Curious items

-----oOo-----

The KVN-49, a black-and-white television set produced in the Soviet Union in the 1950s, was the first set to be mass-produced in the country. In just over a decade, over 2.5 million KVNs were sold throughout the country. One striking feature was a large magnifying lens in front of the screen which was filled with a clear liquid such as distilled water or glycerol. Obviously, the purpose of the lens is to magnify the screen, a clumsy remedy to a technical limitation of that time. 

-----oOo-----

Bats weren't the only animals recruited to the war effort. Another project, called Project Pigeon, was an effort to create a pigeon-guided bomb. The birds were trained using B.F. Skinner's operant conditioning to hone in on a target shown on a screen and then peck at it when they found it. The program was scrapped in 1944 and then revived in 1948 under the name Project Orcon, but eventually, newer electronic guidance systems proved to be more valuable. 

-----oOo-----

In 1932, Dr. J. A. Purves invented the Dynasphere, a ten-foot, thousand-pound wheel of steel that didn't exactly revolutionize personal motoring. The original 2.5 horsepower gas motor could achieve a top speed of about 25 miles per hour, with the driver sitting in the middle, tipping the thing left or right to steer...and clenching his teeth, hoping nothing was in the way 

-----oOo-----

This Tobacco Resuscitator Kit from the 1700’s was approved for use and distributed by London’s Royal Humane Society, then known as Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned. Tobacco was thought to have invigorating properties and the ability to soak up moisture and warm the body from the inside. Thus blowing tobacco smoke through various orifices of the human body was the recommended procedure to revive the apparently lifeless body of a drowned victim. 

By the way:

This is the origin of the expression to"blow smoke up someone's arse ["ass" if you're American, Canadian etc].

From wiktionary:

The expression refers to the once popular medical practice, now fallen into disuse and almost forgotten, of the tobacco smoke enema, in which tobacco smoke was literally blown up a person’s rectum. Employed for a large variety of ailments, its credibility was already questioned early on and eventually effectively discredited. In the idiom it serves as a metaphor for proposing or defending practices that are surely ineffectual, or venturing information that lacks credibility.

-----oOo-----

A piano especially designed for people confined to bedrest. Built in Great Britain in 1935. 

-----oOo-----

The Cat Meow Machine was invented in 1963 in Japan. It can meow ten times a minute, with the eyes lighting up each time. The idea was to use the machine for scaring rats and mice. 

-----oOo-----

The modern Lockheed Martin P-791 was built to combine the high speed of an airplane with the buoyancy of an airship. Lockheed Martin is still making and selling this combo-craft, which, it says, can stay afloat at 20,000 feet for up to three weeks 

-----oOo-----

The 'Power Mower of the Future' was demonstrated in Port Washington, on Oct 14, 1957. The lawnmower has a five foot diameter plastic sphere in which the rider sits on an air foam cushioned seat. It has its own electric generating system for operating running lights, a radio telephone, air conditioning and even a cooling system to provide a chilled drink on a hot day 

-----oOo-----

This new 'banking' machine was displayed for the first time at the American Bankers Association annual meeting in San Francisco, On Oct. 25, 1966. Banks of the future may have 'tellers' installed in office and apartment house lobbies