100 Mind-Blowing Inventing Facts

Thomas Edison is the reason you love cat videos. After inventing the kinetograph in 1892, Edison was able to record and watch moving images for the first time. He filmed short clips in his studio, some of which feature famous people like Annie Oakley and Buffalo Bill. But the real stars of these early videos are the Boxing Cats—adorable cats that he recorded in a boxing ring circa 1894.

The electric chair was invented by a dentist. Southwick. A steam-boat engineer, inventor and dentist from Buffalo, New York was credited for inventing the electric chair as a method of legal execution.

The electric chair was invented by a dentist. Alfred Porter Southwick was a dentist and steamboat engineer who is credited with inventing the electric chair as a method of legal execution.

J. R. R. Tolkien invented the languages of Middle Earth before he even thought of writing stories in the fictional universe. Tolkien was without a doubt a natural polyglot, learning more than 35 languages throughout his life. When he was a teenager, he invented his first language, which would inspire the 20 or so languages he ultimately created for Middle Earth. Once he began inventing the languages, he realized that he needed people to speak them, and it was only from this point that he thought to write The Lord of the Rings and his other works.

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