On January 9, 1894, George S. Parker received U.S. Patent No. 512319 on a Fountain Pen:

George Safford Parker was a sales agent for the John Holland Gold Pen Company before founding the Parker Pen Company in 1888. He received his first fountain pen related patent in 1889 (U.S. Patent No. 416944). In 1894, Parker received the ‘319 patent on his “Lucky Curve” fountain pen feed, which was designed to draw excess ink back into the pen barrel when the pen was not in use. He patented improvements to the Lucky Curve design (U.S. Patent No. 606,231). Parker’s first successful pen was the Parker Jointless, introduced in 1899, which included the Lucky Curve feed. The Lucky Curve feed was used in various forms until at least 1928.

On January 7, 1913, William M. Burton received U.S. Patent No. 1,049,667 on the Manufacture of Gasolene:

Burton earned a BA from Western Reserve University, and a PhD in Chemistry at Johns Hopkins University, and started as a chemist with Standard Oil Co. in Cleveland. A year later, he transferred to Standard Oil of Indiana. Burton was working as general manager of manufacturing for Standard Oil in 1909 when he began looking for a way to improve the yield of gasoline from crude oil. He eventually developed a process that involved heating the crude oil to over 700°F, which doubled the amount of gasolene that could be obtained from crude oil, and quickly became the standard in the industry saving a billion barrels of crude oil during its first 15 years of use.

Burton was elected as director of Standard of Indiana in 1911, became vice president of the company in 1915, and was president from 1918 until he retired in 1927.

On November 2, 2004, U.S. Patent No. 6,812,392 issued to Marlon Brando — yes, THAT Marlon Brando — on a Drumhead Tensioning Device and Method:

This was actually the fourth patent Brando received on this improvement in tuning conga drums, following U.S. Patent Nos. 6,410,833, 6,441,286, and 6,667,432. While his invention made it easier to tune conga drums, it would make the drums more expensive, and unfortunately it didn’t have a chance to catch on before his death in 2004.

On July 22, 1902, Joseph L. Uhl received U.S. Patent No. 705,488 on the Construction of Metal Furniture:

Joseph later patented a Cushioned Foot for Metal Furniture (U.S. Patent No. 753762 issued March 1, 1904), a Revolving Metal Chair (U.S. Patent No. 782932 issued February 21, 1905), a Caster Raising and Lowering Means for Stands, Etc. (U.S. Patent No. 1,023,182, issued April 16. 1912), a Knockdown Stand, Stool, or the Like (U.S. Patent No. 1,023,181 issued April 16, 1912).

Clement R. and Philip Edward Uhl founded Uhl’s Cycle Emporium, a bicycle repair shop founded on March 1, 1898. A year later joined by bothers Tom, Otto, Bob, Joseph, and Henry, they incorporated “Uhl Brothers Company” manufacturing bicycles and metal novelties. With the rise of automobiles, and the waning of the bicycle industries, the company changed its name in 1904 to Toledo Metal Furniture Company with Philip as president, Joseph as secretary and general manager; and Clement as vice president and superintendent. Among their first customers was Hoffman Ice cream and candy store in Toledo. Clement a talented artist, designed their first chair, which Joseph then figured out out to build. The Company emphasized the strength of their products:

as well as their durability:

Indeed, examples of these chairs survive today:

On February 4, 1941, Roy J. Plunkett received U.S. Patent No. 2,230,654, on Tetrafluoroethylene, assigned to his employer Kinetic Chemicals, Inc.:

Plunkett had earned a PhD in chemistry, but his discovery of Teflon was largely by accident. Plunkett was working in a laboratory in Edison, New Jersey, in 1938 trying to find alternative chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants. He and his assistant made about 100 pounds of Tetrafluoroethylene (TFE), a common precursor of refrigerants. They froze the TFE in a gas cylinder, but the next day no gas came out. They opened the cylinder and found that the TFE had polymerized into a white powdery substance.

Plunket studied the powdery substance further and found its properties to be waxy, very slippery, chemically stable and had a high melting point. DuPont went to work on the new polymer, and by 1941 it had found numerous applications, and given a new name -Teflon.

Teflon became so well known for its slipperiness, that it found use in in common parlance, President Ronald Reagan being dubbed the “Teflon President,” and John Gotti, being called the “Teflon Don.”