Hardware

DID MONKEYS INVENT THE MONKEY WRENCH?

Where did the monkey wrench get its name? In the Thirties Robert Ripley's newspaper panel, "Ripley's Believe It or Not" -- the most popular ...

DUCT TAPE MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND

Johnson & Johnson -- the Band-Aid people -- invented duct tape in 1930 for medical use in hospitals. It was a white, waterproof cloth tape called ...

WHY DOESN'T A TEN-PENNY NAIL COST A DIME?

If you've bought any ten-penny nails lately, you know that they don't cost a dime each. Nor are they ten for a penny. Nails are sold by length and a ...

IF I HAD A HAMMER

Getting ready to do some serious building and wondering what sort of hammer to use? Professional carpenters recommend that old standby, the ...

MR. BLACK, MR. DECKER. MR. DECKER, MR. BLACK.

Their names are as familiar as Smith and Wesson, Lennon and McCartney, and Bartles and Jaymes. So who are -- or were -- Black & Decker? Black was ...

BRIGHT IDEAS

The light bulb was a brilliant invention, no doubt about it. But the importance of Thomas Edison's electric light goes way beyond the ability to ...

AC/DC

The battery was invented in 1800 by the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta, who alternated silver and zinc discs with leather soaked in salt. When ...