Sliced Bread
It’s weird to think about, but the technology to slice a loaf of bread efficiently didn’t exist until 1928, six years after Betty White’s birth. The technology was created by Otto Frederick Rohwedder.
Color Television
While color televisions were being introduced to the world in 1950, most people didn’t have them for many years to come. That didn’t stop the first broadcast of a color TV show in 1951 (even though most people literally didn’t see it that way).
Penicillin
Yeah, this antibiotic used all over the world was discovered in 1928 by Alexander Fleming and wasn’t widely used until 1942.
Scotch Tape
Created in 1929, this incredibly famous product didn’t hit store shelves until 1930. The most curious thing about Scotch Tape though is its creator, Ricard Drew. What’s not strange is that he was an employee of 3M, what is strange is that his career beforehand was… A banjo player.
The Slinky
There might not be a weirder example of serendipity than the Slinky. Originally intended to be a technology that would prevent items from breaking while shipping on boats, its creator, Richard T. James, debuted it at a toy store in 1945, two years after he invented it.
Bubble Gum
Another classic item created in the year 1928, and its origin is as strange as you might expect. While it was created at the Fleer Chewing Gum Company, its creator was an accountant for the company by the name of Walter E. Diemer. Even stranger, the only reason his first batch was pink was that that was the only food coloring he had immediately available.
The Internet
Look, if Betty White was born in 1922, she’s existed far longer than the internet. However, the earliest beginnings of the internet originated in 1965 at MIT, so it’s not as young as you’d think.
LSD
I was always under the impression that LSD was synthesized in the 1950s, but evidently not. It was first synthesized by Dr. Albert Hoffman in 1938, meaning that Betty White was 16 years old when the world instantly became a more interesting place.
Nuclear Fission
The discovery of nuclear fission was made the same year LSD was first synthesized (in fact, these discoveries were literally a few weeks apart), but while LSD was synthesized in Sweden, nuclear fission was discovered in Germany.
Bean Bag Chair
You know, I’ve never really given much thought as to when/where these things came from. And never in a million years would I answer “Italy in 1969,” which seems too… Soon. In any case, that’s their origin.
Barbie
Arguably one of the most iconic toys of all time, Barbie wasn’t unveiled until 1959. At that point, Betty White was 37 years old and had already starred in four different TV shows.
Big Mac
Again, I always thought Big Macs were older in the sense that I thought they were created in the 1950s. A McDonalds in Pittsburgh debuted the item in 1967, making it one of the “newer” inventions we’ve talked about here.
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Unless it's an avocado refrigerator.