In Brief: 10 Things That Had Not Been Invented When Joe Biden Was Born
Cognitive decline in the president is painfully evident because he’s no spring chicken.
“Joe Biden is very old. He was born closer to the Battle of Gettysburg than the 2024 election,” wrote Eric Levitz at Vox. Well, that got Hot Air’s John Sexton thinking: “Just how old is Joe Biden?”
Of course we all know he’s 81 now. He was born November 20, 1942. But what does that mean in terms of the world he was born into compared to the one we’re in today. It got me thinking about things that didn’t exist when Joe Biden was born and I quickly came up with a list. Some of these may surprise you.
The Slinky, which “was invented in 1943.”
The Atomic Bomb — “the first successful test of an atomic bomb didn’t happen until July 16, 1945.”
Mass-produced Penicillin — Testing began in the late 1920s, but “it wasn’t until 1942 that the first use of penicillin to cure a patient of an infection which would otherwise have killed him,” and it wasn’t available to the general public until 1943.
The Microwave Oven — “an American physicist named Percy Spencer” developed the idea while working at Raytheon, which patented the idea in 1945.
Tupperware — “Earl Tupper formed a company to manufacture plastic products in 1938 but it wasn’t until after the war that his tinkering led to the creation of the Tupperware ‘wonderbowl.’”
Semiconductor Transistors — In 1947, three scientists at Bell Labs developed these while looking for an alternative to electronic circuits that “used vacuum tubes which were fragile and prone to burning out.”
The Frisbee — Throwing pie tins from the Frisbie Pie Company began in the late 1800s, but in 1948, Walter Frederick Morrison “designed a plastic frisbee called the Flyin’ Saucer which didn’t dent as easily.”
Jet Airliners — Aviation was making major advances, but commercial jet airliners didn’t exist until after “the first prototype flew in 1949.”
Credit Cards — “The first credit card was invented in 1950 by a businessman who forgot his wallet on a trip out to dinner.”
Velcro — “The idea for Velcro first came to George de Mestral in 1941 while walking his dog. But the fully designed product wasn’t patented until 1955.”
Sexton concludes:
There are many other common things which could be included on this list, everything from Superglue to lasers to transistor radios to solar cells to McDonalds restaurants. But I think the point is made. Joe Biden is really, really old.
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- John Sexton
