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Invent Now looks for new and creative ways to spread the inventive spirit, developing a range of creative products, programs and innovative partnerships that emphasize the importance of invention in society.

Everything you need to know about beards.

Thomas Edison's failed inventions.

7 strange inventions from Japan.

• It was 1886 and pharmacist John Pemberton  just couldn't get his magical medicine to work. It was supposed to cure tiredness and sore teeth but about the only thing going for it was that it tasted good. It was Coca-cola. Which now sells a billion drinks a day.
• When little Frank Epperson was asked to stir a fruit drink by his mum in 1905, he thought better of it and went off to play. It stood overnight on the porch. Bu morning it had frozen stiff with the spoon stuck straight in. Frank was in trouble. And the world has the popsicle.
• In 1928, Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming left an experiment by an open window. By morning his bacteria samples had gone mouldy. But instead of throwing them out, he looked closer and found that the mould was gradually dissolving harmful bacteria. Turns out he'd only gone and discovered penicillin - the wonder antibiotic used to save billions of lives.
• In 1853 New York there was a picky customer. And a very grumpy chef. The customer demanded that his potatoes be cut thinner and fried longer. Furious the chef cut them very thin, fried them for ages and covered them in salt. The customer asked for more. Hooray! The crisp was born.
• Christopher Columbus was an explorer looking for Asia. But in 1492 he sailed the wrong way and ended up in an entirely different continent. He didn't realise at the time and announced, quite smugly, that ho hum, he was in Asia. And so it was that America was discovered.
• Walking across deserts is thirsty work. So, hundreds of years ago, an Arabian merchant had an idea. He'd carry his precious milk in a pouch made from a sheep's stomach. But chemicals from the pouch and the heat of the desset turned the milk into cheese. Lovely on toast. Crummy if you want a drink.
• Walking on a ship deck in 1943 an engineer watched, interested as a coiled spring fell to the floor and sort of slinked around. Hmm. He thought. Later he and his wife made their own spiral at home, dropped it from the top step and watched it slinky-dink down to the bottom step. Of almost every house in America.