On June 29, 1954, R. Buckminster Fuller received U.S. Patent No. 2682235 on a Building Construction (his geodesic dome).

While Fuller popularized the geodesic dome, he is mistakenly credited with its invention. That honor goes to Walther Bauersfeld, who built the first geodesic dome, and received a German patent on June 19, 1925. Fuller lived in a geodesic dome in Carbondale, Illinois, where he was on the faculty of Southern Illinois University. His most famous dome is the one that served as the American pavilion at the 1967 World’s Fair.