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Many of the small inventions in the Miniature Masterpieces display at the Bahrain Science Centre have interesting stories to tell. False teeth were first invented in northern italy about 2,600 years ago. Early false teeth were made from animal and human teeth and later from ivory and porcelain. The American President, George Washington, is famous for his dentures, which were made from hippo and elephant ivory and gold!
Although the Chinese were the first to develop magnetic compasses, they used them for divining the future. The first known use of a magnetic compass for navigation was by the Muslim navigator, Baylak Al Qibjaqi, in 1282.
Early Muslim (and Chinese) navigators navigated to south, not north, and their maps had south on top. Of course, a magnetic compass points both south and north, and there is no reason, other than Western convention, for north to be on top. The first portable camera that could fix an image was invented by Charles and Vincent Chevalier in Paris, France, in 1826. The precursor to this invention was the pinhole camera invented by the Muslim Scholar, Ibn Al Haytham, in Egypt in about 1000. Another invention that was made possible by Ibn Al Haytham’s pioneering research on optics is the spectacles, invented by Alessadro Di Spina in Italy in 1260.
The first toothbrushes with hairs were invented by the Chinese in about 1498 but Muslims have been using miswak twigs to brush their teeth for over 1400 years. Recent research has revealed that miswak twigs have anti-bacterial properties that help to disinfect the teeth and mouth. The first jigsaw puzzle was made by the British engraver and mapmaker, John Spilsbury, in 1766. He cut one of his world maps into interlocking pieces to make and educational tool to teach geography, and ended up creating a game that is popular worldwide. Let’s end with an invention made by a woman.
In 1793 Hannah Slater of Rhode Island, USA, developed a process to spin very fine cotton sewing thread and became the first female patent holder in the USA. As cotton is less expensive than linen, her cotton thread soon became a worldwide hit.
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