1503: Leonardo da
Vinci designs the first fog nozzle. It bears a striking resemblance to the
Selecto-o-matic. Unfortunately, the
design is on the back of the Mona Lisa, so no one notices for over 500
years.
1630: Galileo’s lab assistant suggested that flowing water
through the tubes he had shaped for his invention the telescope could be a good
way to put fires out. Galileo scoffs at
the idea. His lab assistant, Alfredo Taskforce Tipiano decides to immigrate to
America with his wife and six sons as soon as someone opens a good pizza place
there.
1737: Samuel Akron, a volunteer firefighter in Philadelphia,
puts his finger over the tip of a pressurized leather hose, generating a spray.
He takes his idea to Ben Franklin, the
inventor of the bucket and smooth bore. Ben tell him it’s a stupid idea and
returns to flying his kite.
1780: An American Indian inventor, Big Water Elk-hart,
graduates from engineering school and as his first project, designs a nozzle
with a straight stream and impinging jet fog. He tells friends, “I bet the Navy
and Coast Guard—when they get formed—would like this.” His friend laugh and Elk-hart, depressed and
disappointed, goes for a pizza at the Taskforce Tipano Family Pizzeria. He sits
down over a pepperoni and sausage with Alfredo Tipiano III and pulls out the
parchment showing his design. Tipiano tells him “my nonno had a similar idea
once” and the rest is history.
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