This is my summary of the inventions I learned about in lessons eighty-six through eighty-nine. In lesson eighty-six, I studied the invention of the postcard. While the postcard was technically invented by a comedian as a joke, he didn’t patent it, so Charleton and Lipman are the official inventors. Both Charleton and Lipman were of the stationary profession, and Lipman even invented the pencil eraser. Postcards are a cheap and easy way to send messages over long distances. They are often sent by tourists, and feature a photograph on one side and a message from the sender on the other.

In lesson eighty-seven, I learned about the invention of the Gatling gun. In the early 1800’s, the cannon was the most powerful weapon. Other weapons similar to it were invented, but they were all tedious to load.

Richard Gatling was the inventor of the Gatling gun, and he invented it as a way to reduce the number of soldiers sent to the battlefield. He wanted to minimize the number of deaths caused by war, and realized the majority of deaths were caused by diseases soldiers spread around. Gatling figured if he could lower the amount of soldiers, he could lower the amount of deaths.

The Gatling gun can fire thousands of rounds per minute without overheating and melting, since the barrels of the large gun spin as they fire. This allows the barrels to cool off for a moment before they spin back to the bottom and start again.

In lesson eighty-eight, I studied the invention of linoleum. Before linoleum was invented, there were many types of floor coverings. One of these was rubber, which is why Frederick Walton invented linoleum as a flooring. Walton invented linoleum after noticing that linseed oil- an oil commonly used in oil painting- dries into a sticky, rubber-like substance. Linoleum is cheap and durable, and is also easy to clean.

Last of all, lesson eighty-nine was about the invention of the ratcheting wrench. J. J. Richardson invented and patented the ratcheting wrench in 1863. The ratchet in the wrench allows the wrench to turn a bolt in only one direction, which speeds up the tightening process, and can also be reversed to loosen bolts.