How did Inventors create Inventions?

It is a myth that only certain genius "types" can invent, and it is also a myth that you need to have certain characteristics or learning styles to be creative or to be inventive. Anyone can be an inventor. Even I can be one. So can you. (18 year old Blaise Pascal had invented the first counting machine in 1642, 300 years before the calculator became popular. 11 year old Frank Epperson had discovered the way to make Popsicle in 1905.) We just need an idea....an inventive one. The Inventing your Future website provides some tips on becoming an inventor. You can even enter your ideas into the By Kids for Kids invention competition.

Interestingly, many of the worlds greatest invention happened by accident. Like X-Rays, penicillin, post-it notes, super glue, velcro, cheese, potato chips and posicles. There is a cute website called 'Oops we Goofed' which looks at some of these accidental inventions.

Cars, electricity and computers were all invented in the last three centuries. On the Amazing Inventors and Inventions, there is information on many important inventions and a timeline that shows the year they were invented. And the History of Invention site has the stories behind the making of the wheel, the toothpaste, the steam engine,the space shuttle, DVD..........

If you are interested in knowing how an elevator works? Or a compass, a radio, an airplane, bicycles and toilets work? Find out on the Whatcha’ Makin’: Inventors and Invention of the Past Millennium and Beyond site.