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Found 83 Stories
Hinda Miller and Lisa Lindahl wearing Jogbras running
Blog

Athletes as User Innovators

Frustrated athletes become “user innovators” when they invent for their sports.

A young blonde woman sitting in a wheelchair, wearing a red tank top, and holding up a 3D printed racing glove.
Blog

Arielle Rausin’s Invention Fits Like a Glove

Wheelchair marathoner Arielle Rausin invented 3D printed gloves that helped her race faster for longer.

Single red urethane skateboard wheel, with the words “Cadillac Wheels Da Kine” molded into it. Da Kine is derived from a Hawaiian word meaning “the best.”
Blog

How Frank “Captain Cadillac” Nasworthy Re-invented the Wheel

Frank Nasworthy’s development of skateboard-specific urethane “Cadillac Wheels” revolutionized the sport in the 1970s and beyond.

A skater in mid-air jumping over 13 skateboards stacked on horizontal edge
Blog

Innoskate South Dakota

Skateboarding and innovation? You bet! And don’t forget the jazz.

Cover of the book Moneyball, showing a closeup of a baseball player’s hand holding a baseball.
Blog

Sports Analytics Before Moneyball

Long before the book Moneyball hit bestseller lists in 2003, sports analytics had emerged as a quirky pastime practiced by operations researchers, freelance sports journalists, and internet hobbyists.

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.

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.”

Hamilton playing tennis in a wheelchair
Beyond Words

Innovative Lives: Quickie Wheelchair Inventor Marilyn Hamilton

Marilyn Hamilton, co-inventor of the Quickie wheelchair, speaks about her life as an athlete and inventor.

Dick Fosbury in mid-jump
Blog

The Fosbury Flop—A Game-Changing Technique

Dick Fosbury revolutionized high jumping by introducing a game changing technique.

Composite image with skater Nikolai Panin tracing figures on the ice and diagrams of different ice figures
Blog

How Skating Acquired and Lost Its “Figure”

Thanks to invention and innovation, the history of figure skating is truly head-spinning.

Andy Granatelli and his brother Vincent standing behind two race cars
Blog

The Supercharged, Super Fast, Novi Engine

Race car owner and driver, innovator, and entrepreneur Andy Granatelli was as supercharged as the Novi itself.

Society for the History of Technology logo
Blog

Game Changers Team Presents Its Research at SHOT

The Game Changers curatorial team presents their research at the annual meeting of the Society for the History of Technology, 8–11 October 2020.

Howard Head skiing downslope
Blog

Sports Innovator Howard Head

The engineer behind Head skis and Prince tennis rackets revolutionized both sports.

Hinda Miller and Lisa Lindahl wearing Jogbras running
Beyond Words

Inventive Minds: Inventors of the Sports Bra

Lisa Lindahl, Hinda Miller, and Polly Palmer Smith invented the now-ubiquitous sports bra in the 1970s.

Exterior of Houston Astrodome stadium
Blog

Inventing and Reinventing Stadiums

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

Branch Rickey holding his chin and looking at a blackboard with lists of players’ names
Blog

Branch Rickey, Baseball Innovator

By introducing several innovations, baseball executive Branch Rickey transformed America’s national pastime.

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.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar signing his book for a young boy
Beyond Words

Innovative Lives: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar also writes books about invention for kids.

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.

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