Interesting Facts About Technology

• The highest a human has flown from the earth upward by balloon is approximately 128,097 feet which is over 23 miles (39 kilometers) above sea level and it was done by Felix Baumgartner of Austria. The balloon was 55 stories tall, helium filled and strung to a capsule that Felix sat in. Baumgartner was wearing a full body, high technology, oxygen supplied, fully pressurized and heated suit with helmet.
• Felix Baumgartner is the only human to break the sound barrier in a free fall surrounded by only a suit without the aid of any type of vessel protecting him while falling. Baumgartner’s world record free fall speed is recorded at 833.9 miles per hour at mach 1.24 and since he was traveling at a speed faster than the speed of sound he didn’t hear the sonic boom. The planning of this mission took over 5 years with a total of about 300 people including 70 engineers, scientists and physicians.
• Did you know that the awesome sounding crack of a bullwhip in the air is a supersonic boom? The crack of the whip occurs when the sound barrier is broken.
• Six astronauts have driven a lunar rover on the moon.
• If you’ve ever wondered how fast the earth orbits through space, we travel at an average of about 67,000 miles per hour every day and night on earth.
• The international space station is traveling at an astonishing 17,500 miles per hour.
• Is it true Windmills all over the world go counterclockwise but the ones in Ireland go clockwise. It is true and that’s a fact.
• It’s true, the match was invented after the cigarette lighter. Interesting and kinda strange!
• Using the U.S numeral system, if you started at the number one and spelled out each numeral in order like one, two, three, four etc. you’d be all the way to the number one thousand before your first encounter the letter “a”.
• The first emails could only be sent to someone using the same local host with two computers literally side by side. In late 1971 Raymond S Tomlinson sent the first useful email to a user separated from the same host by simply implementing a minor addition to the protocol that was being used and chose to use the @ sign in the email address which we still use today. When asked why he chose the @ sign, he said the @ sign just made sense.
• Thomas Edison nicknamed his first two sons Dot and Dash and maybe it had something to do with the unexplained tattoo of dots on his left forearm. I read that his tattoo of dots were shaped like the 5 dots or pips seen on dice. This is not an unusual tattoo to see on people who’ve been in prison and gang members. It can have various meanings, his reason for the tattoo is unexplained.
• Some of you are wondering who is Thomas Edison? He’s probably best known to many as the inventor of the light bulb, known then as electric lamps. What he actually did was took the already invented electric lamp and made improvements for a more durable, practical, commercial grade bulb. He then filed an improvement claim and sold the bulbs through Edison Electric Light Company.
• Who did Apple Inc replace Steve Jobs with? After the death of Steve Jobs on October 5th 2011, Apple Inc. appointed  Arther Levinson it’s non-executive chairman.
• Benjamin Franklin invented flippers for swimming in the year 1717 and was inducted into the international swimming hall of fame for the invention. They were originally wooden swim fins shaped like a lily pad and went on the hands. They were about 10 inches (250mm) long and 6 inches (150mm) wide and helped people to swim faster.
• Who was Benjamin Franklin? If your thinking he invented more than swimming flippers your correct. Benjamin Franklin was one of the founding fathers of the United States, inventor and much more, we could have a whole page just dedicated to him. A few of his most notable inventions were the Franklin Stove in the year 1742, bifocals invented sometime between 1764 – 1784 and the lightning rod in the year 1749. Yes, someone actually invented the lightning rod.
• You see barcodes on a lot of merchandise being sold these days but have you ever wondered what the very first item scanned and sold with a barcode was? it was a pack of Wrigley gum.
• The first photo camera took 8 hours to take a photo, during which you would need to remain still.
• At least 1300 inventions were patented by Thomas Edison during his entire lifetime.
• Automobile transmissions used whale oil up until 1973.
• At the time of writing this in August 2012, the world has only fourteen operating blimps.
• Watches and clocks are often times lubricated by jewelers with a pure silicone watch oil which can fetch a price of around $3,100 or more per gallon. It’s usually purchased in much smaller quantities.
• The first patent for the life boat goes back to 1845.
• The well known credit card company Mastercard was at first called Master Charge.
• The Apple II had a hard drive of only 5 megabytes when it was launched.
• A dentist is the inventor of the electric chair.
• The ball at the top of a flagpole has a name, the ball often times seen at the top of a flagpole is known as a truck.
• It may not sound very comfortable but Ancient Egyptians actually slept on hard pillows they called head rests made of stone pottery, wood and other uncomfortable materials.
• Th AAA Motor Club and travel organization was created initially so that it could warn traveling motorists about police speed traps around the country.
• The US uses more steel to create bottle caps than it does to make bodies for cars.
• The Kleenex tissue was initially a filter for gas masks.
• NASA stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
• NASA’s main headquarters is located in Washington DC.
• Nasa’s space station Skylab launched off in 1973 and crashed on earth in July 1979 in western Australia. The town of Esperance fined NASA $400.00 for littering. The fine was never paid.
• We will be adding more interesting facts about technology, so check back soon.