Spanish Firsts?

[Simon Deeley]

Somebody yesterday made me think of 'Firsts'.

Personally I've been struggling, for a while, to think of a good topic of discussion for this forum and, indeed, even the podcasts.

Spanish Firsts?

Y'know. Inventions. Record breakers. Obviously discoveries and 'achievements' in the New World could probably go without saying.
What I'm really interested in is those grand inventions that maybe most people (in the western world) take for granted.

Like... who invented the microwave... I don't really care that much who invented that but I'd love to know more about the genius of Spain.

Rock on...

[Pepino]

Apparently, a Galician called Alejandro Finisterre invented Table Football. :)

[Simon Deeley]

And may he be congratulated thoroughly.

Hopefully he made his 'million' from that.

On that note... has anybody invented table rugby... there must be a way to make that work!

[RojiBlanco34]

Spain colonized the new world, does that count?

[Simon Deeley]

Spain colonized the new world, does that count?

Yeah, but no.

I wanna know about stuff like table football and all that.

Anyway... it wasn't all of the new world. And they weren't the first really.

There were people already. I believe they greeted the 'conquistadores'
Or as we say in English, conquistadors!

arf arf!

[lenox]

The auto-gyro came from Spain - it's a type of helicopter with a free-wheeling propellor to hold it up. Sometimes.
They also claim the submarine. The second oldest one is on a roundabout in Cartagena - the oldest one was destroyed in a fire while they were setting up the EXPO 92 in Seville.
I know a chap from Almería who invented the garlic-peeler. Made some money and found fame. The feeling around here - they should have put him on a stamp.

[omeyas]

Spain has a pretty miserable record when it comes to inventing anything of note. The auto gyro always comes up, and the submarine, but there seems to be some doubt about that. In fact the lack of inventions caused the famous Spanish philosopher (amongst other things) to come up with his famous line, "Que inventen ellos". I think some wag has since altered that to “ que inventen ellos, que para eso les pagamos los royalties“ ):)

[Realaficionada21]

I had an econ teacher in Spain tell me that the Spanish have only invented two things: the mop bucket that squeezes the water from the mop, and chupa-chups (the lollipop/sucker).

[Acosta]

They also claim the submarine. The second oldest one is on a roundabout in Cartagena - the oldest one was destroyed in a fire while they were setting up the EXPO 92 in Seville.
I know a chap from Almería who invented the garlic-peeler. Made some money and found fame. The feeling around here - they should have put him on a stamp.


I saw the sub when I was in Cartagena, interesting. my spanish friend had some doubt about the legitamancy of the claim (or he was just being nice)

[omeyas]

I had an econ teacher in Spain tell me that the Spanish have only invented two things: the mop bucket that squeezes the water from the mop, and chupa-chups (the lollipop/sucker).

Yep, that could be about it! Did they invent the siesta?

[ValenciaSon]

I believe it was a Spaniard who developed the chorizo:rolleyes:

[JorgeM]

I'm spanish and I can't say that here we have a lot of good inventors but... we did some good things. Check this out, mates:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_Torres_Quevedo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severo_Ochoa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago_Ram%C3%B3n_y_Cajal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fausto_Elhuyar

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Servetus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9s_Manuel_del_R%C3%ADo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathieu_Orfila

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_de_Vitoria

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isidore_of_Seville

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_de_Nebrija

Enjoy! we are not so bad at all ;D

[gtappend]

Apparently they invented graded lenses for glasses in 1623. Until then it was a matter of trial and error as to which set of glasses helped you to see better.

[Dave_K]

I had an econ teacher in Spain tell me that the Spanish have only invented two things: the mop bucket that squeezes the water from the mop, and chupa-chups (the lollipop/sucker).

Lol, that reminds me of a spat my wife and I had. She said that a Spaniard, that is still alive today (and who is godfather to one of her friends), invented the mop. I told her I couldn't believe her (this is what the spat was about:rolleyes:) that the mop was invented as late as the 20th century. After some googling, we found out that what Manuel Jalon Corominas invented was the the one-piece mop-bucket/wringer thing in 1956. But what was more shocking to me was finding out that the mop itself was only invented in 1893 (all hands and knees before then). A rag-on-a-stick seems such a obvious "invention"! (in hindsight)

The Spanish mop man is well known and revered in Spain even today, according to my wife, something of a Spanish Thomas Edison (has a bunch of other patents, including one for some type of disposable syringe) and is even seen as a liberator of women, of sorts ("El hombre que nos puso de pie" was the title of a recent El Mundo piece on him).

[Katie L]

Ok, I am really glad someone posted this, because it reminded me...

When I was in Spain, my host sister, a marketing student, told me that a Spaniard invented the THE ORIGINAL FORMULA FOR COCA-COLA. I did not believe her. She said there's a documentary about it that was made by the company Inditex (which owns Zara, Bershka, Stradavarius, etc). According to her, it was then purchased by Americans.

Then I said that Coca-Cola used to contain cocaine, and my whole family said, "No...MENTIRAS!" So apparently that's not true?

I tried to search for more info about this but came up with nothing. Anyone know if this is true at all??

(This all started because it was the day that I learned Coke is "very Spanish" in the exact same way it is "very American" and the idea blew my mind)

[Dave_K]

When I was in Spain, my host sister, a marketing student, told me that a Spaniard invented the THE ORIGINAL FORMULA FOR COCA-COLA. I did not believe her. She said there's a documentary about it that was made by the company Inditex (which owns Zara, Bershka, Stradavarius, etc). According to her, it was then purchased by Americans.

Then I said that Coca-Cola used to contain cocaine, and my whole family said, "No...MENTIRAS!" So apparently that's not true?



I've never heard of a Spaniard being linked to the invention of Coca-Cola, but a case could be made that the precursor to Coca-Cola was a copy of the then-popular Vin Mariani coca wine, which was invented by a Frenchman. Wine and cocaine. With the temperance movement sweeping the US, Coca-Cola removed the wine from their concoction, but kept the cocaine, and marketed it as a more wholesome alternative to the alcoholic Vin Mariani and similar "elixirs". This was around 1900.

[gtappend]

Then I said that Coca-Cola used to contain cocaine, and my whole family said, "No...MENTIRAS!" So apparently that's not true?


You have to distinguish between coca leaves and cocaine.

Coca is a plant that grows in South America and produces green leaves that are used for making tea which helps overcome altitude sickness. The tea is either served in tea bags mixed, sometimes mixed with other tea leaves, or literally made from placing the leaves in a cup of boiling water.

I've drunk both forms (in Bolivia) and found the tea bag form tasted something like chamomile tea. The leaf form was somewhat rougher. On reflexion, the leaf form was server at higher altitudes, maybe because it's stronger?

The leaves are also chewed by workers in the mines of Potosí to help with the altutide and to stop them getting hungry on their longs shifts.

Cocaine is a product of the same coca-leaf, but that does not mean that all products of coca have cocaine in them.

Apparently coca-cola used to use be made with coca leaves that still had the active stimulant in it, and in 1903 they changed to using "spent leaves", which had the stimulant from which cocaine is made removed. [See Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca_cola) and this link (http://www.uic.edu/classes/osci/osci590/9_3%20The%20Legal%20Importation%20of%20Coca%20Leaf .htm)]

[Dave_K]

You have to distinguish between coca leaves and cocaine.

Cocaine is a product of the same coca-leaf, but that does not mean that all products of coca have cocaine in them.


This is true, but only in the same way that "Not all coffee products have caffeine in them" is true. That is, the only time they don't have caffeine is when it has been intentionally extracted. It's not like there are de-caffeinated coffee beans growing on a bush, just like there are not cocaine and de-cocainized versions of the coca leaf in nature.

The very early Coca-Cola concoctions definitely had cocaine in them. And it was intentionally there for its psychostimulant effects. Around 1900, similar "patent medicines" and "elixirs" containing, among other things, morphine, opium, cocaine, and alcohol were very popular, and legal, in the US. People had unfettered access to all these drugs, and many took advantage of that access, until 1914 (Harrison Narcotics Act).

Here is one early ad for Coca-Cola (note the temperance angle they work):
http://projects.olin.edu/ahs/HOT2004/PolarBears/COKESIGN.jpg

[Edith]

Spain colonized the new world, does that count?

Hmm no, let's skip that one, this was a very violent and painful episode for the native people, many of whom were enslaved, put to work as peons or even wiped out in the process (e.g. in the West Indies) despite colonial legislation which was supposed to 'protect' them. Definitely not something to celebrate.

On the other hand, does music count? Without Spain, there would be no Latin American music :thumbs-up: - every country in Latin America has got its own kind, but Spanish elements are a common denominator to all.

[Edith]

Lollipops, of course!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chupa_Chups

[parubin]

The modern day guitar was invented in Spain, when a sixth string was added to the Arab lute.

More about the history of this great musical instrument
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar