Original photo by FreshSplash/ iStock
One small step for man took place before astronauts could even roll their suitcases across the spaceport. The first wheeled suitcase was invented in 1970, a year after the moon landing. It was the brainchild of inventor Bernard D. Sadow, who called it one of his best ideas, despite the fact that the product wasn’t immediately popular.
Mind you, this wasn’t the upright luggage we know today. “The Luggage That Glides,” as Macy’s marketed the product after buying it, rolled on its side and was pulled with a strap attached to the top. The innovation may not have been very sophisticated, but it nonetheless improved ease and convenience by adding wheels to something that could certainly use them.
Oops, incorrect!
It's a fibThat title belongs to the humble fruit fly, which the U.S. launched 68 miles into space on February 20, 1947, to study high-altitude radiation exposure.
Sadow applied for a patent in 1970 and received it in 1972. “Whereas formerly, luggage would be handled by porters and be loaded or unloaded at points convenient to the street, the large terminals of today, particularly air terminals, have increased the difficulty of baggage-handling,” the patent stated. “Baggage-handling has become perhaps the biggest single difficulty encountered by an air passenger.” That remains true today, even with the 1987 invention of the vertical Rollaboard, the now-ubiquitous style of vertical wheeled suitcases.
Numbers Don't Lie
More Interesting Reads
The world’s bestselling luggage brand is ______.
Ready to reveal?
Confirm your email to play the next question?
The world’s bestselling luggage brand is Samsonite.
No one has walked on the moon in more than 50 years.
A dozen people have walked on the moon, but no one has done it in more than half a century. Eugene A. Cernan was the last astronaut on the lunar surface, a feat he achieved as part of the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972. He previously served as the lunar module pilot of Apollo 10.
Cernan logged 566 hours and 15 minutes in space throughout his NASA career, 73 hours of which were spent on the surface of the moon. “As I take man’s last step from the surface, back home for some time to come … America’s challenge of today has forged man’s destiny of tomorrow,” he said as he climbed the ladder for the final time.
Michael Nordine is a writer and editor living in Denver. A native Angeleno, he has two cats and wishes he had more.
top picks from the Inbox Studio network
Interesting Facts is part of Inbox Studio, an email-first media company. *Indicates a third-party property.
