While some younger pro-wrestling fans might recognize Mae Young for being the older woman taking on opponents in the ring throughout the '90s and 2000s, many fail to realize that she was a pioneer in the sport in the 1940s and '50s. Mae Young was a roughneck and extremely aggressive wrestler during her prime years, known for being a striker and submission specialist. She and her opponents helped popular the sport that is now televised around the world with her hardcore in-ring style, grace, and poise. Mae Young can easily be considered one of the first world-renowned wrestlers ever becoming the first woman alongside Mildred Burke to tour post-war Japan in 1954.
There has been conflicting reports on when Mae Young officially started her professional wrestling career. According to Young, she has stated that re first match was in 1939 and later stated that her first match was 1940. However, records have shown that she began wrestling in Memphis, TN in 1941. Young wrestled for several independent promotions from the 1940s to the 1970s winning the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) United States Women's Championship (1x), the NWA Women's Tag Team Championship (1x), and the NWA Florida Women's Championship (1x). In 1999, Young signed a contract with the WWE where she would make sporadic appearances until close to her death in 2013. Prior to passing away, Young was inducted in the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum and WWE Hall of Fame for her contributions to the sport.
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."