I was helping my middle schooler study for his big American History test a few days ago, which focused on westward expansion in the early nineteenth century—you know, Manifest Destiny, the Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark, and including events leading… Read More
In 1905, a schoolteacher invented the flyswatter by attaching a square piece of screen to the end of a yardstick. The holes made it effective, because flies can sense the air current from a solid object coming at them (such as a rolled up newspaper).
source: The Kid Who Invented the Popsicle by Don L. Wulffson