On October 25, 1966, U.S. Patent No. 3,280,710 issued to James O. Kuhn on a Corn Popper.

This corn popper was specially adapted for use with the Easy-Bake Oven that Kuhn also invented:

U.S. Patent No. 3,368,063 issued to Kuhn on February 6, 1968, on the Easy Bake Oven itself.

Kenner introduced the Easy Bake Oven on November 4, 1963. Originally available in yellow or turquoise, and powered by two 100 watt lightbulbs. The toy has morphed considerably over the years, with chaging designs and colors. The lightbulb heat source was eliminated in 2011, on fears that incadescent bulbs would become unavailable. The current version of the Easy Bake Oven, sold by Hasbro, resembles a microwave.

The Easy Bake Oven was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2006

On October 24, 1876, U.S. Patent No. 183725 issued to Seth E. Thomas (son and namesake of the founder of Seth Thomas & Sons clock making enterprise) on an Improvement in Clock-Cases.

The case was particularly adapted for the now familiar back-winding alarm clock. There were alarm clocks before this (and the patent indicates that “[t]he works need involve no novelty”). Levi Hutchins is credited with one of the first U.S. alarm clocks in 1787. The alarm on this clock had a preset time that could not be changed. U.S. Patent No. X7154 from 1832 on an Alarm Bell, For Time Pieces, Alarm Clock discloses a bell for an alarm clock. U.S. Patent No. 1956 from 1841 mentions the “common alarm clock.” U.S. Patent No. 9123 from 1852 is the first U.S. on an alarm clock per se.

On October 23, 1956, Harry W. Coover, Jr., was awarded U.S. Patent No. 2,768,109, on Alcohol-Catalyzed alpha-Cyanoacrylate Adhesive Compositions:

This patent was assigned to Eastman Kodak Company, which began selling Coover’s adhesive under the brand SUPER GLUE in 1958.

Coover received his B.S. from Hobart College and his M.S. and Ph.D. from Cornell University. Coover, and received more than 460 patents.

Before modern sensibilities, Christopher Columbus’ achievement in sailing across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492 was celebrated, including in the U.S. Patent Collection. U.S. Patent No. 21448 was issued on a design for a Buckle (with the image of Christopher Columbus):

U.S. Patent No. D21573 issued on a Badge featuring the image of Christopher Columbus:

U.S. Patent No. D221,221 issued on a Spoon featuring Columbus’ ship:

U.S. Patent No. D21255 on the design of a Medal featuring the image of Christopher Columbus:

U.S. Patent No. 418455 issued on an Educational Globe that tracks that voyage of Columbus.

On October 9, 1855, Isaac M. Singer received U.S. Patent No. 13661 on a Sewing Machine:

Of course, Singers’ was not the first patent on a sewing machine. Elias Howe is generally regarded as the first inventor of the sewing machine, and he received U.S. Patent No. 4750 on September 10, 1846:

Howe also received U.S. Patent Nos. 16,436 on January 20, 1857, 17679 on June 30, 1857, and 21158 on August 24, 1858. However, rather than making and selling machines himself, Howe made his fortune by suing those who he felt had infringed on his patents.

On October 8, 1940, David C. Rockola received U.S. Patent No. D122,946 on a Cabinet for Remote Control Apparatus:

This was not the first patent by this prolific inventor, that was U.S. Patent No. USD81021 that issued more than ten years earlier in 1930, and it was far from the last, that was U.S. Patent No. US 3771691 that issued more than thirty years later in 1973.

David Rockola invented everything from gaming devices, to parking meters, to vehicles, to juke boxes — what his is probably best know for.

It turns out that ROCKOLA was not just a snappy name for juke boxes, but it a snappy name for a prolific inventor who did far more than juke boxes.

On October 7, 1975, Ysidore M. Martinez received U.S. Patent No, 3,909,854 on a Knee Implant Prosthesis:

Ysidore, an amputee, revolutionized the prosthetic field by creating a prosthesis that was better at giving the wearer control of acceleration and deceleration, while simultaneously reducing pressure and friction for the wearer. This concept, a departure from trying to make prosthetics that faithfully mimicked the limb being replaced, is still used in prosthesis’ today.

On October 6, 2024, Chester F. Carlson a physicist, patent attorney, and inventor, received U.S. Patent No. 2,297,691 on Electrophotography – photocopying:

Chester did is initial work in a laboratory in Astoria, Queens, New York. The very first photocopied image was made there on October 22, 1928, which consisted of the date and place written by his laboratory assistant Otto Kornei, an out-of-work Austrian physicist.

The initial results thrilled Carlson, but Kornei was so discouraged, that within a year he left Carlson on cordial terms, dissolving his agreement with Carlson that would have given Kornei ten percent of Carlson’s future proceeds from the invention and rights in the inventions they had worked on together. Oops!

Carlson persisted, and eventually his ideas became the backbone of the Xerox Corporation. Xerox was a combination of the Greek words xeros (“dry”) and graphein (“writing”).  

On October 5, 1869, Fisher Spofford and Matthew Raffington received U.S. Patent 95,531 on Improvement in Water-Velocipedes:

Apparently, bicycling on water preoccupied the 19th century mind, because there are numerous

The fascination with bicycling on water even carried into the 20th Century: