Amazing Things That Are Turning 100 Years Old In 2021

One hundred years is a very long time. When it is broken down, it is approximately 36,500 days (depending on leap years, of course), or 1,200 months, or 10 decades, or one century. To last for such a long period is a remarkable achievement that takes stamina, wit, flexibility, and resilience.

I thought that it would be interesting to take a look at some things that will (or already have) be turning 100 years old in 2021.

You can click on the links that I have provided beneath each photo for more interesting information.

The Robot

The term "robot" was used for the first time in a play called R.U.R., which stood for Rossum's Universal Robots. The play premiered at the National Theatre in Prague, and the term referred to an artificial person. It was based on the Czech word for "forced labor" and was invented by Karel Capek.

The Lie Detector

This first polygraph machine was invented in Berkeley, California, by police officer John Augustus Larson, who used it in forensics to determine the guilt or innocence of criminals. Its credibility has been disputed ever since. Psychologist William Moulton Marston pioneered a systolic blood pressure test on which the machine was based.

White Castle

The family-owned burger business now in its fourth generation was started by Billy Ingram who sold square burgers for 5 cents back in 1921. The slider had such an impact on the burger industry that Time magazine named the Original Slider the most influential burger of all time in 2014.

Leaded Gasoline

Known as tetraethyl lead, leaded gasoline was found to reduce engine knocking by raising the octane of gasoline. This discovery made by General Motors automotive engineers was an important one because lead became the preferred gasoline due to its low production cost. In the mid-1970s, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began phasing it out because it discovered the serious health impact of lead exposure.

Chanel No. 5

Coco Chanel wanted a scent that embodied the modern woman she represented. Using aldehydes in the perfume, Chanel wanted a fragrance that smelled fresh and clean. With a bottle designed to look like a whiskey decanter and a mix of vanilla, sandalwood, jasmine, and rose, a classic fragrance was born. It is still one of the most popular perfumes in the world.

The Laughing Cow cheese

Created in Lons, France, the cheese wrapped in aluminum foil in individual wedges was manufactured in the U.S. beginning in 1975. In 2016, they added a new product called Cheese Dippers. Fromageries Bel, the parent company of Laughing Cow cheese, is headquartered in Paris.

Baby Ruth Candy Bar

Invented in 1921 by the Curtiss Candy Company, Baby Ruth was the official candy bar of Major League Baseball. While it is often thought that the candy concoction was named after baseball great Babe Ruth, this is hotly debated. No matter who it was named for, the candy bar still manages to make people happy and was awarded the 2020 Product of the Year in its category.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

This memorial in Arlington National Cemetery marks the final resting place of an unidentified World War I service member as well as unknown soldiers from later wars whose remains were laid to rest in the marble-white sarcophagus.

Tuberculosis Vaccine

Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is a vaccine created to fight tuberculosis. French bacteriologists Albert Calmette and Camille Guérin worked on the vaccine for 13 years before its completion in 1921. The first trial of the vaccine took place at Charité Hospital, Paris.

Wonder Bread

This classic cupboard staple was introduced to the public in May 1921. Its name and colorful packaging were inspired by hot air balloons seen by Taggart Baking Company executive Elmer Cline. 100 years later, it is still the top-selling bread in America.

Rorschach Inkblot Test

This psychological test consists of 10 inkblots pictured on cards. Five of the cards feature color, and five are black and white. Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach created the test, which was first introduced with the publication of “Psychodiagnostik” in 1921.

Television

Teenage farm boy Philo Taylor Farnsworth came up with the idea for the image dissector a century ago. It was an electron tube also known as a television transmission tube that was essential in the creation of modern television. Farnsworth went on to invent many useful things in his lifetime and hold hundreds of patents.

Cheez-It

Green & Green Company first introduced Cheez-It crackers in Dayton, Ohio, on March 31. Through a series of acquisitions, Cheez-It is now owned by Kellogg. There are several variations of the cheesy cracker.

America's First Museum of Modern Art

Located in Washington D.C., the museum is honoring its 100th anniversary with several centennial exhibits. Opened by collector and philanthropist Duncan Phillips who founded the museum with his mother in 1918, it didn’t open until the fall of 1921. The Phillips employs a Chief Diversity Officer who helps to make sure a diverse range of artists, including women and people of color, are represented.

Betty Crocker

Born in 1921, Betty Crocker inspired women in the kitchen, helping them with some of their most pressing questions and issues. Or at least that was the idea that the Washburn-Crosby Company had in mind when they created Betty Crocker as part of an advertising campaign. Her surname came from the retired director of the company, and the name Betty was simply considered wholesome, even her signature was artifice as it came from a signature writing contest.

The Roller Coaster

100 years ago the very first roller coaster was created. LaMarcus Adna Thompson obtained one of the first known patents for a roller coaster design. The oldest roller coasters are believed to have originated from the so-called "Russian Mountains", specially constructed hills of ice located in the area that is now Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Insulin

Before insulin was discovered, people with Type 1 diabetes weren't expected to live for long. That changed in 1921 when Frederick Banting and his assistant Charles Best managed to remove insulin from a dog's pancreas. They enlisted the help of two colleagues, J.B. Collip and John Macleod for the first human trial in January 1922 on a 14-year-old boy named Leonard Thompson who was dying in a Toronto hospital of diabetes. Thompson's blood glucose levels dropped to near-normal levels, and the researchers won the Nobel Prize in Medicine.

Eskimo Pie

The first chocolate-covered ice cream bar, the I-Scream Bar, was created by Christian Kent Nelson. In 1921, the dessert changed its name to Eskimo Pie. In 2021, it will undergo another name change to Edy’s Pie after one of Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream founders, Joseph Edy.

Lowe’s

The Lowe’s we know today started out as Lowe’s North Wilkesboro Hardware, a small-town hardware store in North Carolina. When founder L.S. Lowe died in 1940, his son Jim Lowe took over the hardware store. In 2016, Lowe’s expanded its reach when it acquired RONA in Canada.