In 1769, a Franciscan priest Father Juan Crespí accompanied a group of Spanish soldiers on the first European land expedition through California. In his journal he described a ‘beautiful river from the northwest’ and named it ‘Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de la Porciúncula’. In 1781, a settlement by the river was established. This settlement was …
John Harvey Kellogg (1852–1943) was an American physician who worked to develop a healthy diet. Kellogg and his brother Will Keith Kellogg invented several food items from grains. These eatables were rolled and made into sheets of dough, which were cooked. One day they accidentally left the cereals exposed for a longer period of time, …
Ada Lovelace, the English mathematician and daughter of Lord Byron, was chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage’s analytical machine, or the computer. She worked on the engine with notes of her own, which are recognized today as the world’s first computer programme.
Tea (Camellia sinensis) is one of the most popular beverages in the world. Tea originated in China, and the modern form of tea taken with milk was developed by the British in India. The British started tea plantations in Assam and Darjeeling in the nineteenth century. Today, India is the second largest tea producer in …
The construction workers’ hats were invented by E.W. Bullard, who was inspired by the steel helmets he wore during World War I. He devised what is now known as ‘hard hats’. They were called so because they were made by steaming canvas and glue to make a hard material, which were then fashioned into hats. …
The discovery of Teflon, a polymer chemically known as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), was sheer coincidence, and yet a revolutionary one. The man behind the discovery was an American chemist named Dr Roy J. Plunkett (1910–1994), who was then working for DuPont, an American chemical company. In the year 1938, Dr Plunkett was conducting a coolant gas …
