Buffington’s “Cloudscraper” is one of those patent-history stories where the drawings seem ahead of their time. US Patent No. 383,170 already points toward the iron skeletal frame skyscraper, but being early in the patent record did not bring Buffington lasting recognition or royalties.

Not every railway dream was steam-powered. Clement Masserano’s U.S. Patent No. 8,417, granted in 1851, proposed a “Locomotive Moved by the Power of Animals”. Horsepower, before horsepower became only a figure of speech.

On this day in 1906, the Wright brothers received US Patent No. 821,393 for a “Flying Machine”. It protected control, not just flight. Pioneers? Yes. Patent trolls? Not quite. But their patent war shows how a breakthrough can become both a reward and a bottleneck. #OnThisDay #PatentHistory #Patents

1/2 On this day in 1849, Abraham Lincoln received US Patent No. 6,469 for “Buoying vessels over shoals”, making him the only US president to hold a patent. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents

Old patent records often preserve traces that later summaries leave out. They do not always give the final answer, but they can reopen the question of who did what, and when. Sometimes the archive quietly complicates the standard story.

Not the invention of the fountain pen itself, but a very 1940s improvement. David F. Mohns’s US Patent No. 2,400,768, assigned to Parker, addressed leaking and flooding caused by pressure changes, including during air travel. Even the pen had to adapt to the aviation age.

US Patent No. 1,773,980, issued on August 26, 1930, covered Farnsworth’s “Television System” and captures an early moment in fully electronic television.

Sometimes the charm of old patent drawings is not that they solve an impossible problem, but that they approach a very ordinary one with complete mechanical seriousness. John’s family-history patent find is a perfect example. US Patent No. 42,715.

1/4 On this day in 1861, the Confederate States of America approved the Patent Act that created the legal framework for the Confederate Patent Office. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents

On this day in 1873, US Patent 139,121 was granted to Jacob Davis, assigned in part to Levi Strauss & Co., for “Improvement in Fastening Pocket-Openings”. It is often described as the patent for the first jeans. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents #Levis

On this day in 1857, William F. Channing and Moses G. Farmer received US Patent No. 17,355 for an “Improvement in Electro-Magnetic Fire-Alarm Telegraphs for Cities”. A city-wide fire alarm network, long before “smart cities” had a name. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents

1/2 On this day in 1987, US Patent No. 4,666,425 was granted to Chet Fleming for a “Device for perfusing an animal head”. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents

Keaton’s 1953 patent for a “Music Typing Machine” is a wonderful example of a machine built not to type words, but music.

PERSON OF THE DAY. 18 May 1830. Briton Edwin Budding signed an agreement for his new invention, the Lawn Mower, to go into production. His mower was designed to cut the grass on sports grounds and extensive gardens as a superior alternative to the scythe. The patent was granted on 31 August 1830.

1/2 On this day in 1905, Karl Lange received US Patent No. 790,063 for a “Double Bicycle for Looping the Loop”. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents

1/2 On this day in 1956, Mary Kenner received U.S. Patent No. 2,745,406 for a “Sanitary belt”, an early precursor to modern menstrual products. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents

1/2 On this day in 1878, Robert Chesebrough registered “Vaseline” as a trademark. #OnThisDay #OTD #TrademarkHistory #PatentHistory #Vaseline

#OnThisDay in 1938, #VEF registered the #Minox #trademark in Estonia for cameras, enlargers, film developing machines (equipment), light meters, and tripods for cameras.

1/2 On this day in 1999, Brice Belisle received US Patent No. 5,901,666 for “Pet display clothing”. It featured transparent tubes so pocket pets could "see the world" from your torso. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents

Miracle cures, mining problems, creative spelling and the anxieties of 19th-century life. This @news.abc.net.au piece on early Western Australian trademarks is a reminder that brands preserve everyday history. #TrademarkHistory www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05...

The 1893 Coca-Cola trademark registration, featuring the logo's distinctive cursive, can be found in the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division's U.S. Patent Office Trademarks Collection. On this day in 1886, the very first Coca-Cola was sold at Jacob’s Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia.

Long before the present Trump soap opera, there was already Trump Soap. On October, 13 1891, H. C. Davis, Jr., & Co. registered U.S. Trademarks Nos. 20,207 and 20,208 for “Trump” brand soap. At least this one was actually meant to clean things. #TrademarkHistory #Trademarks #Trump

1/2 On this day in 1885, William Walker and George Eastman received US Patent No. 317,049 for a “Roller-holder for Photograph”. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents

On this day in 1936, Carl C. Magee received US Patent No. 2,039,544 for the “Parking Meter”. Born from Oklahoma City’s downtown parking problem, it did more than time cars. It turned the kerbside into a business model. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents

D166,923 - issued in 1952 for a design for a "highway warning sign." #DesignPatents

1/2 On this day in 1894, Latvian-born Charles Peterson received U.S. Patent No. 519,135 for a “Tobacco-pipe”. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #PetersonPipes

On this day in 1888, Nikola Tesla received U.S. Patent No. 381,968 for an “Electro-magnetic motor”. The patent described a motor driven by alternating currents and shifting magnetic poles. A key step in making AC power practical. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents #Tesla

A Raincoat Built for Two: On this day in history, 73 years ago, April 28, 1953, an inventor named Howard C. Ross from Arlington, Virginia, received a patent for his invention of what he called a “Double Coat.” (1/5)

An 1854 patent for a combined rocking chair and fan. Cartographic and Architectural Records Section, National Archives at College Park.

1/3 On this day in 1903, Levi Strauss & Co. registered U.S. Trademark No. 40,181 for “Certain named outer clothes”. #OnThisDay #OTD #TrademarkHistory #trademarks #BrandHistory #jeans #Levis

On this day in 1956, Andreas Stihl, the pioneering inventor often called the “father of the chainsaw”, received German Patent No. 941 998 for a “Lightweight chainsaw with a sword-shaped guide bar”. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents #STIHL Image Credit: Guido Habers. CC BY-SA 3.0.

On this day in 1939, Sylvan Goldman received US Patent No. 2,155,896 for a “Combination basket and carriage”. Today we know it as the shopping cart. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents

April 24, 1926: A patent for an "amusement device" called the Tilt-A-Whirl is filed by Herbert Sellner of Maribault, Minn. The invention will create “pleasurable and unexpected sensations” by swinging and rotating riders in an unpredictable pattern. 1/2

Life is but a dream Patent for Bicycle Rowing Machine 1898 Inventor: Louis S Burbank

The Author Depositing His Voice at the Patent-Office, to Prevent Counterfeiting (1894) by Albert Robida, from “The End of Books”, Scribner's Magazine. Source: University of Toronto Libraries / Internet Archive https://pdimagearchive.org/images/0d1e7147-b66e-451d-9a2f-6fc28a93ae04 #patents

1/3 On this day in 1743, Thomas Jefferson was born. He is remembered as a Founding Father and as the third President of the United States, but he also has a place in patent history. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents #USPTO

1/3 On this day in 1850, Charles Holland Duell, later Commissioner of the U.S. Patent Office, was born. He is widely credited with saying “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents #USPTO

1/2 On this day in 1882, Samuel Applegate received US Patent No. 256,265 for a “Device for waking persons from sleep”. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents

1/5 On this day in 2002, Steven Olson received US Patent No. 6,368,227 for a “Method of swinging on a swing”. It sounds like a joke, but there was actually more to the story. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents

Happy Easter to all who celebrate! May your Easter Sunday be filled with colour, kindness, and the small hidden surprises that make Easter special. #EasterSunday #HappyEaster

1/2 On this day in 1886, Gottlieb Daimler received German Patent No. 34926 for a “Gas- or petroleum-powered engine”, known as the “Standuhr”. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents #AutomotiveHistory

Moulinex might be the household name, but they didn’t invent the food mill! #OnThisDay in 1928, Victor Simon patented the “Passe-Vite” in Belgium, 4 years before Moulinex’s “Moulin-Légumes”. In commercial history, Moulinex won. In patent history, Simon was first. #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents

1/2 On this day in 1858, Hymen Lipman received US patent No. 19,783 for the “Combination of lead-pencil and eraser”. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents

On this day in 1895, Charles Jenkins received US Patent No. 536,569 for the “Phantoscope”, one of the very first practical movie projectors. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents

1/2 Not every milestone in patent history is a famous invention. On this day 55 years ago, 15 states signed the Strasbourg Agreement Concerning the International Patent Classification. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents WIPO

1/2 On this day in 1982, William Holmes received US Patent No. 4,320,756 for a “Fresh-air breathing device and method” that literally tells you to snorkel for air through the U-bend of your toilet while your house burns down. #OnThisDay #OTD #Patents

On this day in 1960, US Patent No. 2,929,922 was granted to Arthur Schawlow and Charles Townes for “Masers and maser communications system”, now known as the laser. From fiber optics to life-saving surgery, it truly is the light that changed the world! #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents #Laser

On this Day in 1993, Arthur Fry received US Patent No. 5,194,299 for a “Repositionable pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet material”, the Post-it note. Sticky enough to hold, gentle enough to peel. Innovation that sticks! #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents #PostIt

1/3 On this day in 1954, Velcro S.A. received Swiss Patent No. 295638 for a “Dispositif d’accrochage”, the hook-and-loop fastener invented by Swiss engineer George de Mestral and later marketed under the brand name Velcro. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents #Velcro

1/2 On this day in 1794, Eli Whitney received US Patent No. X72 for the “Cotton gin”, machine for separating cotton fibres from their seeds. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents