Is It As American As Apple Pie?

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American inventor La Marcus Adna Thompson was born in 1848 in a small town in Ohio. In spite of designing and building a butter churn at 12 and being a master carpenter at 17, he made his fortune manufacturing women's hosiery. After a mental breakdown in the 1880's, La Marcus sold his hosiery business and went back to his first love - inventing. What does a man who's recovering from the ups and downs of mental illness invent? The roller coaster.

Another American ride is the car. A recent survey showed that Americans spend more time researching car purchases than home loans. This could be because we spend an average of $7,000 every year on car purchases and maintenance. If life gives you a lemon, you're meant to turn it into lemonade. With the Lemon Law you can turn your car into the dealer or manufacturer. In 2005 62% of new lemons and 61% of used ones were replaced or repurchased - which proves the American Lemon Law is fruitful.

Mother's Day is another American invention. It was invented by Anna Jarvis, a West Virginia woman, who was inspired by her community activist mother and wanted to create a memorial for all mothers. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson approved a resolution to make the second Sunday in May a national holiday, but the holiday didn't turn out the way Anna wanted. She wanted children to express gratitude to their mothers in letters and to give their mothers white carnations as a symbol of the purity of a mother's love. When children started giving their mothers commercial greeting cards instead, Anna started a petition to rescind Mother's Day. She also protested at a Mother's Day celebration in New York and was arrested for disturbing the peace. Anna never married and never had children. Being the mother of Mother's Day might have been too mom - entous for her.

Although fireworks aren't an American invention, that might change. Fireworks were originally invented by the Chinese in the 12th century and were used to scare away evil spirits. Although China is the world's largest manufacturer and exporter of fireworks, it might not be able to export 120.000 tons to the U.S. next year. Fireworks that use compressed air instead of gun powder - and thus have less fumes and more accuracy - have been patented by the Walt Disney Company. You can't get more American than that.