On May 14, 1853, Gail Borden, land surveyor, newspaper publisher and inventor, patented his process for condensed milk. That’s right, his process. In 1853, Gail was a boy’s name. Well, it really wasn’t, but he was Gail Borden, Jr. Which means that his dad, Gail Borden, Sr., was determined to not be the only boy with a girl’s name. Gail, Jr., even had a beard, but no mustache. A thick, luxurious beard. An inventor’s beard. He could have grown a good mustache, but choose not to. But less about beards and more about his invention. Condensed milk was his big invention. He was able to use a vacuum pan to reduce milk without scorching or curdling it. This product could also be canned and kept without spoiling for a significant amount of time and needed no refrigeration, which was very important in the 1850s. When the Civil War broke out, he became a very rich man by selling his condensed milk to the Union. He also tried to sell his earlier two inventions to them, which was the meat biscuit and a terraqueous machine. The meat biscuit was really just meat jerky, and the Union Army could get that from anyone. And the terraqueous machine was a sail-powered wagon that was designed to travel over land and sea. Not well, though. Not well. All because you have one really good idea, it doesn’t mean that you can catch lightning in a bottle twice. Or condensed milk in a can.
Categories
- Announcements (8)
- Historical Facts (1,692)
- 10th Century (4)
- 11th Century (9)
- 12th Century (4)
- 13th Century (10)
- 14th Century (10)
- 15th Century (20)
- 16th Century (45)
- 17th Century (65)
- 18th Century (93)
- 19th Century (284)
- 1st Century (12)
- 20th Century (886)
- 21st Century (190)
- 2nd Century (2)
- 3rd Century (2)
- 4th Century (4)
- 5th Century (3)
- 6th Century (4)
- 7th Century (3)
- 8th Century (4)
- 9th Century (3)
- BCE (13)
- The Future (2)
- Misc (1)
Tags
Alabama alcohol aliens America americans Baseball breasts California Cthulhu Donald Trump drugs England firsts france Georgia Germany HP Lovecraft inventions laws London marriage men men behaving badly music NASA new technology New York patents police Presidents religion Russia science sex sheep space sports television Texas the english the french the scottish United States US Supreme Court womenComments
- Don Croner on September 8, 2015
- willie j. edwards on June 5, 1933
- David on August 11, 3114 BC
- Drunk Commenter on The Twisted Historian wrote a book!
- Raymond M Boettcher on February 28, 1646
Calendar
October 2023 M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Archives
- December 2022 (1)
- March 2021 (2)
- February 2021 (28)
- January 2021 (31)
- December 2020 (31)
- November 2020 (32)
- October 2020 (29)
- September 2020 (30)
- August 2020 (31)
- July 2020 (31)
- June 2020 (30)
- May 2020 (31)
- April 2020 (30)
- March 2020 (31)
- February 2020 (31)
- January 2020 (31)
- December 2019 (31)
- November 2019 (30)
- October 2019 (31)
- September 2019 (30)
- August 2019 (31)
- July 2019 (31)
- June 2019 (30)
- May 2019 (31)
- April 2019 (30)
- March 2019 (31)
- February 2019 (29)
- January 2019 (26)
- June 2016 (27)
- May 2016 (31)
- April 2016 (30)
- March 2016 (31)
- February 2016 (27)
- September 2015 (11)
- August 2015 (31)
- July 2015 (31)
- June 2015 (29)
- April 2015 (21)
- March 2015 (31)
- February 2015 (28)
- January 2015 (31)
- December 2014 (31)
- November 2014 (30)
- October 2014 (31)
- September 2014 (30)
- August 2014 (31)
- July 2014 (31)
- June 2014 (30)
- May 2014 (31)
- April 2014 (30)
- March 2014 (31)
- February 2014 (28)
- January 2014 (32)
- December 2013 (31)
- November 2013 (30)
- October 2013 (32)
- September 2013 (30)
- August 2013 (31)
- July 2013 (25)
- June 2013 (5)