This is my summary of the inventions I learned about in lessons ninety-one through ninety-four. In lesson ninety-one, I studied the invention of roller skates. Before they were invented by James Plimpton in 1863, many attempt to create roller skates were made in Europe. In one case, John Joseph Merlin tried to demonstrate his skates at party – but crashed and injured himself badly. When James Plimpton discovered this, he changed Merlin’s invention so that there were two wheels in the front and two wheels in the back instead of four in a line down the middle like ice skates. Roller skates are shoes on wheels, and create a simple (I said simple, not easy- I’ve tried roller skating before) way to have fun and play sports.

In lesson ninety-two, I learned about the invention of the barbed wire fence. Before barbed wire, cowboys and farmers moved west and built houses for themselves, but fencing cattle was too expensive. Instead, smaller fences were built around houses to keep cattle out of the lawn. However, as more people moved to the west, a way to cheaply fence in cattle was needed to keep them from wandering onto another person’s property.

Michael Kelly solved this problem by inventing the barbed wire fence in 1868. Barbed wire fencing is made out of wire with barbs wrapped around it at intervals. When nailed to wooden posts, it creates cheap fencing. The barbs are sharp, and are very effective in keeping people and animals in – or out – a specific area.

In lesson ninety-three, I studied the invention of the cowboy hat. John B. Stetson – the inventor of the cowboy hat – worked in the hat business with his father. He grew up fascinated by the tales of the Wild West, so when he was diagnosed with tuberculosis, he went to see it before he died. When he arrived, he instantly noticed all the different types of hats the cowboys wore. Some of them, particularly the coonskin cap, were made of animal fur and had fleas. Stetson could see the benefits of a fur hat, but he felt like there should be a better alternative out there. He moved back home and continued making hats for this reason.

The cowboy hat is made of felt (processed rabbit of beaver fur) and has a wide brim to keep the sun off your face. Cowboy hats are also waterproof, meaning you can wear it in the rain to keep your head dry. Because they’re waterproof, they can even be used to transport water to your horse!

Last of all, lesson ninety-four was about the invention of pasteurization. Louis Pasteur invented pasteurization as a way to preserve wine. Pasteur was a chemistry professor, and the father of one of his students was a winemaker. He wanted to know why his wine was spoiling, so Pasteur did multiple experiments to figure out why. In the end, he created the process of slowly heating wine until it was hot enough to kill most of the microbes it contained, also known as pasteurization.