10 great inventions of children around the world

Popsicles, sleds, and braille systems are the products of child inventors of the past.

1. Popsicle

In 1905, 11-year-old Frank Epperson (San Francisco, USA) stirred a mixture of soda water into a glass of water and left it on the porch on a very cold night. The next morning, Epperson discovered that the drink had turned into something resembling a frozen lollipop. After years of making this treat for his friends and children, Epperson filed for a patent in 1924.

Photo: Getty Images

2. Braille system

Louis Braille (1809-1852) suffered a serious eye injury at the age of three. The accident not only left the French boy blind in one eye, but it gradually spread to the other. After more than a decade of struggling with tracing embossed letters in school books with his finger, at age 12, Braille learned to communicate confidentially in the French army using a 12-dot system. He simplified this system and created the Braille system in 1824 with 6 dots.

Another teenager continues to revolutionize the braille system for the blind. In 2014, 12-year-old Indian-American Shubham Banerjee created the Braigo braille printer and sold it for $200, making it much more affordable than the previous $2,000 price tag.

3. Trampoline

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As a teenage gymnast, George Nissen (USA) and his coach created an elastic device that developed the strength and high bounce needed to perform backflips. Initially made from scrap steel and car tires, the trampoline later evolved into what he called a “trampoline” and became a worldwide sport.

An interesting related story is that in the 1950s, gas stations bought these tarps, giving kids an extra boost of energy while they waited for their parents to fill up.

4. Christmas lights

Before electric lights were invented, many people decorated Christmas trees with candles. What if the flames caught on dry twigs and needles placed inside your house? However, even with the invention of electric lights, people were even more concerned about house fires caused by electrical explosions.

By 1917, 15-year-old Albert Sadacca was taking advantage of the public’s confidence in electricity. Before that, those brave enough to try electric lights on their Christmas trees had to shell out the equivalent of $2,000 today. Sadacca had the idea of ​​creating affordable Christmas lights, which were manufactured by his parents’ decorative lighting company. Thanks to his invention that year, the holiday season is now filled with colorful lights.

5. Toy truck

In 1962, five-year-old American boy Robert Patch used two shoe boxes and a few bottle caps to create a vehicle that could convert into three different types: a dump truck, a flatbed truck, and a box truck.

His father, an intellectual property lawyer, saw the potential and offered to patent his son. Robert Patch became the youngest person ever to have a patent at the time, at the age of 6. He signed his name with an “X” because he still couldn’t write.

6. Snowmobile

Joseph-Armand Bombardier (Quebec, Canada) always loved to tinker with and repair machines. On New Year's Eve 1922, he wanted to surprise his family with a new invention. It was the first motorcycle that could travel on snow. Bombardier's younger brother drove it for more than half a mile.

The 15-year-old inventor continued to perfect the product over the years. By 1959, the ultra-light Ski-Doo snowboard was born.

7. Underwater communication device

In 1996, California fifth-grader Richie Stachowski invented the Water Talkie, a device that allowed him to talk underwater. It was a breakthrough, motivating Stachowski to expand his product line into his own company, Short Stack. In 1999, the 13-year-old entrepreneur sold Short Stack to a San Francisco-based toy company.

8. Earmuffs to keep warm

The weather in Maine (USA) became colder, causing Chester Greenwood to invent an ear warmer on a winter day in 1873, when he was 15 years old.

Photo: Getty Images

Greenwood loved skating on frozen lakes in the winter, but his wool allergy prevented him from wearing the warm hats with ear flaps his friends wore. He had his grandmother sew flannel or beaver fur onto bendable wire to fit his head. Ten years later, Greenwood owned a factory that produced 50,000 ear muffs a year.

He is also honored with Chester Greenwood Day, the first Saturday in December.

9. Superman

One hot summer night in 1934, Jerry Siegel (USA) had trouble sleeping. The teenager was thinking about his favorite science fiction stories. Looking out the window at the moon, Siegel suddenly had an idea. He quickly wrote it down and waited until morning to visit his friend Joe Shuster, an artist.

The sketches were born thanks to the creativity of both. Four years later, they found a comic book publisher and to this day, Superman is one of the most famous superheroes in the world.

10. Diving fins

In the early 1700s, an 11-year-old boy who loved swimming discovered that he could swim more easily if he had more surface area to push against the water. He created handheld swimming fins, essentially oval-shaped boards with holes in the middle for his hands. Similar products were created for his legs, but he was dissatisfied with the clumsy design and quickly abandoned them.

Swimming fins are just one of the products of the talented American inventor Ben Franklin (1706-1790), the father of the stove, the odometer, the lightning rod, the bifocals (eyeglasses)…

According to VNE