You know the saying, "It only takes one person to make a difference?" That goes for people of all ages. Check out these kids who made history with their inventions.
Alaska Flag
The state flag of Alaska was designed by 13 year-old Bennie Benson from Chignik, Alaska in 1926. His design was chosen from a flag-designing contest. It became the official flag in 1959. The blue background is for the sky and the forget-me-not, the state flower. The flag also has the Big Dipper (a symbol of strength) and the North Star (also called Polaris) which represents Alaska's northern location. For winning the contest Bennie won a $1000 scholarship and a watch.
The Popsicle
Not all inventions are created by scientists with frizzy hair and forgetful memories. Frank Epperson invented the Popsicle in 1905 when he was only 11 years old. It was called the Epsicle back then. Frank left his drink outside on the porch overnight with the stir stick in it. That night the temperature dropped and froze things, including Frank's drink. That didn't stop him from tasting it. 18 years later Frank began his own business selling Epsicles in several fruit flavors. Later, his children changed the name. Just over 1 billion, yes billion, Popsicles are eaten in the US each year. Out of the 30 flavors to choose from, orange has usually been the favorite.
The Calculator
Who would have thought the calculator was a poor seller? In 1642 Blaise Pascal designed the first counting machine when he was 18. The machine was for his father, a tax collector, to make his job easier. Blaise named it the Pascaline. It was able to add two decimals together and subtract. He made about 50 of them but nobody was interested. People thought it would take jobs away. Blaise was obviously ahead of his time. 300 years went by before the calculator finally became a success. In 1968 the programming language, PASCAL, was named after him.
Do you know any kid who's made a difference? They don't have to be inventors or even brianiacs. Maybe this person was the first eight year-old to ride across Canada on a unicyle.
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