Race Car Technology

[Shevek]

In 1900, the guy in charge wanted to shut down the US Patent Office because he thought we were running out of ideas. It was more of a local problem.

 

[Nitro]

In 1900, the guy in charge wanted to shut down the US Patent Office because he thought we were running out of ideas. It was more of a local problem.

Charles Holland Duell - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Spoiler

Duell has become famous for, during his tenure as United States Commissioner of Patents, purportedly saying "Everything that can be invented has been invented."[4] However, this has been debunked as apocryphal by librarian Samuel Sass[5] who traced the quote back to a 1981 book titled "The Book of Facts and Fallacies" by Chris Morgan and David Langford.[6] In fact, Duell said in 1902:

In my opinion, all previous advances in the various lines of invention will appear totally insignificant when compared with those which the present century will witness. I almost wish that I might live my life over again to see the wonders which are at the threshold.[7]

Dennis Crouch saw a correlation between the expression and a joke from an 1899 edition of Punch magazine.

In that edition, the comedy magazine offered a look at the "coming century." In colloquy, a genius asked "isn't there a clerk who can examine patents?" A boy replied "Quite unnecessary, Sir. Everything that can be invented has been invented."[8]

Another possible origin of this famous statement may actually be found in a report to Congress in 1843 by an earlier Patent Office Commissioner, Henry Ellsworth. In it Ellsworth states, "The advancement of the arts, from year to year, taxes our credulity and seems to presage the arrival of that period when human improvement must end." This quote was apparently then mispresented and attributed to Duell, who held the same office in 1899.[9]

 

[Outdated]

This is Australia's first attempt at a sports car. Back in the late 50s Australia put heavy import duties on foreign cars and very few people could afford anything very sporty, so a Sydney bloke started importing parts from Germany and assembling them here, but with his own body design.

The Goggomobile:

Goggomobil Dart - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org