And the atomic bomb, although that might have been a slightly later MFTV movie.
Ayla in the Clan of the Cave Bear books invented all sorts of things, back in Cro-Magnon times: Rapid reload of a sling, the brassiere (take that, Otto Titzling!), the atlatl, horse harnesses, starting fires with flint, sewing needles, surgical stitches to name a few.
Gold stars to Chronos, Amateur Barbarian and Justin Bailey for their quick catches of my mistakes. I thought it would take longer…Though Philo T. Farnsworth still sounds made up.
Missed one. Post 17
Dirk Gently was not the Man from Porlock.
I never interpreted the scene in the movie as implying that Marty wrote it. I thought he just carried the tune that Chuck Berry wrote back to Chuck Berry so that he could write it. One of those infinite regression endless loop paradoxical time-travel thingies.
And yes, “infinite regression endless loop paradoxical time-travel thingy” is a technical term among the time-traveling class. Or at least it will be. Or maybe it already was?
Rae Dawn Chong in Quest for Fire invented the missionary position.
Helena G. Wells (Warehouse 13) didnt write H.G.Wells books, and I hate her character for that lie, and other issues.
Obscure one: forgettable rom-com from a few years back had the male lead be comfortably rich from inventing the coffee-cup sleeve. [Googles.] Made of Honor, with Patrick Dempsey’s character as the fictional inventor. Not so much.
I was sad to learn than Xena warrior princess did not invent kites, electricity or cpr to name a few things from the show.
Perhaps in your time, but in this time, the technical term for such a thing is a “genie”.
The TV series Murdoch Mysteries (set circa 1895-1905) is giddily full of these, with the title character “inventing” proto-versions of polygraphs, bitmaps, sonar, night-vision goggles, wiretaps…
:sigh: It was the Klingons that invented Velcro, and the Vulcans that gave us vulcanized rubber.
He also invented, or at least envisioned, that freeway being lined with restaurants “serving rapidly prepared food.” To be sure, he didn’t live to see either of his inventions come to fruition.
All sorts of real-world things invented by little old Russian mothers and grandmothers, at least according to Pavel Chekov.
The telephone, radio, and automobile were not invented by Wrangler Jane’s cousin Henry on F Troop.
Prince Leopold Mountbatten, Duke of Albany, may or may not have existed, and may or may not have had a valet named Otis.
But he did NOT invent the elevator.
Okay, never mind about the name Mountbatten; it didn’t exist in the nineteenth century.
As far as you know.
If I recall correctly, the “Ultimate” comic version of Tony Stark invented the mp3 player.
(Gotta make sure he’s all hip and relevant for the kids, y’know.)