Are you ready for some… protection?  With football season underway, let’s examine that ever-so-important piece of equipment players wear to protect themselves on the field… their helmets!

Previously stuffing thick rags under their hats, football players began sporting leather helmets in the 1940s.  But, as competitors began to run faster, throw farther and hit harder… they needed some sturdier dome protection.

High school football coach John Riddell is credited with inventing the first plastic helmet in 1939, although it was not widely accepted until the early ’50s.  Riddell’s plastic protector was lined with a web and an air cushion for added hit-absorption.  His helmet was such a success, he left coaching to pursue the manufacturing business; today, you can find Riddell’s name on 90% of NFL players’ heads!

About a decade after Riddell’s hard-headed invention, the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment deemed the “webbed” helmets unsafe and padding was incorporated into the design.  Further absorbing a lineman’s tough tackle, foam was added around the jaw and ears of helmet interiors.

In the 1970s, long before Reebok came out with their Pumps, the helmet was air-infused.  Because they had been “one size fits all,” some players’ heads were rattling around inside, while other players were cramped in their helmets.  With the added air-filled pads, players could pump or remove air from their helmets for a snug fit.

Further advancing the helmet’s protective capabilities, manufacturers have taken it to the next level.  The latest innovation to the protective headgear includes electronic devices with diagnostic capabilities.  These high-tech helmets can instantly read the length and severity of a hit… in some cases, before a player even notices an injury!

So, as you’re tuning in this weekend – look away from your fantasy football stats for a moment and take a look at the protective headgear your favorite players are sporting!

Information for this article, thanks to http://www.livestrong.com/article/341058-the-history-of-the-nfl-helmet/ and http://www.livestrong.com/article/351862-football-helmet-safety-improvements/.

While most of us are familiar with recent developments in the telephone industry, and may even carry the latest iPhone, Droid or Blackberry models, it is likely that few may know where these gadgets got their roots and just how far they’ve come through the years.

Over a century ago, in 1876, Alexander Graham Bell uttered the first words over what he called his “electrical speech machine.” Those words, “Mr. Watson, come here, I want you,” traveled only to his assistant who was working in the next room, but now resonate world-wide. Today, deemed National Telephone Day, we pause, if only momentarily, from sending those texts, updating our social media statuses or just checking news headlines, to recognize Bell’s legendary invention and how, with the help of many other inventors along the way, it has become so “smart!”

As the world reveled at the telephone’s initial capabilities, Bell went to work on several other inventions, including a flying machine and metal detector, to name just a couple. However, it didn’t take long for his electrical speech machine to evolve. Ten years after Bell patented his telephone, the first long-distance line was installed – it ran from New York to Philadelphia! Quickly following, William Gray invented the first pay phone, which was also installed in the U.S. Northeast.

While it may not be considered the first “picture message,” the first photograph was electronically transmitted in 1921. Bell’s invention went world-wide in 1935 when the first international call was placed. Mobile telephone service can be traced back to 1946, and originally linked vehicles to telephone networks through their radios; however, Martin Cooper, a British inventor, is credited with designing the first mobile phone in the 1970s. Caller ID originated in the 1980s, when faxing also gained popularity.

Advancing and evolving the mobile phone industry, 2G, or “second generation” service was introduced in the 1990s and allowed users to send SMS communications or text messages. The 2000s ushered in 3G service and, with that, the mobile internet craze. Today, 4G networks allow users to enjoy their fastest service yet.

So, over a century later and with the help of many talented inventors along the way, what’s next for Bell’s electrical speech machine? To 5G and beyond!

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