Did you know that the man who created The laser he was born + created inside South Carolina?
From lasers, sweet tea + free fall tours, we’ve compiled a list of some of the most interesting inventors + inventions. 🧪
👨🏿🌾 George Washington Murray | Sumter County, SC
Murray patents received for various inventions, including the cotton cutter, fertilizer spreader + furrower. He also took a seat like the only black man in the US House of Representatives from 1893-1895. He later published two books entitled “Breed Ideals” and “Light in dark places. “
🥤 Simmons + Rundell | Charleston, SC
Those two inventors are credited with creating Sparkling water in 1810, when a patent was granted for imitation mineral water. Thanks to them, we now have soft drinks + soft drinks.
🍋 Sweet tea | Summerville, SC
A southern delicacy, sweet, iced tea can be tracked since the 1890s, When receipts show Summerville guests buying the drink for soldier meeting. Now, when visiting the birthplace of the candy, you can also catch a glimpse of the The biggest sweet tea in the world (200 S. Main St., Summerville), which weighs in over 2,500 pounds + measurements around 15 feet tall.
👨🏻🔬 Charles Townes | Greenville, SC
A recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics 1964, Dr. Charles Townes has spent a lifetime researching microwave physics which finally led to his first maser inventions – stimulated emission microwave amplification – and what we now know as the laser. His contributions as a physicist were so good that he received 27 honorary degrees from various colleges + universities.
🎢 Gerald L. Barber | Greenville, SC
With the help of this South Carolina inventor, we now have free fall tours like the Tower of Terror at Disney World + Doctor Doom’s Fear at Universal Studios. But that’s not all that Barber did – he also holds the patent for the modern wind turbine.
🥣 Vernon Grant | Rock Hill, SC
Rice Krispies cereal is a staple in many cupboards + pantries, and thanks to this innovative artist, the box is decorated with beloved characters Snap, Crackle and Pop. That’s right – in the early 1930s, Vernon Grant joined Kellogg’s to bring the silly little elves to life.
🥤 Blenheim Ginger Ale | Blenheim, SC
Did you know that South Carolina is home to one of the oldest soft drink bottling companies? This plant has distributed bottles of unique drink since 1903but your story dates back to the 1800s when a local doctor saw patients mineral water combined with Jamaican ginger to cure stomach pains.
💉 Joseph Burckhalter | Columbia, SC
This Columbia native created Camoquin (artesunate / amodiaquine), one of the first medicines known to treat malaria. He also helped establish the use of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC), which now allows doctors to identify diseases as ASSISTS, leukemia + lymphoma.