What would you do if you went back in time and needed to go to the bathroom? You’d probably be really unhappy with your wiping choices. Ancient Greeks used stones and pieces of clay to clean, while another civilization actually used a wet corn cob. In the late 19th century, an American inventor finally created the modern version of toilet paper. But it turns out that the Chinese had actually invented it much earlier. By the late sixth century, wealthy Chinese were using paper to wipe. And by the 14th century, millions of toilet paper sheets were produced for the imperial court. 

Luck had a lot to do with the invention of the match in 1826. The British pharmacist John Walker was seeking to make a paste for use in guns, when the wooden instrument he was using to mix the paste accidentally scraped against the floor and caught fire. The first matches contained white phosphorus, a dangerous chemical that made many of the factory workers — mostly young women and girls — extremely sick. The matchwomen’s heroic response to these conditions helped spark the modern-day labor movement.

In the early 20th century, janitor and former salesman James Murray Spangler took an electric fan, a broom handle and a pillowcase to create a “suction sweeper” that operated on electricity and would change the history of home cleaning. Spangler’s invention — the precursor to the modern domestic vacuum cleaner — would revolutionize how people cleaned their homes, and kick-start what is nearly a $15 billion industry today.

While it may have escaped the notice of anyone under 40 years old, the pinkish goo in the red plastic egg oozed into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2001. And since 1950, more than 300 million units (or 4,000 tons) have been sold. Backed by a certain design simplicity, the 0.47 ounces of putty can be balled up and bounced, used to pull pictures off newsprint paper and to pick up lint and pet hair. This iconic toy first surfaced as part of a government-funded initiative to develop a wartime alternative to rubber.

In the mid-1950s in Dover, New Jersey, a teacher is doling out modeling clay to her nursery school class. Yesterday the children struggled with the hard-to-shape blobs, but Mrs. Zufall has an ace up her sleeve: Today’s offering isn’t really clay; it’s wallpaper cleaner. The pliable stuff squishes between the students’ tiny fingers, eliciting squeals of delight — and heralding the birth of Play-Doh. By Play-Doh’s 50th anniversary in 2005, more than 2 billion cans had been sold. Mrs. Zufall, who didn’t profit or take much credit for her role in developing Play-Doh, died in 2014 at 87, a beloved community leader in New Jersey.

Abu l-Hasan Ali Ibn Nafi (also known as “Ziryab”) is largely responsible for introducing Islamic Spain to dining etiquette and décor, including the three-course meal and tablecloths. The flamboyant gadfly also invented a popular type of toothpaste, encouraged twice-daily baths and developed the world’s first deodorant. He told folks to apply a solution of lead protoxyde to ward off underarm odors, according to ”The Literature of Al-Andalus,” an anthology of ancient Arabic literature.

In 1905 in San Francisco, 11-year-old Frank Epperson accidentally left a wooden stirrer in a glass of soda powder and water on his porch one freezing night. The next morning, Epperson woke up to discover he had invented the Popsicle — something he initially named the “Epsicle,” a combination of his own name and “icicle.” Incredibly, it wasn’t until 1923 that he realized this item could be a money-spinner and then changed the name to “Popsicle.” But, despite patenting the Popsicle, he couldn’t quite break even and sold his idea to the Joe Lowe Corporation — which went on to make a fortune from the frozen treat.

It’s unknown who dipped the first tea bags in water, though many credit merchant William Sullivan with bringing them to market in 1908. But the netted botanicals really gained steam after the German firm Teekanne supplied the “teebombe” (tea inside a small gauze bag) to troops during World War I. Sometimes a major crisis can inspire innovation.

In the late 19th century, Battle Creek, Michigan, was a small town of just 7,000 people. But tens of thousands of visitors came each year to meet Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and experience his innovative treatments at the Battle Creek Sanitarium. Among Dr. Kellogg’s innovations was healthy breakfast food — flaked cereal. The patients at the sanitarium loved it, and soon Corn Flakes would take over the entire country, changing the way America eats breakfast.

on The Carlos Watson Show!

On May 15, 1940 (which would be termed “Nylon Day” or “N-Day”), millions of American women from coast to coast queued up in long lines. Why the frenzy? For the chance to buy a pair of $1.25 nylon stockings — the miracle synthetic fabric developed in a DuPont lab. Nylon was the brainchild of an ex-Harvard chemist named Wallace Carothers, who never lived to see the riots, or the revenues, generated by his wondrous invention. Ensuing decades would see nylon appear in carpeting, clothing, linens, tires, umbrellas and bulletproof vests.

For centuries women had worn corsets, often to impart an elegantly slim appearance. But World War I caused a shortage of metal — the principal material holding corsets together — that forced women to find a substitute. A young American named Caresse Crosby emerged with the backless brassiere, and by the time the war ended in 1918, corsets were on the decline. A subsequent metal shortage caused by World War II further diminished the corset's relevance.

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