I learned about four inventions this week and they were blue jeans, fire sprinklers, QWERTY keyboard, and the dental drill. First, I learned about blue jeans. Levi Strauss, born in 1829 in Germany, had his family enter the dry goods business and moved to San Francisco during the gold rush. Blue jeans are made from denim and are more durable than work pants. They are part of a cow boy uniform and sometimes are referred to as Levis. 

Second, I learned about fire sprinklers. Henry Parmalee, born in 1846 in Ohio, faced high insurance costs for his piano factory. Fire sprinklers activate automatically after it detects heat. Grinnel launched the modern fire protection industry and they reduce damage and repair costs.

Third, I learned about the QWERTY keyboard. Christopher Latham was a sholes editor in Wisconsin and improved the typewriter. The QWERTY keyboard optimizes typing speed and you can type 100 words per minute. It was very successful and the DVORAK layout was invented in 1936.

Finally, I learned about the dental drill. Before the dental drill, there was the clockwork drill and the air drill. Soon after, in 1875, George Green invented the dental drill. It was vital for fixing tooth problems and used in filling cavities. It changed dentistry forever and modern dentistry minimizes the pain.