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Found 63 Stories
Exterior of Houston Astrodome stadium
Blog

Inventing and Reinventing Stadiums

Over the past 120 years, new inventions have kept fans coming to stadiums.

Men working inside the tunnel
Blog

Battling Under the River

Looking back at the tunneling boom of the early 1900s—and the "sandhogs" who made it happen.

Figure 1 from John Lloyd Wright’s US Patent 1,351,086 for “Toy Cabin Construction,” dated August 31, 1920. The pen-and-ink figure shows a log cabin with a door and two windows.
Blog

Lincoln Logs Inventor John Lloyd Wright

Yes, this popular childhood toy was designed by none other than the son of architect Frank Lloyd Wright!

Screen shot of CNC software
Blog

Designing with a New Tool

Spark!Lab's "Thinking Spot" inspired me to put our new CNC router to a creative yet practical test.

Photo of Charles Pratt in his office around 1900
Blog

Going Up? Going Down?

A not-so-equal history about an elevator equalizer, two patents, a patent interference, and its resolution.

Invention Stories

How to Hover

Inventions to tackle the fascination with floating a few inches off the ground.

Founding director Frank Taylor stands on the Museum's 5th floor terrace, surveying construction.
Places of Invention

50 Years Ago Today: Opening a “Palace of Progress”

The Museum of History and Technology (the previous name of the National Museum of American History) was dedicated 50 years ago, opening to the public on the following day, January 23, 1964. Director Art Molella reflects on the fascination with the future and sense of modernism that shaped the Museum’s outlook and even our building.

Invention Stories

Building Bridges, Building Collections

Bridges are engineering marvels and each bridge tells a story—its successes and failures. Many of those stories can be found in our Archives Center.

Lemelson Lightbulb Graphic Identity
Invention Stories

The Way the Ball Bounces

Asian people have been inventors and innovators for many centuries.

Chuck Hobeman expanding a sphere
Beyond Words

Podcast: Chuck Hoberman Inspires the Next Generation, Part 2 (of 2)

Middle school students interview Chuck Hoberman about his innovative unfolding structures.

Chuck Hobeman expanding a sphere
Beyond Words

Podcast: Chuck Hoberman's Unfolding World, Part 1 (of 2)

Chuck Hoberman, artist and engineer, discusses his innovative unfolding structures.

A stylized drawing of a compact fluorescent light bulb surrounded by a solid orange circle with a green border
Invention Stories

SmartLevel: The Soul of a New Hand Tool

Hand levels are one of the standard tools in the kits of house builders, plumbers, and many other tradespeople. Until 1990, all levels were bubble-type spirit levels.

Logo for the Modern Inventors Documentation database, showing a stylized head with words like creativity and innovation written on different parts of the brain
Archives

O'Neil Ford Collection, 1864-1993

Inventor Name Ford, O'Neil

Logo for the Modern Inventors Documentation database, showing a stylized head with words like creativity and innovation written on different parts of the brain
Archives

Archibald Johnston Papers, 1894-1923

Inventor Name Unknown

Logo for the Modern Inventors Documentation database, showing a stylized head with words like creativity and innovation written on different parts of the brain
Archives

Philip Newell Youtz Papers, 1920-1972

Inventor Name Youtz, Philip Newell Repository Bentley Historical Library1150 Beal Ave.University of MichiganAnn Arbor, MI 48109-2113734-764-3482http://bentley.umich.edu/

Logo for the Modern Inventors Documentation database, showing a stylized head with words like creativity and innovation written on different parts of the brain
Archives

Hermann Herrey Papers, ca. 1939-1971

Inventor Name Herrey, Herman Repository Cornell UniversityDivision of Rare and Manuscript Collections2B Carl A. Kroch LibraryIthaca, NY 14853607-255-3530http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/

Logo for the Modern Inventors Documentation database, showing a stylized head with words like creativity and innovation written on different parts of the brain
Archives

John Lynch Letters Patent, 1883, 1889-1891

Inventor Name Lynch, John Repository Maine Historical Society489 Congress StreetPortland, ME 04101207-774-1822https://www.mainehistory.org Physical Description 8 items.

Logo for the Modern Inventors Documentation database, showing a stylized head with words like creativity and innovation written on different parts of the brain
Archives

John Riley Hopkins Family Papers, 1830-1915 (bulk 1865-1900)

Inventor Name Hopkins, John Riley

MIND database logo for non-Smithsonian archival materials
Archives

Frank Wright Noyes and Family Papers, 1802-1968

Inventor Name Noyes, Frank Wright Repository Minnesota Historical Society345 W. Kellogg Blvd.,St. Paul, MN 55102-1906651-296-6126http://www.mnhs.org/library/index.html

MIND database logo for non-Smithsonian archival materials
Archives

Douglas Tilden Papers, 1860-1970

Inventor Name Tilden, Douglas Repository University of CaliforniaThe Bancroft LibraryBerkeley, CA 94720-6000510-642-6481http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/

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