On September 1, 1936, Alvie Sandberg received U.S. Patent No. D101090 on a Basketball Goal:

A week later, on September 8, 1936, Alvie received a utility patent, U.S. Patent No. 2,053,635, on the same invention. The improvement shown in both of his patents is attaching the net of the basketball goal underneath the rim. Previously, nets were tied directly to the rim.

On August 31, 1909, Benjamin Shibe received US Patent No. 932911 on a “base ball”:

While perhaps the first patent on a baseball, this was not the first baseball. While legend suggests that baseball was invented by Abner Doubleday in Cooperstown, New York, during the summer of 1893, references to baseball-like games date back to the 1700’s. It is now believed that baseball was derived from various English bat and ball games, and originally exported to Canada.

In 1845, a group of New Yorkers founded the New York Knickerbocker club, and set the rules that are the basis for modern baseball. The first “official” game of baseball was played in 1846.

It wasn’t until John Maynard’s May 8, 1928, U.S. Patent No. 1,668,969, that baseballs assumed their current form

Gail Borden, Jr., received U.S. Patent No. 15,553, on August 19, 1856, on a process for preparing evaporated milk. Condensed milk is the common term for milk that has water rmoved, and sugar added, but Borden’s claim specifically excluded adding sugar.

Borden’s invention made milk available in urban areas where a refrigerated distribution system was not yet available for the distribution of fresh milk.

Borden’s story affirms three key ingredients of invention: Necessity, Persistence, and Luck. Necessity: in 1851, Borden was devastated by the deaths of several children while returning from a trip to England, apparently from poor milk obtained from shipboard cows. Persistence: Borden’s first two factories failed. It was not until his third factory that he could produce a useable milk product. Luck: Borden’s business was buoyed by large orders for rations during the Civil War. His shelf-stable product calorie high protein rations for the Union Army, and after the war provide him with a loyal customer base.

The first plant patent issued August 18, 1931, to Henry F. Bosenberg, on a Climbing or Trailing Rose:

A plant patent is granted by the United States government a distinct and new variety of plant (other than a tuber propagated plant or a plant found in an uncultivated state). The grant, which lasts for 20 years from the date of filing the application, protects the patent owner’s right to exclude others from asexually reproducing the plant, and from using, offering for sale, or selling the plant so reproduced, or any of its parts, throughout the United States, or from importing the plant so reproduced, or any part thereof, into the United States.

Plant patents are unique to the United States and supplement the protection provided utility patents and by the Plant Variety Protection Act.

Solymon Merrick received the first U.S. patent on a wrench (U.S. Patent No. X9030) on August 17, 1835:

Of course wrenches existed before Merrick’s invention, and they have continued to be improved ever since. One such improvement is U.S. Patent No. 1,133,236, which issued March 23, 1915, on the “Crescent” wrench:

On August 16, 1898, Edwin Prescott received U.S. Patent No. 609,164 on a roller coaster with a loop-the-loop:

There are earlier patents on roller coasters without the loop-the-loop, including John G. Taylor’s 1872 U.S. Patent No. 128,674 on Improvement in Inclined Railways:

and LaMarcus A. Thompson’s 1885 U.S. Patent No. 310,966 on a Roller Coasting Structure:

Subsequently, in 1919, John A . Miller’s U.S. Patent No. 1,319,888 on a Pleasure Railway Structure introduced the idea of wheels below the track as well, to maintain the cars on the track:

By 1929, H. G. Traver’s U.S. Patent No. 1,713,793 on an Amusement Ride looks more like the modern roller coasters we are used to:

On August 15, 1835, C. H. Farnham received a patent on a Washing Machine, this patent issued just before the USPTO started numbering patents, so this patent was part of the infamous X-series of patents, and was retroactively numbered X8993.

There was an earlier patent, X-series patent granted March 3, 1797, to Nathaniel Briggs of New Hampshire for “an improvement in washing clothes.”

On this day back in 1973, U.S. Patent No. 3,751,727 issued on a Space Suit. This suit was “designed for astronauts in the Apollo Space Program.”

This patent represents the successful solution of just a few of the thousands of technical problems that had to be solved to meet President Kennedy’s May 25, 1961, challenge that this nation “commit itself to achieving the goal, before his decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.” Thousands of American s solved thousands of technical problems, only a few of which have been documented in the patent collection.

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.