What was invented in DFW?

[aceplace]

Maybe we in Dallas-Fort Worth can stop putting ourselves down, believing in our bogus crime rate, and hold off on self flagellating our dignity. I'd like to open a discussion of what DFW has given the world, technically, culturally and legally.

Legally:

. Roe vs Wade. Henry Wade was the Dallas county district attorney
. Jack Ruby. His guilt was established on TV

Culturally:

. The Corny Dog
. The frozen margarita
. Barney the Dinosaur
. Benji
. JR Ewing
. Neiman-Marcus
. Van Cliburn
. Van Cliburn piano festival
. Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders
. Thanksgiving Day football

Technically:

. Liquid Paper correction fluid
. DLP projection technology
. The ATM
. the credit card
. the computer chip
. SABRE aircraft reservation system
. Aircraft hub-and-spoke flight

[Route Pack Six]

I believe the laser designator/laser-guided weapons were also developed here by TI during the latter years of the Vietnam War. I seem to recall a story where the TI guys would use the various water towers across North Dallas as targets for their prototype laser designators to see if the seeker heads planned for the LGBs would pick up and lock onto the "sparkle".

I wouldn't count it as invented here, but the current terminal at Dallas Love Field when it first opened was the first in the country to have moving sidewalks.

Bell Helicopter has long worked on its tilt-rotor aircraft designs here in the area, from the XV-15 demonstrator that first flew in 1977 to the current V-22 Osprey and the civil BA609.

[dfwcre8tive]

Some items invented in Dallas (from The Dallas Morning News: 5/6/99)

* The nation's first convenience stores, the vast 7-Eleven chain, now in 18 countries, started here in 1922.
* Henry Garrett invented the first car radio in the early 1920s and possibly the first automatic electric traffic light.
* In 1931, Highland Park Village opened, the first shopping center with stores surrounding a central parking area.
* In 1938, Hillcrest State Bank opened the first drive-up bank window.
* The first integrated circuit, which became the microchip, was invented by Jack Kilby in 1958 at Texas Instruments.
* The idea for the ubiquitous ATM machine came from Don Wetzel in the 1960s.
* The frozen margarita was invented by Dallas restauranteur Mariano Martinez in 1971.
* Inspired by his daughter's Super Ball, Dallas' Lamar Hunt, owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, coined "Super Bowl."
* Barney, the lovable purple dinosaur of Public Broadcasting, comes from Dallas area, as does the smart, history-loving dog, Wishbone.

[dfwcre8tive]

The hydrogen-powered car in 1935?

http://www.rexresearch.com/hyfuel/garrett/garrett.htm

[dfwcre8tive]

Voice Mail

U.S. Patent No. 4,371,752 is the pioneer patent for what evolved into voice mail, and that patent belongs to Gordon Matthews. Gordon Matthews held over thirty-three patents. Gordon Matthews was the founder of the VMX company in Dallas, Texas that produced the first commercial voice mail system, he has become known as the "Father of Voice Mail."

[dfwcre8tive]

Electronic tolls

Throwing quarters in a tollbooth bin became a thing of the past when the North Texas Tollway Authority started its TollTag system in the Dallas area in 1989. Now, millions of commuters prepay tolls and rely on electronic gadgets attached to their cars to zip through toll plazas.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/top25-inventions.htm

[Geaux Tigers]

Monty Python

KERA was the first television station in the USA to broadcast "Monty Python's Flying Circus" in May 1975 after it had ended its run on BBC. One of the guys responsible for this introduction? Bob Wilson (father of Luke and Owen Wilson) who was president of KERA at the time.

[jdwillis]

It may not have been invented in DFW, but Garrett Metal Detectors not only began in Garland in 1964, but it is currently expanding its facility. Anyone who has walked through a metal detector or had a metal detector wand passed around his/her body should recognize the name "Garrett" as it was likely the name on the equipment being used.

The company was started in a Garland home garage by a former TI engineer who helped design electronics for the F-111 aircraft, equipment for the Mariner II spacecraft, and seismographic equipment planted on the Moon by Neil Armstrong in 1969.

TI has given DFW a lot of spinoff inventions and innovations since their engineers seemingly started a lot of successful business in their home garages. Businesses like Garrett Metal Detectors that are worldwide leaders in their fields and highly successful enterprises in their own rights.

[freewaytincan]

...the first automatic electric traffic light.

I think that distinction might belong to Berlin.

[gc]

Great list guys/gals. I am sure there are countless others.

[RobertB]

Athens, which is pretty close to Dallas (at least in terms of a state the size of Texas), is one of the top three claimants to the title of "Original Home of the Hamburger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburger#U.S._hamburger_origins)".

[Highway 6]

Wasn't Jimmy Neutron also created in Dallas?

[br.reese]

Barney

[Haretip]

Folks went hog wild when the first Pig Stand opened in Dallas in 1921. Agile "car hops" leaped onto running boards of Model-Ts to deliver "curb service" to a generation on the go. It was the age of the automobile, and Pig Stands multiplied across America faster than you can say "soooo-eeee." It took the Great Depression of the '30s to slow "The Pig" down. Pig Stands, pioneers in franchising, pared down to concentrate on company-owned Texas stands, which continued to lead the way in dining innovations. Besides offering the world the first drive-in dining and drive-through window, Pig Stands introduced the taste buds of the world to onion rings in the '20s, "Texas Toast" and the chicken-fried steak sandwich in the '40s. Of course, their best-known offering is their original, trademarked "Pig Sandwich," featuring tender, sliced barbecue pork with relish and sauce on a bun.

[Hi5ingmf9]

I thought ATMs where from the UK

[BigD5349]

Monty Python

KERA was the first television station in the USA to broadcast "Monty Python's Flying Circus" in May 1975 after it had ended its run on BBC. One of the guys responsible for this introduction? Bob Wilson (father of Luke and Owen Wilson) who was president of KERA at the time.

Here's a fun video of the guys from Monty Python in the KERA studio in 1975.

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