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1. Bifocals - Benjamin Franklin
Although John Isaak Hawkins came up with the name for
bifocals in 1827 when he invented trifocals, Founding Father
and Pennsylvania delegate Benjamin Franklin was the man
behind their creation. Being both near and short sighted,
Franklin set out to create a lens which would accommodate
both handicaps, and he succeeded in the 1760s. However, he
never patented his idea, believing that inventions should
serve others - and only though this free access could
improvements be made on them.
2. 16 Sided Threshing Barn - George
Washington
George Washington is remembered for his
military prowess, strong leadership, and
social graces - but George Washington the
inventor? Yes, he did that too. He created a
sixteen sided threshing barn in 1794, an
interesting agricultural innovation created
to improve the threshing process. It made it
more efficient and more sanitary, and
produced a better grain overall.
3. Wheel Cypher (Jefferson Disk) - Thomas Jefferson
Although officially known as a Bazeries Cylinder,
Jefferson's wheel cypher was a remarkable multiwheel
encryption device. Jefferson invented the
disk in 1795 as a way of sending and receiving
"secret" messages. Jefferson's version was never
well known, however, and thus the French
commandant Etienne Bazeries typically gets the
credit.
4. Improved Mouldboard Plow - Thomas Jefferson
This was not a novel invention by
Jefferson, but rather an
improvement on the old system. He
worked to improve the curves of the
machine, and cast them in iron.
Unfortunately, he became
sidetracked with other products and
never
fully finished the design.
5. Lightning Rod - Benjamin Franklin
Contrary to popular myth, Benjamin Franklin did not
successfully prove that lightning was electricity, despite
the fact that he first proposed the idea. What he did do,
however, was invent the lightning rod, a large metallic
object which is placed atop a building to protect it in the
event of a
strike of lightning.
6. Glass Armonica - Benjamin Franklin
Undoubtedly one of the more curious
inventions of the Founding Fathers,
Franklin's Armonica was a "modern
adaptation" of the art of playing the
glass harp. Before the armonica, people
would play music by running wet
fingers around the rims of specifically
shaped and sized glass bowls, called
harps.
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