THE NATURE OF INVENTION is a 1-hour #documentary by @SouleadoEnt, where we meet #inventors and would-be inventors and learn much about them, from what drives them to invent to their successes and visions. #Canada! You can stream the full doc here: youtu.be/HkbuT8mG75c?si=PXIh… Enjoy!

The Nature of Invention, like everything else in nature, is going to pause and reinvent itself. We hope you’ve enjoyed the daily posts over the years. Thanks to you all for the likes, the retweets & the support, especially those who hung in there as Twitter “evolved.” Bye bye X.

2023 is the 104th anniversary of the publishing of John McCrae's (1872-1918)🇨🇦 "In Flanders Fields and Other Poems." First published in Punch magazine, In Flanders Fields led to the 1921 adoption of the poppy as the symbol for the British & Commonwealth war dead. #CanadaRemembers

Some might find this unfathomable, but it was only 72 years ago #OTD, November 10, 1951 that the 1st direct-dial, coast-to-coast telephone call was made when Mayor M. Leslie Denning of Englewood, New Jersey called Frand Osborne, the mayor of Alameda, California. #innovation 📞

Born #OTD November 9, 1801: Gail Borden Jr. (d: 1874), an American🇺🇸 politician, #inventor & businessman who, prior to the Civil War, improved the process of making sweetened condensed milk, allowing it to be transported and stored without refrigeration for long periods of time.

Colloquially, "Bug Zapper" sounds more refined than, "Insect Electrocutor" or "Electric Insect Destroyer," which is what #inventor William M. Frost of Eureka🇺🇸Montana named his 2 patents🔻, respectively granted by the @uspto in 1932 & 22 years earlier #OTD November 8, 1910. 🦟⚡️

John Ambrose Fleming (1849–1945) was an English 🇬🇧 physicist & electrical engineer. He designed the radio transmitter used on the first transatlantic radio transmission, and #OTD (Nov 7, 1905) he received a @uspto #patent for the very first thermionic vacuum tube. 🔻

23 years after Emerson's memorable idiom🔻, William Chauncey Hooker of Abingdon, Illinois🇺🇸 was granted this🔻landmark #patent #OTD November 6, 1894, for his invention of the first spring-loaded mousetrap. Still in use today, it was indeed "a better mousetrap."

#OTD November 5, 1895: George B. Selden (1846-1922), an American businessman, lawyer & inventor was granted the 1st @uspto #patent🔻for a vehicle propelled by an internal combustion engine. Selden filed for the patent in 1879.

A landmark #patent🔻issued #OTD Nov 4, 1879 - James J. Ritty (1836-1918) was a saloonkeeper concerned about theft by his employees, so with his mechanic brother John they invented & patented the 1st cash register, selling it 5 years later to the founder of the NCR Corporation.

Everything outside of nature has to be invented. Some credit British🇬🇧statesman John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich as the "inventor" of the sandwich for having meat placed between bread so he could eat & play cards. 🤔 We'll call it an #innovation. Nov 3 is #NationalSandwichDay.

Born #OTD November 2, 1844: Harvard trained lawyer, trustee and inventor John J. Loud (d: 1916). He is remembered for a few inventions, most significantly his 1888 invention and first #patent🔻for a ballpoint pen, which he unfortunately was unable to successfully market.

Since November 1 is celebrated as the #DayOfTheDead we thought we'd tweet this interesting article by @ipwatchdog, detailing (wait for it!) #patents designed for persons mistakenly thought dead who were buried & how they could contact those above ground. ipwatchdog.com/2021/10/30/pa…

Died #OTD 🎃ct. 31, 1926, U.S. 🇺🇸magician Harry Houdini (b: 1874). He was an innovator & inventor. But to protect his illusions, he largely avoided the patent process to conceal his inventive nature. This @SmithsonianMag piece is for you on #Halloween. 🎃 smithsonianmag.com/smithsoni…

Issued #OTD 129 years ago, October 30, 1894: a landmark US #patent, to Daniel M. Cooper, of Rochester, N.Y., for what he called a “Workman’s Time Recorder." It was the first punch clock to record in & out times on employee cards. ⏳🕘🕔⌛️

Born #OTD: Edmond Halley, Oct 29 1656 (d: 1742), an English 🇬🇧 astronomer, geophysicist, meteorologist, & physicist. From his observatory on Saint Helena he made many discoveries, including predicting a comet's return in 1756. When proven right the comet was named after him. ☄️

1 date: October 28. 2 Landmark events in American🇺🇸History: #OTD in 1636 - the first school of higher education in America - Harvard College - was founded. 250 years later... #OTD in 1886 - the Statue of Liberty was dedicated in New York Harbor by U.S. President Cleveland.

Born #OTD October 27, 1811: Isaac Merritt Singer (d: 1875), an American🇺🇸mechanic, inventor and successful entrepreneur. He founded one of the 1st American multi-national businesses, the Singer Sewing Machine Company. Here's🔻his @biography bio. biography.com/inventors/isaa…

#OTD October 26, 1858 (pre-Civil War), a significant U.S. #patent🔻was issued to Hamilton E. Smith of Philadelphia🇺🇸. Though there had been previous washing machines invented and patented, Smith's #innovation was his #invention of the world's first rotary washing machine design.

Everything outside of nature has to be invented, even artistic movements. Born 142 years ago #OTD October 25, 1881: Pablo Picasso (d: 1973), a Spanish🇪🇸artist; 1 of the most influential artists of the 20th century. He co-founded cubism as well as collage in the modernist sense.