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Found 17 Stories
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.

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.

Thomas Edison
Places of Invention

Thomas Edison's Places of Invention

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

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.

Beyond Words

Podcast: Walter Isaacson at the National Archives, Part 1 (of 2)

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

Beyond Words

Podcast: Walter Isaacson Explores Benjamin Franklin's Legacy

Author Walter Isaacson discusses Benjamin Franklin's contribution to the interplay of technology and democracy in American society.

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

Florida Inventors Hall of Fame Inductee Biographical Video Collection, 2014–ongoing

Inventor Name Florida Inventors Hall of Fame inductees

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

Norman R. Speiden Oral History, 1973

Inventor Name Edison, Thomas

MIND database logo for non-Smithsonian archival materials
Archives

University of Virginia Special Collections Department Correspondence Files, 1931-1990s

Inventor Name Correspondence Files of the Special Collections Department

MIND database logo for non-Smithsonian archival materials
Archives

Ferdinand Julius Dreer Collection, 1492-1925

Inventor Name Dreer, Ferdinand Julius Repository Historical Society of Pennsylvania1300 Locust StreetPhiladelphia, PA 19107Phone: 215-732-6200http://www.hsp.org

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.

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