# Unsung inventors and inventions

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsung-inventors-and-inventions/621939>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [May 14, 2012, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsung-inventors-and-inventions/621939 "2012-05-14T23:28:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mewl\_Dear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Mewl\_Dear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mewl_Dear)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsung-inventors-and-inventions/621939/1 "2012-05-14T23:28:17Z")

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I submit Harry Williams.  
[http://www.pinball-fixers.com/PINBALL-HISTORY/tilt-mechanism.html](http://www.pinball-fixers.com/PINBALL-HISTORY/tilt-mechanism.html)  
(wish I remembered how to hyperlink.)

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**Author:** ![Take\_the\_cannoli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5e9695/32.png) [@Take\_the\_cannoli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Take_the_cannoli)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsung-inventors-and-inventions/621939/2 "2012-05-15T01:30:37Z")

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[Felix Hoffman](http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventors/hoffmann.htm) is under appreciated for his work, IMHO

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**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsung-inventors-and-inventions/621939/3 "2012-05-15T09:44:22Z")

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> [@Mewl\_Dear](#):
>
> I submit Harry Williams.  
> [http://www.pinball-fixers.com/PINBALL-HISTORY/tilt-mechanism.html](http://www.pinball-fixers.com/PINBALL-HISTORY/tilt-mechanism.html)  
> (wish I remembered how to hyperlink.)

Good one. I’ve worked on pinballs as a hobby (I have one of my own and am currently looking for another), and I am familiar with the plumb bob, the rolling ball, and the slam tilt.

I would point out that slam tilts are as common as dirt inside machines, and it is not unusual to find six or seven inside a machine: coin door, under playfield, both sidewalls, backbox, and so on. They are very simple mechanisms, and can be put anywhere there is room. And in spite of the fact that the interior of a pinball machine looks like Frankenstein’s laboratory, there is always room for another slam tilt.

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**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsung-inventors-and-inventions/621939/4 "2012-05-15T10:23:11Z")

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The Oatmeal just did a great little blog about [Nikola Tesla](http://theoatmeal.com/comics/tesla). Not entirely unsung of course, but there was certainly a lot in there I did not know and clearly Thomas Edison got a lot more attention than Tesla did.