Alexander Graham Bell received U.S. Patent No. 174,465 on the telephone on March 7, 1876.

Surprisingly, it took the industry more than 13 years to come up with the pay telephone. On August 13, 1889, William Gray received U.S. Patent No. 408709 on a “Coined Controlled Apparatus for Telephones.” (These days telecommunication companies are much more adept at monetizing their technology).

The first pay phone was installed on the corner of Main Street and Central Row, in Hartford, Connecticut, Gray’s hometown, later that year.

On August 12, 1977, the space shuttle Enterprise (aka Orbiter Vehicle OV-101) made its first free flight, launched from a Boeing 747 carrier. The Enterprise glided on its own, and landed on a dry lake bed in the Mojave Desert. This was a prototype built only for testing, and never equipped for space flight. The Enterprise was named for the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) from the TV series Star Trek.

The design of the space shuttle was based upon U.S. Patent No. 3,866,863 on a Space Vehicle

and U.S. Patent No.3,702,688 on a Space Shuttle Vehicle and System:

Our reality rarely matches our imagination, but the space shuttle Enterprise and carried forward the spirit of its namesake, the U.S.S. Enterprise, and its mission to boldly go where no one had gone before.

On this date in 1942, Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr (Hedy Kiesler Markey) and composer George Antheil received U.S. Patent No. 2,292,387 on a Secret Communication System that employed a “frequency hopping, spread-spectrum communication system” that would make radio-guided torpedoes harder to detect and jam.

The pair donated their patent to the US Navy and never made and money from their invention, whose fundamental concept is the basis for wireless phones, Global Positioning Systems, and WiFi.

Although Hedy had little formal training, a keen mind and serendipitous encounter with George Antweil who had worked on synchronizing two player pianos, let to an ingenious solution to secure communication.

She was awarded the Pioneer Award by the Electronic Frontier Foundation in 1997, and was posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame along with her co-inventor George Antheil in 2014.

On August 10, 1982, George W. Lucas, Jr. Ralph McQuarrie, Joseph E. Johnston, and Stuart Freeborn, received U.S. Patent No. D265754 on a toy Figure (Yoda!):

On August 9, 1898, U,S, Patent No. 608,845 issued to Rudolf Diesel on an Internal Combustion Engine (the “Diesel Engine”):

Diesel engines are more efficient than, and thus an important replacement for, steam engines or gasoline engines. Unfortunately, Diesel was not able to enjoy the success of his invention. He disappeared on the evening of 29 September 1913, Diesel disappeared from the SS Dresden as it sailed from Antwerp to London.

On August 7, 1990, Donald Bonasia received U.S. Patent No. D309695 on the Chop Stick Fork.

A little more than a year later on October 15, 1991, Frank J. Brincat received U.S. Patent No. 5,056,173 on a Combination Fork and Chopsticks.

Brincat’s utensil seems to be a significant improvement over Bonasia’s utensil. Combination eating utensils have been an active field of endeavor.

U.S. Patent No. 147,119, from February 3, 1874, on combined Knives, Forks, and Spoons, is perhaps the earliest example:

U.S. Patent No. D190198 from April 25, 1961, shows a more recent adaptation:

U.S. Patent No. 4,771,541 from September 20, 1988, discloses a combination fork and knife:

U.S. Patent No. 4,984,367 from January 15, 1991, discloses a combination utensil:

U.S. Patent No. D388,664, issued January 6, 1998, is the first patent literally on a “Spork”:

Other “Spork” patents include: D633344, D657625, D722836, D723341, D736039, D771,444, D778,120, D822,443, D858,214, D876907, D909,821, D910386, D979,350, and D1026571.

On August 6, 1935, William D. Coolidge received U.S. Patent No. 2,010,712 on an improved cathode ray tube. Cathode ray tubes were critical to televisions and computer monitors until the relatively recent invention of LCD screens, and they are still used to generate x-rays in medical imaging equipment.

In 1911 Coolidge developed a ductile form of tungsten that made the manufacture of filaments for incandescent bulbs, for which in received U.S. Patent No. 1,082,933 (later declared invalid. IN 1913 Coolidge invented a hot cathode tube dubbed the Cooliidge tube that allowed for improved medical imaging, for which he received U.S. Patent No, 1,203,495. His basic design is still in use today.

Coolidge won The American Academy of Arts and Sciences Rumford Prize in 1914; was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1925; the Howard N. Potts Medal in 1926; the Louis E. Levy Medal in 1927; was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1938; was awarded the Faraday Medal in 1939; was awarded the Franklin Medal in 1944. In 1975, shortly before his death at age 101, he was elected to the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

On August 4, 1925, U.S. Patent No. 1,548,653 issued to Martin Borglum on an Automobile Signal. 99 years later it is hard to image the problems still to be solved in the automobile industry, and the limited technological resources to address those problems. Mr. Borglum’s solution to signaling direction changes? Hang a “peculiar and grotesque figure adapted to be mounted upon the vehicle in a conspicuous position in which the figure will have movable arms for indicating visually proposed changes in direction of the vehicle and movable eyeballs coordinated with the arms to shift in the same direction with the latter whereby to vary forcibly and in an odd striking way call attention to the signal and to the proposed change in direction” on the side of the car:

That this seemed like a good idea in 1925 is a testament to how far we have progressed since then. Here’s a better view of Mr. Borglum’s Cargoyle:

Directional signaling was apparently one of the big problems of the day, because that same day several other patents issued on direction signals. Anthony Ritsky proposed mounting a spinning arrow on the car fender in his U.S. Patent No. 1,548,386:

George L.Cantwell proposed a signal mounted on the spare tire on the back of the car with an arrow that signals the driver’s intent in his U.S. Patent No. 1,548,115:

Three entirely different solutions to one of the problems of the day, brilliantly illustrating the importance of diversity in thought. There are few bad ideas — just different levels of good ideas.