How World War II led to the invention of the Slinky
Learn about several inventions that originated during World War II, including the Slinky toy and the V-2 rocket.
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Transcript
Let’s explore some of the inventions that came out of World War II...starting with the Slinky:
Though the Slinky turned out to be an incredibly popular toy, it actually began its life as an innovation intended to help the war effort.
The Slinky was invented by accident by mechanical engineer Richard James, who was trying to develop springs that would keep fragile cargo steady while traveling by ship.
When samples of the invention were knocked off the shelf, James realized they seemed to “walk” down rather than fall—and thus a fabulous new toy was born.
Here’s where battlefield innovations get a little “out there.”
The S liquid
The S liquid was prepared for use in a miniature stink bomb, developed by the British in hopes of making German officers so smelly that their soldiers would no longer respect them.
When put in the pocket of a German uniform and crushed, it would release a horrible odor. Since uniforms were scarce, the soldier would have to accept the smell or discard his only set of clothes.
But here’s the twist: the S liquid would also affect the spies who carried it...making them stink too. Not an especially subtle move. So, though the S liquid seemed like a great idea, it was abandoned soon after development and was never deployed.
The spaceship Spaceships weren’t invented during World War II, but one of their most important precursors was: the German V-2 rocket. The V-2 was a long-range rocket used by the German army to kill about 5,000 people—and when one V-2 reached an altitude of 175 kilometers in 1944, it became the first rocket to reach space. When the United States and the Soviet Union captured V-2 rockets after the war, they used the V-2s in research and development of their own missile and space exploration programs as they competed to send satellites, rockets, and people into space.
Here’s where battlefield innovations get a little “out there.”
The S liquid
The S liquid was prepared for use in a miniature stink bomb, developed by the British in hopes of making German officers so smelly that their soldiers would no longer respect them.
When put in the pocket of a German uniform and crushed, it would release a horrible odor. Since uniforms were scarce, the soldier would have to accept the smell or discard his only set of clothes.
But here’s the twist: the S liquid would also affect the spies who carried it...making them stink too. Not an especially subtle move. So, though the S liquid seemed like a great idea, it was abandoned soon after development and was never deployed.
The spaceship Spaceships weren’t invented during World War II, but one of their most important precursors was: the German V-2 rocket. The V-2 was a long-range rocket used by the German army to kill about 5,000 people—and when one V-2 reached an altitude of 175 kilometers in 1944, it became the first rocket to reach space. When the United States and the Soviet Union captured V-2 rockets after the war, they used the V-2s in research and development of their own missile and space exploration programs as they competed to send satellites, rockets, and people into space.