the stories behind everyday inventions, part ii

Inventorsdigest.com has a great section on fun facts about inventions.  I've copied some of the stories below:

• Power steering was invented by independent inventor Francis W. Davis. As chief engineer in the 1920s of the truck division of the Pierce Arrow Motor Car Company, he saw how hard it was to steer heavy vehicles. So that he would be able to keep the profits from his future invention, Davis left his job, rented a small engineering shop in Waltham, Mass., and developed a hydraulic power steering system that led to power steering.
• Melting ice cream inspired the invention of the outboard motor. It was a lovely August day and Ole Evinrude was rowing his boat to his favorite island picnic spot. As he rowed, he watched his ice cream melt and wished he had a faster way to get to the island. At that moment the idea for the outboard motor was born!
• Two musicians were responsible for the invention of color print film. Fascinated by photography, Leopold Godowsky and Leopold Mannes worked together to produce an easy-to-use, practical color film. They worked full time as music teachers and gave concerts while experimenting during their off hours in Mannes' kitchen. Their success earned them full-time, well-paying jobs at Kodak and their efforts resulted in Kodachrome film, which was introduced in 1935.
• The telescope was accidentally discovered in 1698 when Dutch eye glass maker Hans Lippershey looked through two lenses - one held in front of the other - and realized that the image was magnified.
• One person who claimed to be the inventor of the television is Russian emigre Vladimir Zworykin. In 1929 David Sarnoff, founder of RCA, asked Zworykin what it would take to develop TV for commercial use. He said: a year and a half and $100,000. In reality, it took 20 years and $50 million! Before his death in 1982 at the age of 92, Zworykin said of his invention: "The technique is wonderful. It is beyond my expectations. But the programs! I would never let my children even come close to this thing."
• The formulas for Cola-Cola and Silly Putty have never been patented. These trade secrets are shared only with selected trustworthy company employees, and while there have been many attempts to duplicate these products, so far, no one has been successful.
• Benjamin Franklin invented bifocals because he hated wearing two pairs of glasses.
• Several people are credited with the invention of the flush toilet. Most people have heard of Thomas Crapper (1837-1910), the sanitary engineer who invented the valve-and-siphon arrangement that made the modern toilet possible. Another claimant to "the throne" was British inventor Alexander Cumming who patented a toilet in 1775. Then there's a nameless Minoan (a native of ancient Crete) who lived 4,000 years ago who supposedly was ahead of his time and created the first flush toilet!