Remembering Five Inventors Who Died In 2010
Two-thousand and ten was a bad year for founders and inventors from my youth. Each of these people created something that we are all very familiar with. Among them are people who created food we enjoy eating, toys that we played with growing up, and games that kept us entertained as adults. Take a look at these inventors and remember them for their contributions to our lives.
Donald E. GoerkeDonald Goerke was a Campbell Soup executive and the creator of SpaghettiO's. He was known as "The Daddy-O of SpaghettiO's", the kid friendly canned pasta designed in different shapes. When the canned spaghetti with tomato and cheese was introduced in 1965, pop singer Jimmie Rodgers sang the jingle that ended with the seemingly unforgettable tag line, "Uh-oh, SpaghettiOs." The pasta was a hit because it was "spoonable," Goerke later said -- kids liked the O shapes and mothers the convenience. Mr. Goerke died at 83 of heart failure on January 13, 2010.
Glen W. BellFounder of Taco Bell, the chain that made Mexican tacos and burritos a popular fast food in the U.S. Bell died at home in Rancho Santa Fe, California. Bell started off in fast food after coming home from World War Two, where he served as a marine. His first operation was a hot dog stand in 1948 in San Bernardino, California. In 1954, he started selling tacos out of his stand for 19 cents apiece. He changed the name to Taco Bell in 1962. He was 86.
Walter Frederick MorrisonRancher, pilot, carpenter and inventor of the flying disk toy later called Frisbee. Morrison claimed that the original idea for a flying disc toy came to him in 1937, while throwing a popcorn can lid with his girlfriend, Lu, whom he later married. The popcorn lid soon dented which led to the discovery that cake pans flew better and were more common. Morrison and Lu developed a little business selling "Flyin' Cake Pans" on the beaches of Santa Monica, California. He died of lung cancer at his Utah home. In 1946, he sketched out a design (called the Whirlo-Way) for the world's first flying disc. In 1948 an investor, Warren Franscioni, paid for molding the design in plastic. They named it the Flyin-Saucer. The Whamo Toy Company purchased the design and called the disk a Frisbee. He was 90.
Ronald HowesCincinnati inventor of the Easy Bake oven in 1963. The Easy-Bake Oven is a working toy oven manufactured by Hasbro that originally used an ordinary incandescent light bulb as a heat source, but later began using a true heating element. By 1997, more than 16 million Easy-Bake Ovens (in 11 models) had been sold. The oven comes with packets of cake mix and small round pans. (Additional mixes can be purchased separately.) After water is added to the mix in the pan, it is pushed into the oven through a slot. He died on February 16, 2010 at the age of 83.
Chris HaneyOne of the Canadian co-creators of the 1980s board game Trivial Pursuit. He dropped out of high school at the age of 17. While working for the Montreal Gazette, he and friend, Scott Abbot, came up with the popular trivia game. They devised the rules for the game in less than an hour over three rounds of beer. Haney trademarked the game in 1981 and by 1984, it was an international sensation. He died in a Toronto hospital after a long illness. He was 59.
