The best thing invented since sliced bread is ___________________ And History of it.
 

Clumping cat litter!

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For nerd fun:

The Rise and Fall of Clumping Clay Litter
http://cats.about.com/cs/litterbox/a/clumpingclay_2.htm

1928 - Sliced Bread Invented-
http://history1900s.about.com/od/192...licedbread.htm

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The THERMOS! Keeps hot food hot, cold food cold... how do it know???

http://cn1.kaboodle.com/hi/img/c/0/0...=1279495890000

The Flush Toilet

For its development history (too long to write out here), see The History of Plumbing by Hodding Carter (yes, that Hodding Carter--i wonder how many parents say, "Oh, honey, let's name the baby Hodding, whether it's a boy or a girl.")

Wiki: 2.5 billion people lack access to improved sanitation and thus must resort to open defecation or other unsanitary forms of defecation, such as public latrines or open pit latrines. Improved sanitation, including hand washing and water purification, could save the lives of 1.5 million children who die from diarrheal diseases each year.

[i have a thing about this]

POST IT NOTES!
Everyone knows what Post-it® notes are: They are those great little self-stick notepapers. Most people have Post-it® Notes. Most people use them. Most people love them. But Post-it® Notes were not a planned product.
No one got the idea and then stayed up nights to invent it. A man named Spencer Silver was working in the 3M research laboratories in 1970 trying to find a strong adhesive. Silver developed a new adhesive, but it was even weaker than what 3M already manufactured. It stuck to objects, but could easily be lifted off. It was super weak instead of super strong.
No one knew what to do with the stuff, but Silver didn't discard it. Then one Sunday four years later, another 3M scientist named Arthur Fry was singing in the church's choir. He used markers to keep his place in the hymnal, but they kept falling out of the book. Remembering Silver's adhesive, Fry used some to coat his markers. Success! With the weak adhesive, the markers stayed in place, yet lifted off without damaging the pages. 3M began distributing Post-it ® Notes nationwide in 1980 -- ten years after Silver developed the super weak adhesive. Today they are one of the most popular office products available.

The light bulb Thomas Edison.
How else would I write those late night essays for school? LOL!

The modern world is an electrified world. The light bulb, in particular, profoundly changed human existence by illuminating the night and making it hospitable to a wide range of human activity. The electric light, one of the everyday conveniences that most affects our lives, was invented in 1879 by Thomas Alva Edison. He was neither the first nor the only person trying to invent an incandescent light bulb.

Invention: electric light bulb in 1879

Definition: noun / electric light bulb / incandescent lamp
Function: An electric lamp in which a filament is heated to incandescence by an electric current. Today's incandescent light bulbs use filaments made of tungsten rather than carbon of the 1880's.
Patent: 223,898 (US) issued January 27, 1880
Inventor: Thomas Alva Edison

Criteria: First practical. Modern prototype. Entrepreneur.
Birth: February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio
Death: October 18, 1931 in West Orange, New Jersey
Nationality: American

The bar code of course. Anyone who is old enough to remember the girl at the local grocery store, throwing a package of sanitary somethings in the air and yelling PRICE CHECK!!!!!!!!! As the bag boy turns red and seems to want to crawl into a brown paper poke. Yep has to be the bar code.

1952 The first patent for bar codes is issued to Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver.

Of course we didn't benefit from this invention until much later than 1952.


http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...ngY0ipWiW6LJfg

My Zune!!!!

( I'm to lazy to look up Wiki)

The internet and BFP. Anecdotal History of the Internet

The humble microwave oven,I remember the litle samll one mom had when they first came out,now they are in many sises.The microwave oven was a lab accident that was suposed to do one thing but did aomething else better.

This great- all the posts- I am nodding like crazy!! You all RAWK!

Suebee (grated cheeze) reminded me of pre-washed produce- especially lettuce. Saves time and water!!

This blurb on "Ford's Produce Co." is fun- they were the first to do pre-washed spinach. Looks like this came to be in the mid-1980's.

http://www.fordsproduce.com/history.html

T-paper,cant live with out it.I have no idea how or why but so glad it is.

OMG! The idea of corn cobbs is just horrible!!

:seeingstars:

T-paper
 

Once I ask a very old person what they did before T-paper came out,she told me that they used anything that was at hand that could do the job but could be thrown away.She also said corn chuck would do if dampend to soften them..so glad I didnt have to do that.Again she said the first time she had a house with runing water and an indoor toilet she thought she was very rich indeed.

I had relatives who used newspaper back in the hills. I mean in my generation. People couldn't afford tp--some didn't even have indoor plumbing. Once away from there, I found the adjustment to be easy.

Femmes in summer dresses!

Although I have problems with the environmental concerns about plastics in general (and how all plastics bring us to more oil use), as someone that has severe arthritis in the hands, "Zip-Lock" bags are helpful I mean the real "zip-lock" kinds. I wash and re-use them and usually put things in a container in the fridge that can be washed, but sometimes these just work the best.

Always a dilemma with some of these things!!


History
Ziploc brand zipper storage bags were introduced by Dow Chemical Company. According to Dow's website, the first Ziploc bags were test-marketed in 1968. This was the first time that the resealable bag was marketed as a way to keep food fresh. However, in 1954, a company called Minigrip, purchased the license to manufacture a resealable zipper bag. According to Minigrip's website, it manufactured the "first integral zipper plastic bag in the United States" in 1959. It wasn't until 1968 when the technology was licensed by Dow Chemical Company to be used for food storage.


Read more: Who Invented Ziplock Bags?- http://www.ehow.com/about_5365229_in...lock-bags.html

Here is a tid-bit about the historical development of dildoes-

History of dildos

http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/2997.html

I cannot believe it took us 'til now to come up with dildos.

Conditioner and Creme Rinse!

I remember back in the 60's when we just had shampoo and my long hair was always a rats nest and it hurt so bad to have my tangles washed out.

The first such product I remember was Johnson & Johnson No More Tears...it was a miracle to me.

The washing machine!

I remember when we got our first one shipped from the US to Argentina. I remember watching everything be washed by hand on a stone wash boad. :|

I.would.hate.that.

Dryers too....yes, sheets smell sweet after hanging out in the sun...but with work, who has time (or even wants to)? Especially in places where it rains a lot....like here.

I know! Strange!!!

" You might be a redneck if: You use a shower cap to cover your leftovers!"

That said...these have become one of my favorite new thingys. "Plastic land" ( that storage area we all have to keep up with plastic containers and lids) as we call it drives me nuts and we always lose one or both parts of the set...soooooo:

http://0.tqn.com/d/cookingequipment/...Mate-Pouch.JPG

I remember both my Mom and grandmother using washboards! i thin washers were on the market, but they didn't get one until they could afford it. Same with a television.

Plus, do you remember when "Borax" was about the only clothes detergent around? Very harsh on skin.

My grannie had a wood burning stove to cook on even when mom bought her a new fangled gas stove she didnt use it till grandpa finaly hauled the old stove out of the house and installed the gas one.Grannie didnt like it,wouldnt cook on it cause she said the food didnt cook or taste the same.Finaly she got the hang of the thing but never really liked it.

We were in Argentina until 1976, and we used RINSO which also was pretty rough lol.

I agree...now...but when I was little in Argentina outside of Buenos Aires there was no sliced bread...you have to go to the panaderia to get the bread then take it to get it sliced for sandwiches. Same with milk...you bought it one place then took it to another to get it pasturized.

So many things we take for granted now :).

Heyyy, I need me some of them. lol
I never can find a lid!

OK, so pasturized milk!

Praire Perspective
 

Yup! And these puppies come from old time chop or grill plates- many of which in the US were Blue Wollow. It was actually the dinnerware of country tables and inexpensive china picks. Great way to keep the meat juices from running into the veggies and starches!!

http://thumbs2.ebaystatic.com/m/mZH-...oLdfSg/140.jpg

Rowenta irons! Me and my Rowenta got a thing going on~

http://s7.thisnext.com/media/largest...n/052EF5E0.jpg

refrigerator/freezers

For the DIY, these are like the extra hand that is never there when you need it:

http://www.irwin.com/uploads/product...readers-67.jpg

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k210/h0ney1/poles.jpg

fishing poles!!!!!!!!!

~~~shark~~~~~~~~~

Silicone!

Bakeware:

http://www.dennisstein.com/Pictures/...sps/silpat.jpg

Utensils:

http://www.kitchencritic.co.uk/uploa...hefn-tools.jpg

Software:

http://image.dhgate.com/upload/spide...qg903144_0.jpg

Hardware:
ahem, not sure if images are ok in TOS... so, em :
http://www.goodvibes.com/display_cat...70002_cat33913

http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/t...untitled-1.jpg


Safety needles.

Has saved MANY lives and less spred of diseases. Not too mention less worry and peace of mind.

eureka's Pet Lover Vacuum. If you have hair everywhere you must have one.

YES on the metal ice cube trays! So much easier than the plastic kind of today. That is one of those- "If it isn't broke, don't fix it" kind of things! You could do a slight tap n' slide and... perfect exit of cubes!!

Well, well. Bill Gates is finally following my lead. ;)

Gates Foundation: 'We need to reinvent the toilet'

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/innovat...html?hpt=hp_c2