Fire is the unsung hero of human evolution. We could not have turned into the big-brained, deep-thinking animals we are... more

For most of their history, High Heels were resolutely masculine. The most manly of manly footwear. How did they turn... more

What do all incredibly cool people have in common? They wear Sunglasses. Whether you're Miles Davis or Audrey Hepburn, James... more

The Titan submersible implosion was a tragic example of marine exploration going wrong. Today Dallas speaks to one of the... more

Why are men in charge? Who invented Patriarchy?Was it chest-thumping primate ancestors? Was it spear-wielding hunter gatherers? Was it at... more

In 1950, a new word ‘brainwashing’ entered the English language. From the paranoia of the Cold War a new type... more

No invention conjures up the 'Old World' as much as the Sword. It's an utterly iconic object that whisks us... more

In a leaky shed in Paris, Marie Curie turned two tons of pitchblende (aka special rocks) into a single test... more

Nanotechnology may seem like something from a sci-fi movie plot, but it’s a very real thing and has likely affected... more

Wernher von Braun launched America's space programme, and took Apollo 11 to the moon. He was also a Nazi member... more

What did humans do before calculators? How big was the very first electronic calculator? And what do monkey bones have... more

Robert Oppenheimer was the father of the atomic bomb - a weapon of unprecedented power, which, when dropped on Japan,... more

Was Coca Cola originally made with Cocaine? Did Coca Cola invent Santa? Who knows the Coca Cola recipe? Dallas is... more

Fritz Haber is an undisputed genius and is considered one of the most brilliant minds of the 20th Century. He’s... more

She’s the most famous cat’s in the world. She’s definitely the most expensive. She’s worth a cool $84.5 Billion. She’s... more

Isn’t it mind-blowing that a thermos flask can keep your drink hot or cold for 8 hours, despite what’s happening... more

Think about how intimate our relationship with technology is. In today’s day and age, it’s almost impossible to function in... more

Spearmint, peppermint, double-bubble. You may think that chewing gum is a modern invention, when in fact we've been chewing the... more

When you think about it, the Karaoke machine is a simple invention. Basically two existing inventions, the tape deck and... more

Communicating with the dead has a long and winding history. The rise of seances and the showmanship of paranormal activity... more

Fish and Chips. About 382 million portions of the iconic national dish are consumed every year. That works out to... more

They can survive in lava for half an hour and accelerations of 3,400 Gs. Their beacons can be detected 20,000... more

What was the first cinema? When were the heydays of cinema-going and where are we now? How has the experience... more

How do we go from wolves to modern dogs? And where do Killer Beavers fit into the story?Humans domesticated wolves... more

"Eject! Eject!" Imagine hearing that and the next second flying out into the sky at hundreds of miles an hour,... more

Every second McDonald’s sells 75 hamburgers. It serves 70 million customers each day (more than the population of the UK).... more

Who invented the Kitchen? It might seem silly to ask that but there is in fact one kitchen that people... more

The first ever Pride Flag was 30 ft high and 60 ft wide. A suitably epic beginning for a flag... more

Is the pencil an example of perfect design? What is the greatest pencil of all time? What does a fallen... more

In Victorian England, a prisoner was promised their freedom if only they could pick a lock...This week on Patented it's... more

Hold onto your lab coats, because the suffragette scientists are here to shake things up! Patricia Fara, author of A... more

Vulture. Snake. Baboon in a Basket. Get ready for hieroglyphs, history, and hilarity as Dallas talks to Egyptologist Chris Naunton.We... more

Stone Tools are technology 1.0. They’re where it all begins. For millions of years, Stone Tools were our primary piece... more

There's a theory that the invention of paint had something to do with the dawn of humanity. We are on... more

Giant mouse ears at the ready, we're off to Disneyland! Hop on board and travel with us inside Walt Disney's... more

The 15th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, published in 1974, cost $32 million to create. The largest investment in publishing... more

We live in a world where everything is bugged. We all know we are being monitored. The surprising thing is... more

The most famous chicken nugget of them all, the McDonald’s McNugget, turns 40 this year. So we’re asking, who invented... more

It's Cocktail Hour! In honour of James Bond we ask who invented cocktails? Have they always been a cool thing... more

In this story, the cart really does come before the horse. Horse transport doesn't begin with people riding around on... more

Who was the first King of England? Who invented a place called 'England' anyway? And what on earth are the... more

How’s this for a CV? 1821 - invented the Electric Motor. 1831 - invented the Electric Generator. Oh, and I... more

Fast and sleek with a satisfying rumble in the engine. What else could you want from a car?Well, for James... more

The Book. It’s the most powerful object in history (sorry Sword fans). But how did it come to be? And... more

Dagger shoes, Lipstick gas grenade, Razor rimmed hat, Milk bottle Grenade…Prosthetic Nipple.We’re continuing our exploration of the inventions that have... more

Get ready for the story of how the telegraph went from a long line of monks holding hands to a... more

Well before Bond was lasering and limboing himself out of fictional situations, these were the questions faced by the British... more

Why did Sigmund Freud want a vasectomy at 67 years old? Why were goat gonads all the rage in the... more

Get ready for the coming of our robot overlords by listening to this episode all about the history of AI.... more

When does spaghetti grow on trees? When can you milk a duck? When does Google read your brainwaves? On April... more

Early aquariums didn't have much more in them than some sorry looking trout. Yet such was the excitement at being... more

The Ouija Board was patented in 1890. But in did not appear out of thin air. It was only one... more

In 1890, the Governor of New York called for a new method of capital punishment. A more modern, efficient, scientific... more

Every bottle of Tabasco sauce on earth comes from one place - Avery Island, deep down in Louisiana. The same... more

Concrete is the second most used material on earth after only water. There are more than half a trillion tons... more

The war in Ukraine is being fought with tanks designed in the Cold War. The US Abrams. The German Leopard.... more

This is the story of the first modern computer program and the extraordinary woman who wrote it, Klara von Neumann.The... more

The keyboard on the first ever commercially successful typewriter and the keyboard on your smartphone are separated by a gulf... more

It’s perhaps the most overlooked invention of all time. Consigned to a forgotten corner in the basement of history. The... more

In the year 2000 Japan was asked what its greatest invention of the twentieth century was. They had a LOT... more