This is my summary of the inventions I learned about in lessons one hundred thirty-one through one hundred thirty-four. In lesson one hundred thirty-one, I studied the invention of Coca-Cola. It was invented in 1886 in John Pemberton. John Pemberton was a pharmacist, and he fought in the war that was going on at the moment. He was injured, and the pain caused him to get addicted to morphine. Eventually, Pemberton decided to come up with an alternative. Originally, it was coca wine – wine with cocaine in it – but that became illegal, and he had to change it. He removed the alcohol in it and tweaked the formula a bit, and Coca-Cola was born.

In lesson one hundred thirty-two, I learned about the invention of the induction motor. Before the induction motor was invented, George Westinghouse needed a reliable AC motor to provide electricity for his power grid that would compete with Edison’s.

The solution was invented by Nikola Tesla, who, ironically, worked for Edison before quitting. Tesla had an interest in electricity and magnetism, so he went to a school to study it. He used his knowledge from this to work for Edison, where he learned about DC power and arc lights. After that, he broke off and started his own company, then going on to invent the induction motor in 1888. The induction motor has a spinning magnetic field that causes a shaft to turn with it, and the rotating shaft can then be used to power other things.

In lesson one hundred thirty-three, I studied the invention of the ballpoint pen. Before the ballpoint pen was invented, there was the quill pen. This eventually improved to become the fountain pen, but fountain pens were very messy and got ink everywhere. The ballpoint pen came next, but it wasn’t quite as successful as you might think.

The ballpoint pen was invented in 1888 by John Loud as a tool that could write on leather and other hard surfaces. However, it wasn’t useful for paper, since the pen works using a small ball positioned in a socket in the point of the pen, and the ink could still drip through. Eventually, though, others improved upon the design, and now it’s the most common type of pen.

Last of all, lesson one hundred thirty-four was about the invention of the zipper. Before the zipper, there were belts and buckles. These changed over time to pins, brooches, and buttons, but they still took time to fasten.

The zipper was invented in 1890 by Whitcomb Judson. Judson was inspired to invent the zipper – which he called a clasp locker – when he got tired of buttoning up his shoes. Zippers work using little teeth that are pushed together using a slider. Zippers make closing and fastening things much quicker and easier.