When I used to think of inventors, I pictured old men with grey beards. I pictured white lab coats and smoky beakers. I was surprised to learn that young people have created many world-changing inventions. 

Like 15-year old Albert Sadacca, who invented Christmas tree lights. The year was 1917. The place was New York city. Someone was hanging candles from a Christmas tree, as was common at that time. This started a tragic fire. Sadacca's parents sold electric lighting in their shop. Young Albert thought to adapt these lights for use on Christmas trees. This turned out to be a pretty bright idea. 

Another 12-year old visionary was Louis Braille. Braille was blind in both eyes.  In 1819 young Louis was attending one of the world's first schools for blind children. He learned a system of touch-based literacy, but it was hard for him to write. Braille sought a better way to communicate with his classmates. He wanted to write freely, without needing special equipment. So he taught himself a system of night-writing used in the military. Then he made a few changes to it. By the time he turned 15, he had created Braille. People with visual impairments today still use Braille to read and write.

Another cool kid who changed the world was 11-year old Frank Epperson. Frank was chilling on his porch one night in 1905. He went to bed and forgot his cup of lemonade on the porch. When he woke the next morning, young Frank realized that he had created the world's first Popsicle. He would later patent the concept and trademark the name "Popsicle." Frank's idea was so successful that many people still call ANY frozen treat a Popsicle.
Speaking of cool kids, 15-year old Chester Greenwood was ice-skating one day in 1873. Naturally, as tends to happen during winter play, his ears got cold. Chester had a clever idea. He asked his grandma to sew some fur tufts to a wire loop that he had fashioned. His design worked well! He had invented earmuffs. He patented his "ear protectors" as he called them. They were manufactured in his hometown of Farmington, Maine. Greenwood's one good idea provided jobs for people in the Farmington area for 60 years. 



Margaret E. Knight is another young person who became a small town hero. She is best remembered as the woman who invented the flat-bottomed paper bag. But she made her first life-saving device at the age of 12. Her brothers were working at a textile mill in town. One day she was visiting them. A loom malfunctioned and injured a worker. She thought she could make the machines safer. She invented an effective system. Her method was later used in many factories. She saved a lot of lives. And we still use the paper bag design that she created in 1868. How many lives have those saved? Am I right?



Some young people feel powerless. They feel like they are living in an adult world, created by adults for adults. But the truth is that everyone has the power to change the world. A 12 year-old girl growing up in 1868 made factories safer. A 15 year-old boy, blind in both eyes, made written communication more accessible. An 11 year-old forgot to put away his drink and it froze. Who knows what's in store for your future?
Please make me five fill in the blanks and five short questions from this passage.