Who, for example, can name the inventor of the hair-dryer (Chester Beach), the electric washing machine (Alva Fisher) or the ice lolly (Frank Epperson)?
Some of the lofty bridges we clatter across are supported by reassuring iron arcs, but others stand on little more than a lattice of glorified lolly sticks.
As with so many useful creations, the lolly was invented by accident when Epperson, a Californian lemonade salesman, left a spoon in a glass of lemonade on a cold night.
