Now Why Didn't I Think of That? Quiz

Answer: The Q-tip

So, one day Leo was sitting around watching Mrs. Gersteinzang doing household chores, and noticed that she was having some trouble getting into small or recessed areas as she tried to clean them. What she was doing (which was kind of inventive itself), was attaching little cotton swabs to toothpicks to help get at those areas.
BINGO! The birth of the Q-Tip followed shortly thereafter. Leo originally dubbed his creation "Baby Gays". (In those days 'gay' didn't have its modern meaning). After a move East to New York, he started a company called Leo Gersteinzang's Infant Novelty Company. He began marketing his new product as Q-Tips Baby Care, until eventually it became known by the name that has been around for over 100 years, just plain old, Q-Tips.
(The "Q" stood for "quality".)

Answer: Windshield wipers

Having your idea rejected by potential suitors is bad enough, but one company was downright dismissive of the new product. They had the effrontery to say:
"we do not consider it to be of such commercial value as would warrant our undertaking its sale." Well! Automobile manufacturing and driving were now booming activities, and it didn't take long for another version to come along. This time it was an automatic wiper system, based to great extent on the principles that Ms. Anderson had created. They came on the market one year after her patent had expired, and were known as "Folberths", after the man who took Mary Anderson's idea to the next level. The first U.S. carmaker to incorporate windshield wipers as standard equipment was Cadillac, in 1923.
Mary Anderson was inducted into the Inventor's Hall of Fame in 2011.

By the way, intermittent wiper blades first appeared in 1967, compliments of Robert Kearnes.

Answer: Alfred Nobel

Alfred Nobel (1833-1896), who was born in Sweden, became famous for his work as an engineer, scientist, and inventor. His invention of dynamite happened in Germany (1867), and he patented it that year in both Britain and Sweden. It played a key role in expanding industries, such as construction, mining and demolition. It also became a much feared weapon of war. Originally, it was sold under the name of "Nobel's Blasting Powder".
At one time Alfred Nobel held 350 patents, with dynamite being his most famous.

Answer: Steel wire suspension bridge

John Roebling had studied engineering and architecture at the Bauakademie in Berlin. Construction on the beautiful Brooklyn Bridge, his grandest and final achievement was started in 1870, and completed in 1883. When it opened it was the world's longest suspension bridge. Following his father's plans, Roebling's son, Washington, supervised the onsite work, while John Roebling could only watch from his apartment window, housebound as the result of an accident.
The Brooklyn Bridge stands majestically above the East River in New York, and its span of more than a mile (5,989 feet), connects the boroughs of Brooklyn and Manhattan.

Interesting fact: In June, 1869, Roebling was planning out schematics at the site where his bridge was to be built, when a ferry severely injured his foot. He would soon undergo amputation of his damaged toes and developed tetanus, which killed him before his masterpiece was finished. He died July 22, 1869, and would have been pleased to know that, fittingly, the first person to cross the iconic span was his wife, Emily.

Answer: The Segway

Dean Kamen's invention was unveiled amidst much mystery and anticipation on the TV show, "Good Morning America", on December 3, 2001. Officially its moniker was The Segway HT (Human Transporter). It ran on batteries, and the original, "i2" model reached 12.5 miles per hour. When fully charged the Segway H.T. had a range of 24 miles. Travelling on a Segway is known as "gliding", and you'll often see security workers and policemen gliding around airports, shopping malls, and even some outdoor urban areas. After much safety checking, the first Segway was offered for sale in 2003, at about $3,000 a pop. Three years earlier, President Bill Clinton had presented Kamen with the National Medal of Technology.
Kamen has also invented a water purification system and an insulin infusion pump for diabetics. The United Nations named Kamen the winner of the Global Humanitarian Action Award in 2006.
On October 22 Mr. Kamen premiered his TV show, cleverly titled "Dean of Invention", on the Green Channel.

Answer: Basketball

James Naismith invented basketball in 1891. At the time he was teaching at what is now Springfield College in Massachusetts, and he christened his game, "Basket Ball". Not only did he invent the game, but he wrote the initial rules under which the game was to be played.

There were only 13 regulations then, and the game of today bears little similarity to the game (and rules) he created. Back then there were nine men per team on the court, there was no dribbling, only passing the ball, and a player would try to heave the ball into a peach basket. Naismith later became a member of the faculty at the University of Kansas (K.U.), and was the school's first basketball coach.

While at K.U., he served in numerous positions, including Phys-Ed teacher, chapel director, professor, physician and athletic director. The basketball hall of fame in Springfield, MA is officially named "The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame", in his honor.

He was among the inaugural group of inductees, entering the hall posthumously, in 1959.

Answer: Barbie Dolls

Ruth and Elliot founded the Mattel Toy Company in 1945, with Ruth as its president, and she named the iconic doll after her daughter, Barbara. Barbie got herself a boyfriend named Ken in 1961, and she has evolved over the years from teen model to nurse, medic, Olympic athlete, astronaut, and even a presidential candidate...all with matching accessories, of course. Barbie has been created with more than 40 different nationalities, and is sold in over 150 countries around the world. Xavier Roberts came up with the Cabbage Patch Kids in 1978, Tyco Toys brought Tickle Me Elmo to life in 1996, and siblings Raggedy Ann(1915) and Raggedy Andy (1920), were the brainchildren of kids' book writer Johnny Gruelle.

Answer: Cable car

Andrew Smith Hallidie devised a method for miners to transport dirt and the occasional nugget up from hundreds of feet below the earth, using a wire rope/cable. He wondered, since it worked for rocks and soil, why not for people as well? On August 1, 1873, he successfully launched his first cable car 307 feet down the Clay street hill and right back up again, forever changing the landscape of the city by the bay.

He became a wealthy man as the new idea spread to other major American cities, including Philadelphia, Chicago, and St. Louis, along with international venues such as London, England and Sydney, Australia. Hallidie's invention is still a huge San Francisco tourist attraction, generating millions of dollars for the city coffers, as folks flock (as Frank Sinatra would croon) "to be where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars".

Answer: Ballpoint pen

In 1938, Laszlo Biro patented the ballpoint pen in Paris. Five years later, Laszlo and his brother Gyorgy, received United States Patent Number 2,390,636 and founded Biro Pens of Argentina. The patent was sold to Marcel Bich in 1945 and it became a bestselling product for his company, "BIC".
Biro continued to live in Argentina until his death in Buenos Aires at the age of 86.
Argentina celebrates "Inventor's Day" on September 29, the date of Laszlo Biro's birth.
In 2007, Laszlo Biro was inducted into The Inventor's Hall of Fame.

Answer: Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ruth Wakefield was a native of The Bay State, and learned her culinary skills at Framingham State Normal School of Household Arts. Upon graduation she began her career working as a dietician, but then in 1930, she and her spouse purchased The Toll House Inn. On the evening in question, she was readying to prepare chocolate cookies for guests of the inn, when she discovered, much to her dismay that she had run out of baker's chocolate. What to do? Well, she noticed she had some Nestles chocolate on hand and began hacking away pieces of it to add to the cookie batter, fully expecting to get the chocolate cookie dessert she had planned on serving. But, no! Much to her surprise the chocolate chunks did not melt, and whaddya' know, Ruth Wakefield had just invented the first batch of chocolate chip cookies.

They quickly became the most popular cookie in in the country, and still are devoured by millions of grateful gourmands to this day. She passed in 1977...Rest in peace, Ruth Wakefield, and THANK YOU!