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Found 35 Stories
Model is a white cube on legs with a hinged door and controls on the base
Blog

The Einstein-Szilard Refrigerator

Why didn't the geniuses’ refrigerator ever make it to market?

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!

Screenshot of Douglas Engelbart presenting the mother of all demos on 9 December 1968. Engelbart wears a headset and his head and shoulders appear on the right side of the screen. Part of a shopping list, including grocery items bananas, carrots, lettuce, beans, and more, is on the left side.
Blog

The Mother of All Demos

In December 1968, Douglas Engelbart debuted many of the concepts of modern, interactive computing.

An engraving of the South Hall, Museum of Models, in the US Patent Office, 1887. Several well-dressed men and women and a young child admire the models in glass cases along the walls of a long room with high vaulted ceilings.
Blog

Patent Models and Prototypes on Display

To mark the issuance of the 10 millionth US Patent, we showcase ten nineteenth-century patent models and prototypes that are currently on display at the National Museum of American History.

Portrait painting of Benjamin Franklin in profile, seated at desk, reading a book, 1767, by David Martin (1737-1797)
Blog

Benjamin Franklin’s Inventions

Benjamin Franklin was one of our nation’s founding fathers and one of its most ingenious inventors.

The Early American Daguerreotype Book Cover
Lemelson Center Books

The Early American Daguerreotype

The Early American Daguerreotype: Cross-Currents in Art and Technology by Sarah Kate Gillespie maps the evolution of the daguerreotype, as medium and as profession. Part of the Lemelson Center Studies in Invention and Innovation series with MIT Press.

Bulb used in Edison's first public demonstration
Encouraging Innovative Thinking

Curiosity and Invention

Do you consider yourself curious?

Hungarian stamp honoring the invention of the Rubik's cube. Features image of hands manipulating the toy with a stopwatch in the background.
Invention Stories

A Twist of Fate: The Invention of the Rubik’s Cube

Forty years ago, Ernő Rubik thought up the idea for the Rubik’s Cube in order to help teach three-dimensional design to his students. Today the number of Rubik’s Cubes sold worldwide is estimated at about 350 million.

Beyond Words

Video: Edison's Tinfoil Phonograph Reenactment

See a reenactment of Thomas Edison's first recording of sound, from the Lemelson Center's celebration of Edison's 150th birthday.

W. Bernard Carlson
Beyond Words

Podcast: W. Bernard Carlson Traces the Arc of Nikola Tesla's Electric Life, Part 2 (of 2)

The author of a new biography on Nikola Tesla offers insights into the legendary inventor's processes.

W. Bernard Carlson
Beyond Words

Podcast: W. Bernard Carlson Traces the Arc of Nikola Tesla’s Electric Life, Part 1 (of 2)

W. Bernard Carlson, author of "Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age," talks about Nikola Tesla's life and work.

Cover of book by W. Bernard Carlson, Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age
Beyond Words

Lecture by W. Bernard Carlson on Nikola Tesla

W. Bernard Carlson, author of "Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age," talks about Nikola Tesla's life and work during a program presented by the Lemelson Center at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

Lemelson Lightbulb Graphic Identity
Places of Invention

Nikola Tesla's Place of Invention

In a blog post on Gotham Center, Nikola Tesla biographer W. Bernard Carlson writes about Tesla’s place of invention, Manhattan.

Invention Stories

Michael Jackson, Patented Inventor?

While the moonwalk is not actually a patented dance move, musician Michael Jackson does indeed hold a patent.

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

Trilled Rs and the Dawn of Recorded Sound in America

Until recently, the oldest recorded sounds of known date which anyone could hear had been captured in 1888 on the “perfected” phonograph introduced that year by Thomas Edison.

Thomas Edison
Places of Invention

Thomas Edison's Places of Invention

Edison's famous "invention factories" in Menlo Park and West Orange, New Jersey.

Historical view of the Capitol and the National Mall
Places of Invention

Invention Hot Spot: Growth of the Scientific Community in Washington, DC, in the Late 1800s

The nation's capital, home of the US Patent Office and the Smithsonian Institution, became an important invention center after the Civil War.

Lemelson Center Books

The Spirit of Invention

The Spirit of Invention: The Story of the Thinkers, Creators, and Dreamers Who Formed Our Nation (2009) by Julie M. Fenster tells the stories of both heralded and unknown inventors from all eras and walks of life.

The Crowtations puppets
Beyond Words

Podcast: Brad Brewer Animates the Inanimate

Brad Brewer of The Brewery Troupe, an African-American puppet company, brings inventor Lewis Latimer's story to life with puppets.

Beyond Words

Podcast: Walter Isaacson at the National Archives, Part 2 (of 2)

Author Walter Isaacson and Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United States, continue their discussion of Benjamin Franklin and the interplay between technology and democracy.

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