I wrote recently about Robert Kearns, inventor of the intermittent windshield wiper and his 13-year lawsuit against Ford Motor Company for infringement of his patent. Early on in the lawsuit he was offered a settlement by Ford of one million dollars, but Kearns turned it down because it did not include a public acknowledge- ment by Ford that he was the inventor.
The ability to invent, to create, new things is a unique attribute of the human mind. As a child, I thought that the ancients' belief that man was created in the image of God referred to the fact that man, too, was a creator. In school, the names Edison, Bell, Marconi and Whitney were familiar to me and my classmates. They were honored for their inventions, which had added so much to the quality of human life.
As I thought about the Kearns case, I wondered whether there were other unacknowledged inventors. I turned on my computer to listen to a performance by a world-renowned singer. Song after beautiful song she sang...without once, I suddenly realized, mentioning the name of a composer. Why not, I wondered. Would we publicly read a passage from a book without mentioning the author? Were creators of works of art not entitled to recognition and adulation?
Here is my short short list of recognition:
Who wrote the Pledge of Allegiance? Francis Bellamy
Who designed the White House? Benjamin Latrobe
Who sculpted the Lincoln Memorial? Daniel French
Who designed the Golden Gate Bridge? Joseph Strauss and Irving Marrow
Who designed and sculpted Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro? Heitor da Silva Costa and Paul Landowski
Who wrote the song, Mr. Bojangles? Jerry Jeff Walker
Who invented television? John Baird, Paul Nipkow and Philo Farnsworth
Who invented the zipper? Gideon Sundbeck
Who invented toilet paper? Joseph Gayetty
Who invented the game of Monopoly? Charles Darrow
Let us bestow on them great honor for the beautiful creations they bestowed on us.
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