Forgotten History of Everyday Inventions

Forgotten History of Everyday Inventions — page 1 — 1 Pie Tins Inspire a Favorite Toy Inventor Ed Headrick in 1985 In the 1940s college students in New England loved Frisbie’s pies The fresh fruit baked between two flaky crusts tasted delicious The Frisbie Pie Company sold thousands every day Each pie came in a round tin After eating the pies students would throw the empty tins back and forth The thrower called out Frisbie to warn the catcher The term became the name of a new sport Professors at 4 Princeton University thought the game was a passing fad In 1948 business partners Walter Frederick Morrison and Warren Franscioni invented their own flying disc This disc was made of plastic It flew farther than pie tins It also allowed for better aim Seven years later Morrison made improvements to the disc He sold the idea to a new toy company Wham-O Wham-O called the disc the Pluto Platter

Forgotten History of Everyday Inventions — page 2 — They hoped the space-themed name would attract buyers A year later Wham-O changed the name to Frisbee Ed Headrick was an inventor at Wham-O He received a patent in 1967 for the modern Frisbee The improved disc had raised rings on its surface The rings gave the disc better stability while in the air By 200 million Approximate number of Frisbees sold In the 1940s college students used pie tins as flying discs Inventors made a plastic version of the flying disc in 1948 The toy company Wham-O sold the first Frisbee Today flying discs are used in a variety of sports 1977 Wham-O had sold more than 100 million Frisbees Today dozens of companies sell flying discs Several sports use the discs in competitions Worldwide Frisbee has been more than a passing fad 5

Forgotten History of Everyday Inventions — page 3 — 2 Basketball Begins in a Blizzard In December 1891 a blizzard hit Springfield Massachusetts The young men at the YMCA training school became restless They longed to play sports outside Their instructor James Naismith was trying to come up with a new sport It had to include large numbers 6 Dr James Naismith with a ball and peach basket of men It would have to be played indoors The sport couldn’t be rough but it had to give the men plenty of exercise Naismith went to the janitor He asked for two boxes to use for goals The janitor brought him two peach baskets Naismith nailed them at each end of the gym ten feet above the floor Next Naismith posted the rules for the game Two teams of nine players ran onto the court Naismith tossed a soccer ball in the air and basketball was born William Chase sank the first basket The game ended with a score of 1-0 That game was quite rough however Men kicked and tackled Several were injured Naismith made up more rules Players weren’t allowed to run while carrying the ball This stopped them from tackling Word of the new sport spread quickly The first professional game was

Forgotten History of Everyday Inventions — page 4 — THINK ABOUT IT In 1900 most Americans earned about 8 a week So 15 was the equivalent of two weeks pay How does that compare to what professional basketball players earn today played in 1896 Each man was paid fifteen dollars In 1905 basketball became a permanent winter sport In 1936 it was added to the Olympics Today it’s played all over the world and not only by men Women have played basketball since 1892 13 Number of original rules for basketball James Naismith invented basketball in 1891 The first game was played with a soccer ball and two peach baskets The first professional game was played in 1896 In 1936 basketball was added to the Olympics The University of Chicago’s men’s basketball team in 1896 7

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