Underappreciated Inventions

History's Most Underappreciated Innovations The wheel. The printing press. Modern plumbing and sewage. What do these things have in common? They're the prima donna inventions – the needy, attention-starved middle children who must constantly be reminded of their importance. Otherwise, they'll freak out, shave their heads and turn the toast at their sister's wedding into a slew of vulgar, racist insults. Yes, we get it: Life would be difficult without the wheel. Our cherished elder porn magazines couldn’t exist without the advent of the printing press. Of course, these aren't the only inventions that have made a difference in our lives. The following are just a few of the less heralded innovations that have had a quiet – yet substantial – influence on our lives.

	Air Life sure was hard before cavemen invented air, and it didn't get much better until 10,000 years later, when the Romans invented breathing.
	Home Shopping Network I want you to try an exercise with me. First, imagine a world without the Home Shopping Network. Don't worry – it's only hypothetical. HSN isn't going anywhere. Can you picture it? Good. Now, in this world without home shopping, answer this question: Where would one go to buy a sword? Exactly.
	Flux Capacitor Without it, time travel is simply impossible. Impossible.
	Venn Diagrams The noble science of Grouping was a clumsy pastime among buffoons before math whiz and reputed womanizer John Venn came around. With his simple circles, Venn transformed the way math nerds spent their free time and laid the groundwork for the niche marketing that makes capitalism possible.
	The Shocker Relationships are hard. How does the modern couple keep things fresh and exciting in the bedroom? As recently as the 1970's, adultery was the only solution for many. Over the next several years, the United States government saw disturbing trends emerge – skyrocketing divorce rates, plummeting high school graduation rates, dogs in sweaters. It was time for action. Several years and hundreds of billions of dollars later, from the depths of a biotech laboratory on the outskirts of Alexandria, Va. emerged the Shocker. Even the most powerful calculator in the world couldn't estimate how many marriages it has saved.
	Amber Alerts In 1938, Adolf Hitler was Time magazine's Person of the Year. The following year, it was Joseph Stalin. What this tells us is that it is the duty of history to measure the impact people and things have on humanity and not necessarily to honor the good they do. There is no question that Amber Alerts have affected us all greatly. It doesn't matter how much more difficult they have made things for some of us.
	Rear Window Obituaries (Ed. Note: Bar soap, the ink of the rear window obituary, deserves some of the credit on this one.) Scrawled through tears on the backs of souped-up Subaru WRX's and 1994 Honda Civics, the rear window obituary gives a voice to those who are often voiceless. Without these obituaries, which are crucial historical documents, we might never learn of the fates of G-Rides or Lil' Mans of the world.
	Ballroom Dancing It's just something that Sheila and I really enjoy. It's great exercise, we meet all sorts of interesting people and it has really brought us closer together. That non-credit course was worth every penny.
	The Baker's Dozen For reasons that history has since forgotten, bakers of the ancient world thought that twelve doughnuts were enough. Were they crazy or just stupid? Too much time has passed to know for sure, and archaeologists have yet to translate the passages in the Dead Sea Scrolls that discuss the issue. Until we learn more, we'll leave you with this factoid: It is the baker's dozen that gave rise to the concept of "lucky number thirteen."
	HamsterDance.com Have you seen it? Oh my God, you have to go. Just make sure you have plenty of free time on your hands. I can't tell you how many jobs I lost over this site!!!