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:

On October 4, 1949, Harry Crooks, Mildred Rebstock, John Controulis, and Quentin Bartz received U.S. Patent No. 2,483,885 on Nitrophenyl Acyl Amido Alkane Diols:

Dr. Mildred “Millie” Rebstock was a researcher working for Parke, Davis & Company when she was charged with synthesizing a new antibiotic discovered in a culture of Streptomyces venezuela. Dr. Rebstock and her team found a way to fully synthesize this antibiotic, which allowed it to be economically manufactured, rather than producing it organically through fermentation.  This was the first time that an antibiotic has been synthesized. The ready availability of chloromycetin as a result of Rebstock’s Team’s work allowed its use to treat Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Typhoid. It is still used today as a secondary treatment for extreme cases of meningitis, cholera, and other bacterial diseases. After chloromycetin was linked to an increased risk of aplastic anemia, its use dropped off in developed nations, but it is still so widely used in developing nations that the World Health Organization has it on its list of Essential Medicines.

On October 3, 1950, U.S. Patent No. 2,524,035 issued to J. Bardeen and W.H. Brattain on a Three Electrode Circuit Element Utilizing Semiconductive Material –the transistor:

Their invention ushered in the electronics age starting with simple transistor radios but leading to the microchip and modern computer technology.

The transistor was the work of not just Bardeen and Brattain, but also Willam Shockley (who was left off of the patent for strategic reasons). The trio received the 1956 Nobel prize for physics for their work in transistors. Shockley described the workings of the team as a “mixture of cooperation and competition.” Shockley eventually alienated Bardeen and Brattain, blocking the two from further work on transistors. Bardeen began working on superconductivity for which he won a second Nobel prize. Brattain refused to work with Shockley further and was pursued other interests, before leaving for academia. Shockley continued to improve transistors, developing a more robust layered structure that evolved into the modern bipolar junction transistor.

On October 2, 1866, J. Osterhoudt received U.S. Patent No. 58544 on an Improved Method of Opening Tin Cans:

The first tin cans were so thick they had to be hammered open. As cans became thinner, specialized can openers were developed, such as the one disclosed in Ezra Warners’ U.S. Patent No. 19063, issued January 5, 1858:

Early can openers were complicated and difficult to use, leaving ample room for Osterhoudt’s simple key, which did require a specially constructed can.

On July 12, 1870, William Lyman received U.S. Patent No. 105346 on an improved Can Opener that used a rotating wheel to cut the can lid: :

T.A. Killman improved this design in 1925 by adding a crank operated knurled wheel to driving the cutting wheel around the top of the can, receiving U.S. Patent No. 1,558,372 on October 20, 1925:

A year later Charles A Bunker filed on the now familiar pliers-grip, top opening can opener, which was granted U.S. Patent No. 1,838,525 on December 31, 1931:

Oon October 1, 1991, U.S. Patent No. 5,052,418 issued to David Miller on a Solar Body Tattoo:

Miller’s method was to apply a template having a central opening to the subject’s skin. Sun block is then applied over the central opening, and the template is removed. Thereafter, the subject’s skin is exposed to tanning rays, and the sun block washed away revealing a skin tattoo.

Alas, Miller was not the first to use the sun for tattooing. See, for example. U.S. Patent No. 2,851,805, which issued September 16, 1958, on a Sun Tattoo Form:

It seems no matter what someone comes up with, there is always prior art to consider.

On September 30, 1890, Thomas Edison received a series of patents on his photograph, including U.S. Patent No. 437,423 on a Phonograph:

U.S. Patent No. 437,424 on a Photograph, 437,425 on a Photograph Recorder, U.S. Patent No. 437,426 on a Photograph, U.S. Patent No. 437,427 on a Method of Making Phonogram Blanks, and U.S. Patent No. 437,429 on a Photogram Blank.

On September 29, 2009, U.S. Patent No. 7,596,466 issued to Keizo Ohta, on an INCLINATION CALCULATION APPARATUS AND INCLINATION CALCULATION PROGRAM, AND GAME APPARATUS AND GAME PROGRAM. Assigned to Nintendo Co., Ltd. the invention is the basis for the Wii gaming system:

Keizo is named as an inventor on at least 118 other patents assigned to Nintendo.

On September 28, 1999, U.S Patent No. 5,960,411, issued to Amazon.com, Inc., on a Method and System for Placing a Purchase Order Via a Communications Network — the patent on the one-click to purchase:

Amazon sued Barnes & Noble the next month, and was granted a preliminary injunction against Barnes & Noble’s Express Lane service. Barnes & Noble designed around the patent by requiring shoppers to make a second click to confirm their purchase. The lawsuit was settled confidentially in 2002.

In 2000 Amazon.com reportedly licensed the one-click ordering patent to Apple for $1 million.

On May 12, 2006, the USPTO ordered a reexamination of the one-click patent, based on a request filed by Peter Calveley. Nearly 17 months later, on October 9, 2007, the USPTO issued an office action in the reexamination which confirmed the patentability of five of the claims, but rejecting 21 others. In November 2007, Amazon amended the claims and the reexamined and amended patent was allowed. The patent expired on September 11, 2017.