Estimated read time: 7-8 minutes
Long before Silicon Slopes began, Utah has been a hotbed of innovation and entrepreneurship. In fact, some of the best minds and greatest inventions sprang from right here in the Beehive State. You've likely heard about a few of them, but there are a couple that may surprise you.
Some of these inventions saved lives and some were just for fun — but each of them has changed the world in some way. Here are six amazing inventions that got their start in Utah.
Modern hearing aids and stereo
The electronic hearing aid is another important invention that came about in Utah. According to the BYU Library, Provo native Harvey Fletcher "was a prominent physicist, renowned as the Father of stereophonic sound, credited with inventing the hearing aid and the first audiometer."
According to his obituary in the New York Times, he "directed pioneering work on sound in motion pictures, television, hearing aids and the transistor."
He also was successful in creating the first stereophonic records and the first live stereo sound transmission. He was known as the "father of stereophonic sound," according to Sound and Science.
Fletcher also was Director of Research at Bell Laboratories and founding dean of the College of Engineering at Brigham Young University.
Artificial heart
After several decades of research, the first artificial heart surgery was performed at the University of Utah in 1982. According to University of Utah Health, the team involved included:
- Dr. Willem Kolff, who immigrated to Utah from Holland and started the Department of Artificial Organs.
- Dr. William DeVries, who led the surgical team and implanted the heart.
- Dr. Robert Jarvik, who was the principal designer for the model of artificial heart used, the Jarvik-7.
- Dr. Don Olsen, the head veterinarian, who had led more than 300 animal trials for the artificial heart.
- Dr. George Pantalos, who came to the University of Utah in 1983 and was heavily involved with research after the operation.
- Barney Clark, who was the patient for the operation.
The operation made headlines around the world, but it would be the only time someone would get an artificial heart implant at U of U Health. Instead, doctors focused on using mechanical devices to help patients who were waiting for a biological heart.
The pedal steel guitar
If the name Alvino Rey doesn't sound familiar to you, now you'll never forget it. Rey was a pioneer in the music industry — specifically when it came to electric guitars.
He was not only a gifted musician and household name during the swing band era, but his family said "he sometimes considered himself more of a frustrated electrical engineer than a musician," according to Smithsonian Magazine. They say his invention of the electric lap steel guitar was used to build the first modern electric guitar. He then tweaked that invention to add pedals, creating the pedal steel guitar.
In a 2015 KSL article, writer Katrina Lynn Corbridge Hawkins notes, "While many people besides Alvino Rey deserve credit for first electrifying the guitar, Rey was the first to amplify the pedal steel guitar specifically. In fact, he invented the instrument — as his son Jon Rey explained."
The swing legend lived all over the country, but he spent the last several years of his life in Salt Lake City. In fact, according to a KSL article, his final show was in Provo in 2003.
Television
Arguably one of the most world-changing inventions of all time, the television got its start right here in Utah — though Idaho shares a portion of those bragging rights. Television's inventor, Philo T. Farnsworth, was born near Beaver, Utah, in 1906 before moving to Rigby, Idaho, when he was 12. It wasn't long before he came up with an idea that would radically alter the future.
Utah.gov reports, "When he was sixteen years old, Farnsworth drew a design for his chemistry teacher of an invention that he believed would transform electricity into pictures by controlling the speed and direction of fast-flying electrons. That means that Farnsworth began to design a television in high school!"
He was just 21 years old when he transferred the first successful image electronically. But the television was just one of many inventions and ideas that sprang from his work. He also influenced the invention of radar, electron microscopes and baby incubators. Unfortunately, he never got the credit he deserved while he was alive.
"Even though his inventions made a difference in people's lives, very few knew that Farnsworth invented them," Utah.gov states. "When he died, he did not have much money, and very few people knew who he was or his connection to his inventions."
Electric traffic light
People may criticize Utahns for their poor driving habits, but there's at least one Utahn who can take credit for making the roads a safer place. Back in 1912, Salt Lake police officer Lester F. Wire didn't feel safe standing out in the middle of the road directing traffic. To protect himself and others, he invented an electric device that could be operated from the side of the road to signal when drivers should stop and go. And thus, the first electric traffic light was born.
According to the Utah Department of Transportation, people thought the birdhouse-shaped signal with red and green lights was a joke at first and would knock it over in the night. After serving in World War I, Wire made some improvements to the design, which more closely resembled the traffic signals you see today.
"Effective signal coordination improves safety, saves fuel, reduces emissions, and enhances traffic flow, and to think it all had a start here in Utah," UDOT's website states.
Video games
All you gamers out there might be interested to learn that your favorite pastime was also born in Utah.
According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Nolan Bushnell invented Pong and founded Atari. He is "rightly considered the father of electronic gaming."
Bushnell grew up in Utah in the 1940s and attended the University of Utah, where he learned the basics of computer graphics. He invented his first computerized video game in 1970. A few years later, he created Pong — a video game version of ping pong. MIT says the game was so popular at the bar it debuted in that it broke down. The machine was stuffed with too many quarters!
Eventually, Bushnell sold his video game company, Atari, to Time Warner in 1976.
Far from being a time-waster, Bushnell believed video games were great for curiosity and creativity. His invention paved the way for many of the educational video games you see today.
What's next?
You might not use every invention on this list, but there's no denying the impact that each of these inventors has had on the world. And who knows? Maybe the next great Utah invention will come from you!
9 of the most impactful moments in modern Utah's history
In recent history, as in the last couple of centuries, lots of monumental events have taken place in Utah. Here is a look at some of the biggest moments in Utah's contemporary history, starting with its discovery by Europeans.Siegfried & Jensen
Since 1990, Siegfried & Jensen have been helping the people of Utah and surrounding states who have suffered needless injuries and death caused by car accidents, truck accidents, medical malpractice, defective drugs, dog bites, wrongful death, and other types of personal injury.
The firm is committed to keeping Utah families and communities safe by ensuring wrongdoers are held accountable. While a lawsuit isn't always the answer when it is needed having someone on your side can mean the difference between declaring bankruptcy and rebuilding your life and moving forward, especially when you're up against an insurance company or a hospital.
Siegfried & Jensen has represented more than 35,000 clients and recovered over $1.2 billion for them.
