Science & Industry
5 Inventions That Failed Spectacularly
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From the wheel to the light bulb, innovation has played a central role in the story of human civilization. But history’s inventors also left behind a trail of misfires, failures, and downright disasters. Here are five ideas that promised to make life better, safer, or more efficient, but turned out to be spectacular flops. Credit: Fox Photos/ Hulton Archive via Getty Images Baby Cages In the early 20th century, crowded cities such as New York and London grappled with widespread tuberculosis. At the time, one common treatment was fresh air, prescribed by figures including the ...Read More
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Science & IndustryFact3Credit cards were originally made of cardboard.
“Plastic” is synonymous with credit cards these days, but that wasn’t always the case. The first credit card was created in 1949 after businessman Frank McNamara forgot to bring his…
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Science & IndustryFact14The first world map to mention ‘America’ was published in 1507.
In 1507, a group of scholars in the small French town of Saint-Dié published a world map that changed how Europeans saw the globe — and gave “America” its name.…
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Science & IndustryArticle285 Inventions That Failed Spectacularly
From the wheel to the light bulb, innovation has played a central role in the story of human civilization. But history’s inventors also left behind a trail of misfires, failures,…
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Science & IndustryFact2Refrigerators used to be toxic.
Iceless refrigerators have come a long way since the 1920s, when they first became affordable for home kitchens. Since then, there have been many technological advances in refrigeration — including…
