A little boy had been pawing over the stock of greeting cards at a stationery store.
After a few minutes the clerk became curious and asked, "Just what is it you're looking for, sonny? Birthday greeting? Message to a sick friend? Anniversary congratulations to your mom and dad?"
The boy shook his head, "No."
"Then what kind of card is it that you want?" asked the clerk.
The boy answered wistfully, "Got anything in the line of blank report cards?"
PatentsIn 1873, the first U.S. patent for a gold crown was issued: to Dr. John B. Beers of San Francisco, California on "artificial crowns for teeth" (No. 144,182). His technique was to prepare a hollow metal crown which would be slipped over the projecting portion of the old tooth and secured to it so that it would continue to function for chewing as before, while also preventing further decay. A gold screw was mounted in the old tooth, the hollow crown slipped over it and cemented with oxychloride of zinc. This replaced the old method of restoring decayed or broken teeth by condensing gold upon it with a hammer until it had taken the desired shape - which difficult process was costly, tedious, and frequently resulted in inflammation from the hammering on the jaw. |
