(Left to right) Biologist Ernest Everett discovered the role of the surface of the egg, or ectoplasm, in fertilization; Morse Code & telegraph; & Viagra.
1810: Soda water
Long before teens met up at the soda fountain, Charles D. Simmons and J.J. Rundell were awarded a patent for “mineral water saturating with fixed air.” The Charleston inventors were early innovators of carbonated water, paving the way for the multibillion-dollar soft drink industry.
1830s-40s: Morse Code & telegraph
Samuel Finley Breese Morse wasn’t born in Charleston, but the Northerner spent many a winter in the Lowcountry. He went on to invent and patent the telegraph and Morse Code, the dots-and-dashes language used to communicate on his invention.
1895: Bread crumb machine
Joseph Lee, born to enslaved parents in Charleston in 1849, grew up to run a successful hotel and catering business in Massachusetts. In 1895, he received a patent for his “crumber,” a machine that tore and ground bread into crumbs. He later improved upon his creation and received another patent for a bread-kneading machine.
Early 1900s: Egg Fertilization
Biologist Ernest Everett Just, born in Charleston in 1883 and raised on James Island, discovered the role of the surface of the egg, or ectoplasm, in fertilization. Despite the racism that barred the African American Dartmouth grad from teaching at many US universities, Just’s work at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, on marine invertebrates opened the door for future developmental biology researchers.
1986: Pathway to the little blue pill
Pharmacologist Robert Furchgott discovered that nitric acid did more than contribute to acid rain and smog. Along with two other researchers, Furchgott, who was born in Charleston in 1916, discovered that the air pollutant could signal blood vessels to expand. His finding, essential to the development of Viagra as well as medications for heart and cardiovascular diseases, earned him a Nobel Prize in 1998.
2019: Capsule Dress
While many frequent fliers vow to pack light, MORPH Clothing founder Cristy Pratt upped the ante. Starting with her patented Capsule Dress, Pratt’s designs can convert into a variety of different styles, with one dress providing as many as 20 looks.
Images courtesy of wikipedia
