Inventions of Spain

Stapler


In 1920 was founded in Eibar (Guipúzcoa) a company called "The Town", whose initial activity focused on the production of revolvers, mainly for export. Since 1929, the global economic crisis forced "The Helmet" to retrain, which made the mid-thirties, its founders launched the stapler market, designed by themselves (John Solozábal and John Olive) . It became the most widely used type of desktop stapler in the second half of the twentieth century.


Submarine

In 1859, the Spanish Narcis Monturiol designed and built a manually propelled submersible vessel. But this supposed advantage, until five years later, his ship joined a steam propulsion, the first in history.

Also very important innovation of Isaac Peral born in Cartagena in 1851. His professional career began in the Navy, but also held the title of engineer. Only lived forty-four years (it was killed by a brain tumor), but at that time had the opportunity to introduce an invention that would revolutionize the world of sailing a ship powered submarine electricity. The idea is focused on designing and building a warship whose main aim was to fire torpedoes unseen, protected under the surface of the waters. Thus, the project began in Cadiz in 1887.

In less than a year, the submarine was launched successfully. Made of steel, its technical features included weighing nearly eighty tons, autonomy of almost four nautical miles (more than seven miles), a length of twenty meters, immersion systems and electric propulsion double helix, a torpedo tube and ability to two of these devices, whose range was estimated at two hundred yards. Unfortunately, the Spanish Navy did not consider the project interesting enough, and rejected the construction of submarine Peral series. In addition to this revolutionary invention was the father of Isaac Peral other innovations, like the electric accumulator incorporating the submarine, a type of electrically driven machine gun and a lighting projector.


Molotov Cocktail


Interestingly, the name of this cocktail is Russian, developed as it has survived in Finland in 1939, and was invented in a slightly different variety, by the Spanish Republican Army, who used it during the Civil War. The Spanish cocktail is not strictly a Molotov cocktail, while similar and prior to that created and used in the Finnish winter war against the USSR.

Molotov (meaning "hammer" in Russian) was the nickname of the revolutionary, journalist and politician Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Scriabin, and his name has become inextricably linked to the cocktail to be responsible for the mass production of this weapon during World War II. Its main use is urban warfare and attack with little means superior forces, fueled by its ease of preparation.


Chupa Chups


Innovation simple as they come: a stick driven into a candy. But the lollipops was a revolution in the world of these goodies. With the stick, the children could eat the candy with less risk of choking or staining. Eel TV character called Kojak lollipops universally popular that he even consumed in the supreme council of the Chinese Communist Party. It was in the fifties and Spain began to recover from the disaster of the Civil War.

In this framework, Enric Bernat, an entrepreneur with vision and ambition, who came from a line of confectioners whose grandfather was the first to manufacture candy in Spain, had the happy idea of putting the stick to candy. The first of these goodies, with wooden stick, appeared in 1958, and was sold at the price of a quarter, which was not particularly cheap. The company was originally called Granja Asturias SA, but soon-in 1964 - and have already seen the success of the product, changed to its current name: Chupa Chups, SA The worldwide spread of lollipops began immediately. In the seventies was marketed in countries like the United States, the Soviet Union, Japan, Germany, Mexico and Australia. Today, its sales reach one hundred seventy countries, practically everyone.


Mop


This invention devised as an engineer and Air Force officer named Manuel Jalon Corominas, in 1956. The first mop was successfully tested in Zaragoza. It consisted of a broomstick, at the bottom, had a tuft of cotton strips (the mop). These strips are slipped into a bucket with rollers that could be activated by a pedal. Thereafter was perfected until 1965 began to be manufactured in plastic and appearance that is familiar to all. Manuel Jalon export reached his invention to more than thirty countries and sales reached three million units a year.



Cigarette


Although snuff is native to America, and so is the basic mode of rolling the leaves as "canutos", or cigars, smoking is a genuinely Spanish invention. It is due to the beggars of the city of Seville, in the sixteenth century began to take advantage of the waste into fine liarlos snuff and rice paper sheets. But it was not until 1825 when cigarettes began to be packaged and marketed.

The first started selling packs manufactured in 1833, which also dates the name "cigarette". The first commercial pack of five units, was named "premium cigarettes". From 1887, the sale of this product was monopolized by the Lessee Tobacco Company, ancestor of the famous Tabacalera, now converted into the Altadis Group.




Autogiro


Along the submarine, the device precursor of modern helicopters is one of the greatest inventions of the last Spanish 150 years. Murcia also devised by Juan de la Cierva early to 20, consists of a conventional aircraft fuselage with wings and front propeller very short, which is coupled to a rotor in the upper part. Although de la Cierva built the first device capable of flying, in recent years one theory holds that the original idea is the Majorcan Pere Sastre Obrador.



Aerial tramway


Manufactured by J. Enoch Thompson, and built in 1913 by the Spanish company The Niagara Spanish Aerocar Co. Limited, in accordance with the design of the Spanish engineer Leonardo Torres y Quevedo. Opened in August 1916, and has since been updated in 1961, 1967 and 1984. She continues in operation as a tourist attraction.



Foosball


The International Federation of football reports that the origins of football are Central, while the Spanish Federation of football reports that Spain was created parallel other than the Central European football, in different sizes, called two legs. While the European and world football have players with legs together Spanish has legs apart.



Space Suit


Emilio Herrera Linares designed the first space suit in history, collaborated with Juan de la Cierva and Leonardo Torres Quevedo in his research. His spacesuit was used as previous design of modern space suits.



Herrera was one of the pioneers of Spanish aviation, participated in several international competitions, and was one of the first to fly over the Straits of Gibraltar in 1914.
When the ship first hit the soil of the moon, Neil Armstrong reminded Herrera, as the Spanish would relate Casajust Manuel Rodriguez: "He told me that if not for the invention of my teacher would never have reached the moon," the disciple After returning to Spain from Cape Canaveral, where Armstrong gave him in gratitude harvested one of the rocks on the lunar surface during your trip.

According referred his assistant, Antonio Garcia Borrajo pilot: "When Americans Herrera offered to work for its space program with a check without limitations zeros, he asked a Spanish flag waving on the moon, but was told that would fly only the the United States. "Herrera refused. First emigrated to Chile in 1939 and then to France, Emilio Herrera, who was Minister of Military Affairs of the Government of the Republic in exile, could not see the exploits spatial July 20, 1969. He had died two years earlier in Geneva.

Helicopter


Invented by the Spanish Juan de la Cierva, aircraft which has only some external similarity. However, the first helicopters paid patent rights to use the articulated rotor, original Spanish engineer. They also took ideas from Italian genius Leonardo da Vinci, but the inventor of the first helicopter was piloted and motorized Jan Slovak Bahyl. The first aircraft in flight and fully controllable chain produced was manufactured by Igor Sikorsky in 1942.