Like many high school students, Clare Ettinger and her boyfriend, James Thompson, were looking forward to their homeschool prom. The 17-year-old high school seniors from Richmond, Virginia couldn't wait for what they thought would be a carefree evening of fun with their friends. When the highly-anticipated night finally arrived, the young couple was dressed to the nines and could hardly contain their excitement. They knew it might be one of their last chances to be with their peers before they all went on their future paths, but they never expected that the night would end up going terribly wrong...
Prom night is one of the most important nights of a young person's life. If you're one of our younger readers, you might still have it all to look forward to. The rest of you hopefully have fond memories of your prom night; it's when we say goodbye to childhood. Getting ready for prom night is as stressful as it is exhilarating. There's so much to consider. Who do we want as our date for the night? Will we even find a date? Presuming we do, where do we even start when it comes to putting together the perfect outfit?
For boys, the outfit isn't really much of a worry. So long as they can find a smart suit, they'll look great on the pictures. Girls, however, have thousands of dresses to choose from. Imagine finding the perfect dress, and then getting kicked out of the prom because of it?
When we think of inventors, the image that comes to mind is usually that of a frazzled scientist toiling away in a lab, not celebrities pulled from the pages of Us Weekly. However, a number of well-known public figures hold patents for various innovations. Some are related to the work that made them famous, while others are offshoots of hobbies or just a single great idea.
Part of guitar wizard Eddie Van Halen's signature sound was his two-handed tapping technique, but letting all ten fingers fly while simultaneously holding up the guitar's neck could get a bit tricky. Van Halen came up with a novel way to get around this problem, though; he invented a support (top) that could flip out of the back of his axe's body to raise and stabilize the fretboard so he could tap out searing songs like "Eruption." While Van Halen was obviously interested in improving his guitar work, the patent application he filed in 1985 notes that the device would work with any stringed instrument. Want to tap out a scorching mandolin solo? Find someone selling Eddie's device.
It’s probably not surprising that James Cameron—who designed a submersible to take him to the deepest known part of the ocean—will often invent technology to make his films if what he needs doesn’t exist. He holds a number of patents, including US Patent No. 4996938, “apparatus for propelling a user in an underwater environment,” that he and his brother, Michael, created to film The Abyss and patented in 1989. The device is basically an underwater dolly equipped with propellers that makes it easy for a camera operator to maneuver in the water—and allowed Cameron to capture the shots he wanted for the 1989 film, part of which was filmed in an abandoned nuclear reactor.
In 1987 Jamie Lee Curtis designed and patented a disposable diaper that included a waterproof pocket that held baby wipes. She hasn't profited from her idea yet, though, since she refuses to license the patent until diaper companies make biodegradable products.
You know him as a rock legend, but Neil Young also loves trains—so much that he owns a stake in a model train manufacturing company and has an extensive collection. He also holds seven patents related to model trains, including Patent No. US5441223, "Model train controller using electromagnetic field between track and ground."