Fascinating Facts to Inspire Your Own Cracking Ideas

If you're not already bursting with inspiration, these Fascinating Facts will help get you going! Read the incredible stories of other successful innovators and discover how they achieved their goals. There are handy tips on becoming an innovator, and loads of impressive and successful inventions that make our everyday lives easier.

• 600 pieces of LEGO® are made every second to keep up with demand.
• A 7-year-old once got online faster than a Stanford University MBA student by using an iMac rather than a Hewlett Packard.
• The World Wide Web is so vast and complex that human beings can't navigate it without the help of web browsers.
• Plasticine® is highly flammable - the original factory burned down in 1963!
• Michael Faraday changed society forever when he built the world's first dynamo.
• Rubber is used in all sorts of everyday items, from clothing to laptops.
• 1-in-3 people in the UK owns a bicycle.
• You can get special waterproof TV sets for the bathroom.
• Jeans are the most popular clothing product in the world.
• The world's first recorded flight reached speeds of 6.8mph. The speed record now stands at 7000mph!
• Paige Allen invented inflatable FruityFaces® to stop children's fruit getting bruised in their school bags.
• No manufacturer was interested in Trevor Baylis' clockwork radio - until it appeared on Tomorrow's World.
• Windscreen wipers were invented by Mary Anderson in 1903.
• JK Rowling's Harry Potter books have sold nearly 400 million copies.

• Aardman's roots can be traced back to a kitchen table where its founders first began experimenting with animation.
• What do you call a smoke detector that doesn't require batteries? The brilliant plug-in FireAngel®.
• James Dyson first came up with his idea for bag-less vacuum cleaners in the 1970s.
• Without the invention of refrigerated long haul trucks, our fresh food wouldn't be fresh at all!
• Meccano® was patented in 1901 as 'Improvements in Toy or Educational Devices for Children and Young People.'
• The collapsible pushchair was invented by a former test pilot.
• Heelys® wheeled shoes are available in over 50 countries.
• The Sony PS3® is the fastest-selling games console ever.
• The first camera phone was built in 1997.
• Bicycle helmets started life in the 1970s.
• The first ever tin cans could only be opened with brute force.
• The secret KFC® recipe is a blend of 11 herbs and spices.
• Energy saving light bulbs use only 20% of the power of standard bulbs.
• There are over 2,000 FAIRTRADE products on sale in the UK.
• Sonic toothbrushes use tiny but powerful waves to dislodge plaque.