- Coca-Cola
- Induction Motor
- Ballpoint Pen
- Zipper
Coca-Cola
In the 1800’s, alcohol banning was beginning so spread on a local scale. John Pemberton lived in Atlanta, GA. He fought in the Civil War and got slashed on the shoulder. It was painful, so he took morphine. He got addicted. So he tried to come up with a non-addictive alternative. He came up with a carbonated wine, made out of coca leaves and kola nuts. He called it (dramatic music) French Wine Cola! Not what you expected, right? Pemberton created this just before a law was passed in Atlanta against alcohol, and his drink was alcoholic. So he came up with an alcohol-free drink and named it (more dramatic music) Coca Cola! Coke rose to popularity fast. But Pepsi wanted in on the action, and it started creating more soft drinks. Coca Cola (thought it) needed a better drink, so it came up with a new formula, New Coke. But Coke Classic was already part of American culture. The people did not want a new coke. This unintentionally promoted Coke Classic, and led to it being brought back into production soon, with more sales then ever.
Bonus Question!
Q-Do the marketing techniques employed by Coca-Cola and Pepsi, like using popular musicians in their commercials, sell more of their product?
My personal opinion: A- I don’t think it really does. Having popular people on a commercial makes for an interesting commercial, but if you already have other commercials in circulation, I don’t think it would really be necessary.
Induction Motor
Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse were fighting the war of currents. Nikola Tesla was born in Europe. He got a job at Edison’s Europe plant. Eventually, he moved to America, and got a job with Edison there. After a few years, he quit his job with Edison to make his own plant for developing the Induction Motor. The induction motor uses alternating current to create a rotating magnetic field, which makes a metal bar spin. Edison promoted DC (direct current), while Westinghouse promoted AC. Tesla’s motor was accepted by Westinghouse, who helped popularize it.
Bonus Question II!
Q-How did Tesla make his motor commercially successful?
A-Tesla had a great motor; he knew someone who could use it. The famous George Westinghouse partnered with Tesla to sell the motor, and also put it in AC items. As AC power grew more popular, so would AC appliances.
Ballpoint Pen
The ballpoint pen was invented by John Loud to write on leather and rough surfaces in 1888. The ballpoint pen dries quickly, and is very useful. My favorite writing utensil is a black ballpoint pen. Ink was developed especially for the pen, which spread its popularity.
Zipper
In the middle ages, buttons were used to fasten clothes together. Whitcomb Judson was tired of buttoning up his shoes, so he invented the zipper. To use a zipper, all you have to do is pull the slide. The zipper makes it really easy to put on clothes. Levi Strauss put them on jeans. If you have a backpack, you will know how important zippers are.