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Which came first?
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Timeline: Everyday objects
Show all the dates (careful, it gives away the answers!)
- 1810 The tin can Nicolas Appert perfects preserving food in sealed, heated containers; the metal can is patented the same year.
- 1826 The friction match English chemist John Walker invents the match that lights when you strike it.
- 1830 The sewing machine Frenchman Barthélemy Thimonnier patents the first sewing machine to be widely used.
- 1840 The postage stamp The United Kingdom issues the first postage stamp, the “Penny Black”, with Queen Victoria’s portrait.
- 1873 Jeans Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis patent work trousers strengthened with rivets: jeans are born.
- 1938 The ballpoint pen Hungarian journalist László Bíró patents a pen whose ink is laid down by a tiny ball.
- 1945 The microwave oven Engineer Percy Spencer notices that a radar melted a chocolate bar in his pocket: he invents the microwave.
- 1955 Velcro Looking at burrs stuck to his dog, George de Mestral invents the hook-and-loop fastener.
- 1974 The barcode In the United States, a packet of chewing gum is the very first item scanned at a shop till.
- 2007 The touchscreen smartphone Smartphones with large touchscreens, like the first iPhone, change the way we use phones.
Illustrations: Wordiloo, royalty-free.