You Probably Didn't Know These 15 Awesome Inventions Came From Virginia

Remember when Al Gore invented the internet? Neither does anyone else. Fact is, anyone can claim they invented anything. In fact, I’m pretty sure I came up with the idea for Pajama Jeans. But without a patent, it means nothing. And I’m not saying Virginia invented inventions, but…it was our boys, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, that got the official process rolling in 1790, when GW signed the first US Patent Grant. His faithful right-hand man, Jefferson, was the first US patent examiner, keeping the process of inventions and intellectual property kosher from the start.

Cyrus McCormick of Rockbridge County combined the work of multiple farming tools to create the mechanical reaper in 1831. Before he perfected his design, harvesting grain had been backbreaking, time-consuming work. His invention allowed farmers to increase crop yields up to 200% and is the basis of today’s commercial machines. McCormick was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1976.

We didn’t invent babies, but the first successful IVF pregnancy in the U.S. happened at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk. A healthy baby girl was born by Caesarian on December 28, 1981.

Dr. Charles Browne Fleet of Lynchburg created the lip balm that we have all come to rely on for luscious lips in the early 1880s. His original product wasn’t very user-friendly, so he sold the rights to fellow Lynchburg native, John Morton, in 1912. Morton re-packaged the product into the miracle stick we know today.

Prince Edward-born James West is responsible for creating foil-electret transducers for sound recording and voice communication. Before you fall asleep, let me just say that, basically he created the technology used in 90% of all microphones and most new phones used today. He’s the reason when the Verizon guy says, "Can you hear me now?" You can. West is also a National Inventors Hall of Famer with 47 U.S. patents and nearly 200 international patents. He’s pretty much earned the right to drop the mic. Boom.

Peanuts have been around a long time. European explorers first came across peanuts in Brazil and their origins could go back as far as 1500 B.C. The first peanuts in the U.S. were introduced by African who were brought here by means of slavery in the 1700s, but the "ground nuts" weren’t noticed much as a food source. It wasn’t until the first commercial crops of these lovely little legumes were grown in Virginia in the 1800s that widespread consumption began.

A vaccination needle might seem trivial, but what good is a vaccine if you don’t have a good way of administering it? Virginia Tech graduate Benjamin Rubin invented the bifurcated needle that allowed for just the right dose of the vaccine. The needle was the World Health Organization’s primary tool during their Smallpox Eradication Campaign from 1966 -1977.

Thomas J. Armat studied at Richmond’s School of Mechanics before inventing one of the most successful motion projectors available in 1895. He began showing movies for paid admission on the machine before contracting his work to Thomas Edison in 1896 and renaming it the Vitascope. His work in cinematic innovations earned him the recognition as a pioneer in early cinema, an Academy Award in 1947 and a spot in the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

If you haven’t had it, you should. The curing process for this now-famous country ham was developed in Smithfield in the 1700s, with the first receipt for a commercial sale dating back to 1779. The techniques used to make the ham are based on Native American curing processes learned by settlers of the region in the 1600s. Since then, it’s become a local treasure and can only be produced within the town limits of Smithfield. Really. It's an actual law. The law was made to guarantee consistent flavor thanks to Smithfield's unique combination of air quality, humidity and airborne enzymes that flavor the rind.

This post wouldn’t be complete without a T.J. shout out. It’s true he was a brilliant thinker, innovator and creative genius, but for all the things he gets credited for (macaroni and cheese, dumbwaiters, the polygraph copying tool, swivel chairs, etc.) there’s really only one invention that he can take full bona-fide credit for – and sadly, it’s not macaroni and cheese. Rather, it’s the "Moldboard of Least Resistance". I realize that it sounds more like a weapon from the Lego Movie than a mind-blowing innovation, but the moldboard he developed for plowing was much lighter and easier to use, decreasing labor significantly. He won a gold medal for his creation from France’s Society of Agriculture. He also created a wheel cipher for coded messages and a spherical sundial, but the jury is still out on whether those were actual "inventions" or just ideas from earlier civilizations.