Of All The Great Michigan Inventions Experts Say This Is The Best One

Michigan is known for many famous inventions.

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One that comes to mind for me would have to be the invention of cereal.

While cereal is an iconic invention it's just one of many famous Michigan inventions

These Are Some Famous Michigan Inventions

4-Way Traffic Lights: The first four-way, three-color traffic light was invented by police officer William Potts in Detroit, Michigan in 1920.

American Ginger Ale: Vernors ginger ale was invented by James Vernor, a Detroit pharmacist, in 1866.

Baby Food: Gerber baby food was founded in 1927 by Dorothy Gerber, who began straining solid foods for her 7-month-old daughter Sally on the advice of her pediatrician. Dorothy's husband recognized the business opportunity and began developing baby food products, which were distributed nationwide by 1928

Cereal:  John Harvey Kellogg, a health food pioneer, created a biscuit of oats, wheat, and corn, which he called Granula, and later renamed it granola after being sued by Jackson

Fiber Optics: Lansing-born physicist Donald B. Keck. In 1970, Keck who earned his Ph.D. from Michigan State University helped develop the “first optical fiber for wide use in telecommunications.”

Hospital Bed: Dr. Homer Stryker from Kalamazoo invented the patient-operated Circo-Letric Bed.

Jiffy Mix: Mabel White Holmes invented Jiffy Mix, the first prepared baking mix sold to the public, and later became the president of the Chelsea Milling Company, which solidified the Jiffy brand and the prepared mix market in the United States.

Penicillin: During World War II, the United States and Great Britain spent $20 million in a failed effort to synthesize penicillin; most thought it impossible. Not until 1957 did Battle Creek-born John C. Sheehan (Ph.D., University of Michigan) achieve the impossible.

Road Lines: Edward N. Hines was a member of the Wayne County Road Commission from 1906 to 1938. Hines originated the concept of painting a line down the center of a road to separate traffic in opposing directions. The idea came to him after watching a leaky milk wagon leave a trail down the street.

Of All The Great Michigan Inventions Experts Say This Is The Best One

According to the experts at Love Money, the greatest invention to come from the Mitten state is the Automobile assembly line.

Automobile Assembly Line: In 1901, automotive pioneer Ransom E. Olds created the modern assembly line and used it to build the first mass-produced car, the Oldsmobile Curved Dash.  Olds patented the assembly line concept, which he put to work in his Olds Motor Vehicle Company factory in 1901.

This development is often overshadowed by Henry Ford, who perfected the assembly line by installing driven conveyor belts that could produce a Model T in 93 minutes.