The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History holds this patent model for a Gorrie ice machine, the first mechanical refrigeration or ice-making machine the U.S. Patent Office patented.

I’ve always found patents fascinating. Not just because they protect ideas but because they often reveal the odd, innovative, and sometimes downright quirky side of human creativity. When I started ...

The human capacity for invention and discovery is a remarkable phenomenon that has shaped the course of history. It is as if humans are driven by an innate desire to improve their lives and the world ...