Did You Know...
...that the inventor of the electric motor was a blacksmith named Thomas Davenport? Described as "a brilliantly unsuccessful inventor", Davenport invented the first rotary electric motor. In 1836 he headed out -- on foot -- from his Vermont home to file a patent application at the Patent Office in Washington, D.C. By the time he got there, he had squandered away his money and couldn't afford the $30 filing fee so he turned around and went home. When he later mailed in his application with money he'd raised, the Patent office was destroyed in a fire. He did finally get credit for his invention on Feb. 5, 1837.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 4138600 | Force-responsive device A device is disclosed which, in response to forces acting upon it, such as gravity, inertia, magnetic fields and the like, opens or closes electric circuits or otherwise generates signals which may be used to control predetermined functions.... | 02/06/1979 |
| 4076972 | Liquid contact switch having plural compartments and electrical heater An electrical switch of the liquid contact type having a housing divided into three compartments: (1) a power compartment having electrodes, (2) a control compartment containing a resistor and (3) an intermediate compartment communicating with the power c... | 02/28/1978 |
