Explore 67 Inventors Collections - Atlas Obscura
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An advertisement for customizable cucumber glasses.
objects of intrigue

How England Got Its Curvy Cucumbers Straightened Out

The cucumber straightener was a marvel of British horticulture.
Abbey Perreault August 9, 2018
Vintage bikes such as this 1941 Schwinn were key to the development of mountain biking.
Fairfax, California

Marin Museum of Bicycling and Mountain Bike Hall of Fame

Centuries of biking history are nestled in the shadow of the birthplace of contemporary mountain biking.
A blueprint for the digester, from 1687.
food

The Instant Pot of the 1600s Was Known as 'the Digester of Bones'

The pressure cooker led directly to the invention of the steam engine.
Daniel Crown July 18, 2018
Luther Burbank, at one of his experimental farms in 1901.
food

America's Greatest Horticulturist Left Behind a Plum Mystery

Frida Kahlo painted him. Thomas Edison admired him. Now Rachel Spaeth is trying to decode him.
Anne Ewbank April 30, 2018
Meyrin, Switzerland

Birthplace of the Web

The World Wide Web was created in this nondescript corridor at CERN.
The "Zymo-Xyl," built in 1963.
Seattle, Washington

Harry Partch's Musical Instruments

A collection of odd-shaped and quirky sounding instruments handmade by a midcentury inventor-composer.
The winner!
sewers

Why the Sewer Is the Most Wondrous Everyday Invention

The votes are in, and the winner of Mundane Madness is right beneath your feet.
Jessica Leigh Hester April 2, 2018
science

Thank These Master Alchemists for the Magic of Alcohol

Two Muslim scholars invented stills that could make spirits.
Anne Ewbank February 12, 2018
Members of the Nazi party in Norway, 1942. during a visit by the Reichskommissar Josef Terboven.
nazis

Why the Nazi Party Loved Decaf Coffee

The Third Reich pushed decaffeinated drinks as official state policy.
Matthew Sedacca November 15, 2017
Franz Reichelt in his parachute suit.
eiffel tower

The Sad Tale of the 'Flying Tailor'

Franz Reichelt's devotion to developing a parachute suit led to his dramatic death.
Eric Grundhauser November 14, 2017
An articulated view of a Discopter in flight, floating through the night sky above the San Francisco Bay.
tedium

The Long, Strange History of People Filing Flying Saucer Patents

From the "Discopter" of Alexander Weygers to a soaring car.
Ernie Smith October 27, 2017
Front of the old Tabulating Machine Co. building on 31st Street.
Washington, D.C.

The Tabulating Machine Co.

The early data processor factory founded in Washington for the 1890 U.S. Census went on to become IBM.
Stockings were a necessary leg covering in the 18th century.
fashion

A Machine That Made Stockings Helped Kick Off the Industrial Revolution

Queen Elizabeth I wanted none of it.
Sarah Laskow September 19, 2017
A statue of the the U.K.'s first jet aeroplane in Lutterworth where it was produced.
Coventry, England

Frank Whittle Memorials

Monuments and plaques commemorate the local man whose invention shrunk the world.
video

This Bizarre '50s 'Rhino' Vehicle Was Designed to Replace the Tank

The U.S. military never bought it.
Michael Waters June 5, 2017
Washington, D.C.

Daguerre Monument

Go take a picture with the inventor of the daguerreotype photographic process.
Interesting Things at their traveling Museum
New York, New York

The Museum of Interesting Things

A hands-on traveling collection of the innovative devices of yesteryear.
Adelaide Helene Shelby's skeleton-based confession device.
crime and punishment

Would You Confess Your Criminal Misdeeds to This Skeleton?

Back in the 1920s, the inventor Helene Adelaide Shelby was pretty sure you would.
Cara Giaimo May 16, 2017