SPANISH INVENTIONS AND INVENTORS

I.E.S. ELVIÑA

2010 - 2011

In 1887, Isaac Peral, both the lieutenant of the Armada and an engineer, designed and constructed the first submarine in history (however, dark interests within the Spanish Armada made it so the high classes dismissed the invention, saying it was a fraud and that a vehicle like that would never be worth anything.) This version already had all the basic functionalities that can be seen in a modern military submarine (electric motors, navigation system, torpedoes capable of hitting  a ship on the surface, periscope, etc…), and at that time was a scientific and military advancement without comparison. Peral, scorned and humiliated, sick with cancer that was complicated by meningitis, died at the age of 44 and was never recognized in his lifetime for his invention.

THE SUBMARINE

Ignacio Urresti invented the pencil sharpener in 1945, adding to the other great Spanish contributions to the world of office materials after the Casco stapler. It was inspired by a coffee grinder and was immediately popular.  It was also considered to be a great example of design.

THE PENCIL SHARPENER               

The visionary entrepreneur Enric Bernat had an idea and defended it to the max: a candy with a stick to suck on. Today, the brand Chupa Chups is recognized all over the world, and its logo, designed by Dali, has the same impact as Coca Cola’s (on which it was based). Bernat converted a small family business into a large company, based on hard work and kilometers of samples. He was a pioneer in the branding phenomenon for his use of brands in sales at a time when no one understood the power of a brand.

CHUPA CHUPS

Alejandro Campos Ramirez, alias Alejandro Finisterre, was a Galician poet, editor and inventor known for creating the foosball table. In 1936, he was hurt in one of the bombings of Madrid during the Spanish Civil War. While in the hospital, he met many hurt children whose greatest pain was not being able to play football. While recovering, he began construction on the first foosball table which he based on the ping pong table. The toy companies couldn’t mass produce the product because they had been nationalized by both sides and were busy making arms. When the war was over, the victory of the Nationalists made it necessary for him to flee to France, but before he left he patented the product in Barcelona. Unfortunately, he lost the patent while crossing the Pyrenees on foot, which is what allowed the Valencian toy makers to initially claim it as their own for many years (even so, and despite not having kept the patent, a number of designs with his name on them still exist among Spanish carpenters and toy makers.) His life was full of adventures. In the last years of his life he moved to Zamora to be the executor to his friend the poet Leon Felipe. He died in 2007, and his ashes were spread over the Duero River from the stone bridge of Zamora and in the Atlantic Ocean, from Finisterre.

FOOSBALL 

The Tren Articulado Ligero Goicoechea Oriol (TALGO) first appeared in the 1940s and is considered to be the first modern train in history. Its designs were very attractive and modern, always looking to combine aerodynamics and style. For many years they dominated the world market, even managing to corner the North American market from the mid 1960s into the 80s (in fact many of the trains in the U.S. today are still TALGOs.) The engineer Alejandro Goicoechea, thanks to the financing of Jose Luis Oriol, was the inventor of the TALGOs until his death in 1984.

THE TALGO

The cable car (or funicular) was a new invention by the great Leonardo Torres Quevedo, who made the first  cable car in the year 1887 under the name aerotransbordador or aerocar. When first received in Switzerland  the invention was mocked, however, after constructing a funicular in San Sebastian in 1907, the invention became a world-wide success, and numerous aerocars were constructed throughout the world. The most famous of all of them was completed in 1916 at Niagara Falls and is still used today under the name Spanish Aerocar. In fact, it was a purely Spanish project, creating the Niagara Spanish Aerocar Company just for the occasion.

CABLE CARS

In the 1920s, the Casco company, formed by old manufacturers of revolvers, dedicated itself to creating office materials. It reached its peak with the Casco embossing seal, a milestone in world design. Although initially referred to as “grapadoras” the modern word for staplers, the current design (that we know today) first appeared with this model. Its inventors were Juan Solozabal and Juan Olive. Today, this model continues to be sold throughout the world.

THE EMBOSSING SEAL

The classic guitar with six strings as we know it today was developed in Spain between the 8th and 13th centuries (from which time dates its current design) as a modification of the vihuela, the predecessor of the guitar. In the past, other kinds of string instruments with a similar look were used by minstrels and Moors, but nothing exactly like the guitar that is still in existence today. The electric guitar, for example, is a direct modification of the old Spanish guitar made by Les Paul in the 10th Century.

THE CLASSIC GUITAR

The engineer Juan de la Cierva invented and constructed this kind of aircraft in the 1920s. The invention consists of the fuselage of an ordinary airplane, which has a frontal propeller and a motor, on top of which is a free rotor, which spins with the pressure of the air generated during the horizontal momentum of the machine, creating vertical wing lift. In this way, the autogiro is able to not have wings, or only uses very simple ones. An initial problem that La Cierva confronted consisted of surpassing the inertia of the rotation that the rotor produces (today this is avoided in helicopters through a small rotor on the tail and two counter-rotating rotors.) This characteristic of the autogiro’s rotor, conducive to always spinning in the same direction, was bested by the engineer through a system of articulation that allowed the rotor to lean as was necessary during the flight.  On top of that, this method allowed the machine to be maneuvered without a steering wheel or wing flaps.

THE AUTO GIRO

This invention was dreamed up by an engineer and Airforce official named Manuel Jalon Corominas in 1956. The first mop was tested with success in Zaragoza. It consisted of a broomstick that ended in a tuft of cotton bands. These bands drain in a bucket with a couple of rollers which were activated by a pedal. From then on, it continued to be perfected until 1965 when it began to be produced in plastic and with the appearance that is now familiar to us. Manuel Jalon exported his invention to over thirty countries with sales up to three million units per year.

THE MOP

Mus is the most popular card game in Spain. Its origin is Basque, and it’s played in two opposing pairs of players. The origin of the name refers to the mouth, because facial expressions play an important role in the game. The oddest part of mus is that the players must brag about how great they are as part of the game, even though it is all a joke. Sometimes money is bet, but it’s usual clothes, some drinks or food. The art of bluffing and deceiving set mus apart from other games.

MUS

As we now know it today, the switchblade was born at the end of the 16th century: with a sharpened blade on only one end, that ends in a point and is normally somewhat curved. However, the most important feature is the mechanism that allows the blade to be folded inside the sleeve. Its origins are diluted in legends. It is said to have first appeared because of laws put in place by Emperor Charles V, which did not allow people in Spain who were not nobles to carry swords. A sword was also a very expensive weapon and uncomfortable to carry for hours. Which is why, starting in the 17th century production of the switchblade grew and it became very popular. Though it started in Spain, it was soon being produced throughout the Mediterranean, first in Italy and France and then through the rest of Europe until it reached Germany and England. It was also made in Portugal and Morocco. 

THE SWITCHBLADE