* Thomas Jefferson invented a coat hanger, a hideaway bed, a calendar clock and a dumbwaiter.

* Agapito Flores invented one version of the modern fluorescent lamp.

* From the 1970s, interest began in an alternative high-speed train technology centered on magnetic levitation, or maglev.

* The Incas knew the basic process of freeze-drying foods

* In 1968, Roy Jacuzzi invented and marketed the first self-contained, fully integrated whirlpool bath by incorporating jets into the sides of the tub. Jacuzzi is the trademarked name for the invention.

* John Milne was the English seismologist and geologist who invented the first modern seismograph and promoted the building of seismological stations. Milne invented the horizontal pendulum seismograph in 1880.

* GPS or the Global Positioning System was invented by the U.S. Department of Defense. It cost $12 billion (USD).

* The first metal lunchbox produced was the Hopalong Cassidy created by Aladdin in 1950. They made a blue and a red lunchbox with a four-inch decal on the front side.

* History has the first recorded mention of cheesecake, as being served to the athletes during the first Olympic Games held in 776 B.C.

* General Foods introduced TANG, breakfast beverage crystals, in 1957. NASA later served it to astronauts in outer space. TANG is considered an adaptation of Kool-Ade (now Kool-Aid) the powered fruit drink invented by Edwin Perkins in 1927. Kraft Foods now owns the marketing rights to TANG.

* In the early 1880s, the first commercial coin-operated vending machines were introduced in London, England. Those vending machines only dispensed post cards. In 1888, the Thomas Adams Gum Co. introduced the first vending machines to the United States. The machines were installed on the elevated subway platforms in New York City and sold Tutti-Frutti gum.

* The artificial horizon or attitude indicator is a type of three-frame gyroscopic instrument that was invented by Elmer Sperry - patented in Britain in 1911 (Patent Number 15669/11) - and used in 1916 for the design of the first artificial horizon for aircraft.

* An inventor named Roth was issued the first patent for modern suspenders with a metal clasp in 1894.

* The Hurley Machine Company of Chicago, Illinois introduced the first electric-powered washing machine in 1908. It was invented by Alva J. Fisher and was issued a patent in August 1910.

* In 1928, Thomas Midgley, Jr. and Charles Kettering invented a "Miracle Compound" called Freon. Freon is now infamous for its role in the depletion of the earth's ozone layer.

* Chia Pet is the registered trademark belonging to Joseph Enterprises, Inc.

* DVD players license technology from many different companies. Philips, Sony, Matsushita and Toshiba hold the patents. Matsushita was the primary company responsible for the development of DVD.

* Easel painting was used by ancient Egyptians. The first century, Roman scholar, Pliny the Elder, refers to a large panel placed on an easel. However, it was not until the 13th century, that easel painting became more common than mural or wall painting.