Famous Inventions Named After Their Creator

Belgian born Antoine-Joseph Sax, or Adolphe Sax, came from a family of makers of musical instruments. He studied, among other instruments, the clarinet. Inventing the saxophone was somewhat of an accident when he was trying to improve the tone of the bass clarinet. He patented the saxophone in 1845.

The industrial chemist was credited as being a key figure in founding the modern plastics industry largely because of his invention — the Bakelite. It was the first kind of plastic that does not soften when heated. It is used to make all types of things, from jewelry to even billiard balls.

Knowing that Sylvester Graham was a minister may help explain why he invented a healthy snack he believed would curb people’s impure desires. He thought a bad diet was the biggest reason forhaving feelings of lust, which, according to him, were physically unhealthy. Vegetarian food, he insisted, would solve the problem.

Nachos are such a popular snack that the word isit’s not even spelled with a capital N, even though it’s thea name, or rather thea nickname rather, of a person. Ignacio “Nacho” Anaya served what was later called nachos for the very first time to American military wives at a restaurant in Mexico, close to Fort Duncan. He fried tortilla chips and put shredded cheddar cheese and sliced jalapeños on top. He warmed them up for a few minutes and voila!

Henry Shrapnel was an artillery officer. His invention, defined as a shell consisting of a case with a powder charge and a lot of usually lead balls that is explodesd in flight, took many years to complete. The case shot was replaced by a high-explosive ammunition when it became available.