WETech Inventions Gallery
Here’s a sampling of three unusual inventions from the book, White Elephant Technology: 50 Crazy Inventions That Should Never Have Been Built And What We Can Learn From Them (The History Press, 2023).
Invention #40 – During the 1960s, the New York Central Railroad was desperate to increase its falling ridership. Determined to turn the situation around, the company bought two, second-hand GE jet engines for $2,500, and bolted them atop a Budd railcar to create the first, high-speed train in America. Unfortunately, its test run didn’t quite go as expected.
Invention #7 – The Aerial Rowboat was so popular in 1904, there were two competing versions both of which ended in disaster.
Invention #11 – Franz Reichelt, a French tailor, was so determined to prove his wearable parachute worked as promised that he climbed the Eiffel Tower in 1912 and jumped to prove it. Reichelt certainly made an impact, just not the kind he planned.
To read more about crazy inventions, purchase “White Elephant Technology” at your local bookstore, on Amazon, or contact us for details.