  • Archives@NMAH (Relevance: 8.4095063985375%)
  • Chemistry (Relevance: 3.0712979890311%)
  • Food and drink (Relevance: 3.290676416819%)
  • Industry and manufacturing (Relevance: 7.5319926873857%)
  • Medicine, health, and life sciences (Relevance: 4.5703839122486%)
  • Military technology (Relevance: 3.327239488117%)
  • Mining and drilling (Relevance: 3.400365630713%)
  • Patents and trademarks (Relevance: 11.334552102377%)
  • Photography, film, television, and video (Relevance: 3.8756855575868%)
  • Power generation, motors, and engines (Relevance: 3.436928702011%)
  • Spark!Lab (Relevance: 3.5831809872029%)
  • Textiles and clothing (Relevance: 3.363802559415%)
  • Transportation (Relevance: 5.9597806215722%)
  • Women inventors (Relevance: 3.400365630713%)
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