Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
then open in external browser
and click "Open in External Browser" 
Betty White is a legend in her own right. This sweetest little lady has not only won the hearts of virtually everyone for her uplifting personality, she has also earned a Guinness World Record for the longest TV career for a female entertainer.
The comic dynamo has been performing for more than 74 years in the entertainment industry, and it makes us wonder how come she is not a superhero!
Well, Betty was born on January 17, 1922, which makes her only two years away from celebrating her hundredth birthday. It means this almost centenarian actress is older than sliced bread, and color television, and… well, the list of important inventions is down below. And it really puts Betty’s legend into a historical perspective!
Image credits: Angela George This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Penicillin
Penicillin was discovered in 1928 by professor Alexander Fleming.
RELATED:
#2
Sliced Bread Was Intented In 1928
Sliced bread was invented in 1928. Otto Frederick Rohwedder created the Chillicothe Baking Company, which sold the first loaf that utilized Rohwedder's bread-slicing machine.
La Petite Morte 5 years ago
It means that sliced bread is the best thing since Betty White.
Load More Replies...
Rabbit Carrot 5 years ago (edited)
No, sliced bread has been around for much longer. It began being sliced commercially with a machine in 1928. But the machine prototype was invented in 1912. I think bread wins. Sorry Betty.
Mary Burton 5 years ago
My aunt told me that sliced bread wasn't so great - meant it was from the store so not homemade. Yuck.
Miss Cris 5 years ago
Before that, did british eat french bread or nothing at all? I'm curious. Thanks.
NavyDave 5 years ago
They sliced the bread themselves with a bread knives.
Load More Replies... #3
Color Television
June 25, 1951 was the day when CBS broadcast its first color TV show. Unfortunately, no one could tell because they all had black-and-white TV sets. The first program in color was called "Premiere."
Anna Te 5 years ago
I was born in 1983 in Russia and we didn't have a color TV there at that time as well.
George-Florin Constantin 5 years ago
As an Eastern European, I think we can both agree that the USSR and their sphere of influence was a f*****g horrible place to live in, right?
Load More Replies...
Flash Henry 5 years ago
Born in Ireland early 80's, we had no colour TV and only 2 channels until like the mid-90s
Kitty Star 4 years ago
WRONG! lol the first color Tv was invented in Mexico! And no CBS did not broadcast the first color Tv show! wrong again! The first Tv was invented in Mexico by Guillermo González Camarena in 1940! The first working color TV transmission was sent in Mexico City in August 1946! He invented this Tv when he was only 17! He also knew all about radio transmission and had built his first radio at 12 and a seismograph at 9! Much like myself :) I invented the removable voice coil at age 7! in 1988. When you blow a speaker all you have to do is unscrew the voice coil like a lightbulb and screw in a new one! fixed! Another inventor my moms friend in his 40's said he was going to paten it for me... and stole it then another idiot stole it from him and patented it and made a good chunk of money. but it was to late! large stereos with big speakers in big wood cabinets were no longer popular the consumers where shifting to small bookshelf speakers...i might sue one day and market it better.
Caroline Overill 5 years ago
I was a kid when colour telly came in. I thought our black and white telly would turn colour. I was disappointed
Donald McClane 5 years ago
We finally got into my age-group. I surely remember the old black and white monsters.
Anna Neemus 5 years ago
Foreigner here too- one channel that didnt air until 4pm. We all gathered at the one TV in the village.
M O'Connell 5 years ago
This is debatable. "Premiere" was the first commercially broadcast color television show, bit it was broadcast and received using proprietary CBS equipment. The first "compatible-color" broadcast was in 1953 (which allowed B&W sets to see the broadcast, but in B&W) which is the system used up until the end of full-power analog broadcasting in North America.
Stephanie Did It 5 years ago
I'm only 6 years younger than color TV, and you may not believe it but NO ONE minded black & white programming, it's just what was there and you were glad your family had a TV set! And the picture rolled, you had to endlessly adjust the antenna, you changed the channel manually, and you had to wait for it to warm up. But we LOVED it. Even in the US we only had 3 channels until public television was introduced, and no one complained because there were good shows worth watching and suitable for the whole family. You never heard people whining 'there's nothing on!'
Betty White, who has spanned more than 80 years in the entertainment industry, is regarded as one of the television pioneers. The famous actress is also known as the first woman to produce a sitcom, “Life With Elizabeth,” which led her to receive the honorary title Mayor Of Hollywood in 1955.
In 1939, just after graduating high school, Betty began her radio career, soon switching to television. Her career skyrocketed. But with WWII, she shelved her ambitions and joined the American Women's Voluntary Services. Of that era, she told Cleveland Magazine, "It was a strange time and out of balance with everything."
#4
Scotch Tape
1929 was the year when this life-saving tape was invented.
Dragonfruit'nrollerskates 5 years ago
But tape was invented in 1845....but it wasn't SCOTCH tape.
Demongrrrrl 5 years ago
The picture is of *packaging* tape, which is very different from cellophane tape. Which are they talking about?
#5
Canned Beer
Although we've had canned beverages since 1813, mass production of them only started in 1935.
#6
The Electric Traffic Signal Was Created In 1923
After witnessing an accident between an automobile and a horse-drawn carriage, African American inventor, Garrett Morgan, filed a U.S. patent for a traffic signal. Patent] was granted on 20 November 1923 for Morgan's three-position traffic signal.
Rabbit Carrot 5 years ago (edited)
The world's first traffic light was a manually operated gas-lit signal installed in London in December 1868. I’m not sure she’s quite that old yet. The first automated traffic control system dates back to 1910.
Joe Reaves 5 years ago
Didn't it explode and injure a policeman? Because I'm pretty sure one of the requirements for a traffic signal to be considered effective is not killing passers by.
Load More Replies...
Dave P 5 years ago
Except this is a myth, the Red and Green light we are familiar with was pattented several years prior and was in use when Morgan developed his own. His own looks nothing like what we think a traffic signal is, it used arms and levers and outside of a few towns, NEVER went into use for traffic because it was horrible for the job. However years later the Rail industry realized a modified version could be used by rail switching stations, and it got a second lease on life. This is a debunked myth that refuses to die.
Caroline Overill 5 years ago
This was the year my dad was born. He passed away 10th Jan this year at the age of 96. I miss him terribly.
Betty was a regular on the game show circuit when she met her match in 1961, hosted by Allen Ludden. He became Betty’s third and last husband, and their stars on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame sit side by side to this day.
In Betty’s more than eight decades in the business, her trademark smile, gracious demeanor, and clever wit have made her a living legend.
#7
Frozen Food
Before 1929, frozen food was not a thing.
Elsker 5 years ago
it's more about commercially producing and selling frozen food https://www.eater.com/2014/8/21/6214423/the-strange-history-of-frozen-food-from-clarence-birdseye-to-the Home freezers as separate compartments (larger than necessary just for ice cubes), or as separate units, were introduced in the United States in 1940. Ice cube trays [in refridgerators] were introduced more and more during the 1920s; up to this time freezing was not an auxiliary function of the modern refrigerator. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refrigerator#Freezer
Load More Replies...
#8
Bubble Gum
In 1928, Walter E. Diemer, an accountant for the Fleer Chewing Gum Company in Philadelphia, was experimenting with new gum recipes. These experiments turned out to be successful.
#9
The Slinky
In 1943, the mechanical engineer Richard James accidentally came up with the toy when he was trying to find a way of keeping products on ships undamaged.
Raine Soo 5 years ago
I have had a few over the years, and they never worked properly with me. They would start off with the proper momentum, but stop halfway down the stairs, and kind of roll the rest of their way down.
danielw 5 years ago
your stairs were defective. if the stair's tread depth was to large, they'd flop down and catch the same stair step. and then not make it down.
Load More Replies... Stephanie Did It 5 years ago
Nothing was cooler than a new Slinky, until you got the first little bend in it!
Steven Essex 5 years ago
People are like slinkies: Generally useless, but you still can't help smiling when you see one tumble down the stairs.
#10
Nuclear Fission
The discovery of nuclear fission occurred in December 1938 by Lise Meitner, Otto Frisch, and Otto Hahn. Meitner and Frisch were physicists and Hahn was a nuclear chemist.
#11
1957: Birth Control Pill
Enovid, a drug the FDA approved for menstrual disorders, came with a warning: The mixture of synthetic progesterone and estrogen also prevents ovulation. Two years later, more than half a million American women were taking Enovid—and not all of them had cramps. In 1960, the FDA approved Enovid for use as the first oral contraceptive.
Carlos Cañuelas Pereira 5 years ago
They tested in puertorican women without theirs knowledge.
#12
Automatic Wrist Watches
Automatic wrist watches became a thing back in 1923.
AntiNutjob 5 years ago
Automatic (self winding) wrist watches in 1923. Automatic pocket watches were invented over 100 years earlier.
#13
Trampoline
The first modern trampoline was built by George Nissen and Larry Griswold in 1936. Nissen was a gymnastics and diving competitor and Griswold was a tumbler on the gymnastics team.
Stephanie Did It 5 years ago
Why can't they all have spring covers like this one? They should be mandatory for safety.
Lydia Dean-Melchior 5 years ago
And this is the picture chosen to represent the trampoline. Such a bad choice.
#14
LSD
LSD was first synthesized on November 16, 1938, by Dr. Albert Hoffman.
Eepe 5 years ago
This is about stuff that hasn’t been around as long as Ms. White, though....
Load More Replies... Steve Barnett 5 years ago
This is really important. If trying LSD for the first time have a close friend that has tripped before with you that isn't tripping. Also, have valium/beta blockers essentially 'downers' available in case you have a 'bad trip', they will help. Also do it somewhere safe, away from people that you do not know, example in a forest.
Vicky Zar 5 years ago
Why the downvotes? It's stupid to downvote good advice. He isn't saying "go take it" but "if you do, then do it carefully". Advice on doing something dangerous safely is better then no information at all!
Load More Replies... Steve Barnett 5 years ago
Having taken LSD it is an inexplicable drug. The effects lasted about 12 hours. For further information check out Hoffman's bike ride.
Mimi777 5 years ago
I’ve always been afraid to try psychedelics. I’m prone to panic attacks and feel like I would have a bad trip. I’ve heard some good stories and bad stories from people.
politecat 42 5 years ago
I would stay away. I avoid marijuana too as it gives me panic attacks. I took it once and had a great trip but that was when I was 19 and not fully aware of all the mental health problems I have now I feel like it's the kind of thing you do before you develop any nervousness and knowledge of it that will psych you out
Load More Replies...
Ellen Daniels 5 years ago
Try crossing your eyes, or (lightly) pressing on them, etc., while looking at this pic!
#15
Jukeboxes
In 1927, Betty White was already five years old when the first jukebox that automatically shifted records was introduced to the public.
M O'Connell 5 years ago
Automatic disc changing music boxes became a thing in 1899, so this is more of a stretch.
#16
Barbie
In 1959, the world was introduced to Barbie.
David Butler 5 years ago
Who was an American remake of "Lilli", a fashion doll launched on 12 August 1955, created by Rolf Hausser in the likeness of the main character of a single-panel cartoon by Reinhard Beuthien for the German "Bild" newspaper, first appearing on 24 June 1952. While there were definitely knock-offs by rival toy companies, Ruth Handler -- who may or may not have wanted to create such a doll to replace paper dolls -- bought one while on holiday in Switzerland in 1956, "adapted" the design with the help of Jack Ryan, and launched "Barbie" on 9 March 1959. Post-WW2 anti-German prejudice may have been involved, but when Mattel bought the copyright in 1964 (after being sued for copyright infringement in 1961 by Louis Marx and Company, who had the legal license for the doll) the newspaper could no longer print the cartoon nor the toy company the doll.
Bob Belcher 5 years ago
And was still invented after Betty White was born.
Load More Replies... Stephanie Did It 5 years ago
I had a couple of the original Barbies & Ken dolls. If you left the Kens outside in the sun, they would "tan" and it was permanent. I don't recall the Barbies doing it as much. (Mine were purchased in France while stationed there.) If only we'd known what a mint condition original would be worth today!
#17
Bean Bag Chair
1969 was the year of Woodstock and when beanbag chairs became a thing.
TheExtremeSmell 5 years ago
I bet school custodians would place this and glitter right next to each other on things they wish weren’t invented.
Marcellus the Third 5 years ago
We've strayed in trivial territory here. Automatic pencils, rolls of aluminum foil etc... Not really stuff that moved the previous century in another direction. Like fascism.
Kelly Hartle 5 years ago
Unfortunately, mine ripped open. I was finding styrofoam beads for a month!
#18
The Ballpoint Pen Was Invented In 1924
Viktor Feurer 5 years ago
Unfortunately not. The first mass produced ballpoint pen was patented in 1924. In 1938 an upgraded one was invented/patented.
Pauline Bennett 5 years ago
Then why did I have to learn to wright in ink with a strait pen (born in 1945)
#19
Notebooks With Spiral Bindings Were Invented In 1924
#20
M&m’s Candy Invented 1941
Bridget Price 5 years ago
I used to think that different colors were different flavors for some reason
Oskar vanZandt 5 years ago
Direct competition to Smarties which were invented in 1937 by H.I. Rowntree & Company in the UK...
Luna Lovegood 5 years ago
The green M&M is a lesbian, if that's what you're referring to.
Load More Replies... #21
Big Mac
The Big Mac wasn't introduced until 1967. McDonald's was originally a hot dog stand that only turned to burger-making in 1948.
SoozeeQ 5 years ago
Ha ha. There is a movie called The Founder (2016) starring Michael Keaton as Ray Kroc, who took a local California fast food restaurant called McDonald’s and turned it into a global, multi-billion dollar empire. Nick Offerman and John Carroll Lynch co-star as McDonald’s founders Richard and Maurice McDonald. Ray Kroc himself was responsible for much of the popular mythology behind the company’s founding. His claim of being “the founder,” despite his first McDonald’s restaurant actually being the ninth, was so ostentatious, it turned out to be the perfect title for a film about his life. (Amazon review by M.A Kleen on June 4, 2017)
Load More Replies... Oskar vanZandt 5 years ago (edited)
I'd much rather eat something else, but the Big Mac is a 'classic'- my friends and I used to have Big Mac eating contests in high school (when they were on special for CAD $0.99/99 cents each) to see who could eat one in the fewest bites. I think I once managed it in three...
#22
Electric Razor
Up until 1931, non-electric razors were not only a choice, but also the only possibility.
Dave P 5 years ago
1931 was the first commercial released one, the first working prototype was in 1910, and several more models existed until Jacob Shick (as in Shick's Razors) perfected it and released it to Market.
Lillukka79 5 years ago
No. "The first person to receive a patent for a razor powered by electricity was John F. O'Rouke with his US patent 616554 filed in 1898. The first working electric razor was invented in 1915 by German engineer Johann Bruecker."
M O'Connell 5 years ago
Schick's razor was the first to be marketed to the public successfully. Many great products were invented, but failed to become useful or sell-able products until someone else added the finishing touches.
Load More Replies... #23
The Rubik's Cube – Invented 1974
Oskar vanZandt 5 years ago
I had one as a teen and never 'solved it' and was given one as a Christmas present about ten years ago... still unsolved.
#24
Instant Coffee
Coffee may have existed for centuries, but instant coffee has been here with us since 1938.
Oskar vanZandt 5 years ago
I try to avoid drinking this stuff at all costs... just perk mine, please. I'll wait 10-15 mins...
danielw 5 years ago
I simply won't drink it. nasty stuff. And I'm pretty sure it's not even really coffee.
Load More Replies... M O'Connell 5 years ago
This is another example of "the product you know and love" however, spray-dried instant coffee was marketed as early as 1890 in New Zealand. By 1918 the US military was requisitioning 37,000 pounds of the stuff per day. Other processes and patents were issued around the world before Nescafe released their version in 1938.
danielw 5 years ago
you know it's a bad idea when the *MIlitary* orders it by the tens-of-thousands-of-pounds. per day.
Load More Replies...
#25
1982: Computer Virus
Fifteen-year-old Rich Skrenta created an application called Elk Cloner as a prank—and ended up creating the first virus to spread outside its home network. Elk Cloner spreads via floppy disk and attaches to the Apple OS II operating system. When users boot from the disk, Elk Cloner transfers the computer's memory; any additional disks inserted without rebooting are also infected. On every fiftieth boot, the computer displays text written by Skrenta:
Elk Cloner: The program with a personality / It will get on all your disks / It will infiltrate your chips / Yes it's Cloner! / It will stick to you like glue / It will modify ram too / Send in the Cloner!
Raine Soo 5 years ago
Why compare a lovely lady like Betty White to something as annoying as a virus?
TheExtremeSmell 5 years ago
Not comparing just saying she was born before the first computer virus
Load More Replies...
#26
The Internet
In the 1950s, first computers were created. By 1965, MIT released the first wide area network (WAN). Four years later, the first successful internet message was sent from UCLA to Stanford Research Institute. But it took a while for memes to become a thing.
M O'Connell 5 years ago (edited)
Arguably the firs thing that could be considered "computer porn" was the ASCII program "EDITH" which printed out a risque woman using text characters in the mid 1959. There's a video recreating it (on original hardware) here: https://youtu.be/LtlrITxB5qg
Load More Replies...
Darth Vader 5 years ago
She has surpassed all that has helped this world become good. In age and entertainment.
Marek Yanchurak 5 years ago
"In the 1950s, first computers were created." -- Nope, ENIAC in 1945. Also, arguably what we would consider an "internet" was first realized in ARPANET, which went live in 1969, though there were WANs implemented as early as the 1950's.
Oskar vanZandt 5 years ago
Arguably, simultaneously the best and worst things to ever be invented... Unlimited creativity and a brilliant channel of communication plagued by two things humans are especially good at- corruption and destruction.
Maria Ribaulo 5 years ago
This (and computer virus) are really stupid things to have on this list. It's 30+ years from her birth and I think even those who have never used a rotary phone know this.
Lillukka79 5 years ago
Again no. There have been computers since the end on 1800, and nazis had digital computers in the WWII.
#27
Microwave Oven
In 1945, the heating effect of a high-power microwave beam was accidentally discovered by Percy Spencer. In 1947, Raytheon built the "Radarange," the first commercially available microwave oven.
Kelly Hartle 5 years ago
He realized it could be used for cooking when he turned it on and the chocolate bar he had in his pocket melted.
SoozeeQ 5 years ago
The background to this story is fascinating. Percy Spencer became Senior Vice President and a Senior Member of the Board of Directors at Raytheon. He received 300 patents during his career, and a building at the Raytheon Missile Defense Center in Woburn, Massachusetts is named in his honor. Other achievements and awards, besides the Distinguished Public Service Award, included a membership of the Institute of Radio Engineers, Fellowship in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and an honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Massachusetts, despite having no formal education. For his invention, Spencer received no royalties, but he was paid a one-time $2.00 gratuity from Raytheon, the same token payment the company made to all inventors on its payroll at that time for company patents. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Spencer
BG 5 years ago
Raytheon patented the microwave which their employee, Spencer, invented. They paid him $2.00 for the invention. The Radarange originally sold for $5,000.00 each.
Demongrrrrl 5 years ago
He was an employee. They didn't have to pay him for it.
Load More Replies...
Kady Maree Mcgrath 5 years ago
Where i don't see no umbrella I only see a plate
Load More Replies...
#28
1956: Hard Drive
IBM released the first computer hard disk drive, the 2,000-pound-plus, refrigerator-sized IBM 305 RAMAC, which introduced magnetic disk storage. Up until then, files were either kept on spools of magnetic tape or on good old-fashioned paper, with no way to jump right to the record you wanted to pull up. With the RAMAC, a mechanical arm would retrieve data by storing data at a particular magnetic orientation. This technology went on to be used (at a smaller size) in laptops and computer servers everywhere.
Marek Yanchurak 5 years ago
Forget hard drives, what is essentially the first electronic, digital, programmable computer (i.e. what we think of as a computer today), ENIAC, was only completed in 1945.
Eglė Bukauskaitė 5 years ago
Just condense into "modern computers" - i think it's a pretty big one to skip
#29
Garages
C.G. Johnson invented the electric garage door opener in 1926.
Honey 5 years ago
If you READ the comment below the image it states ELECTRIC garage door opener.
Load More Replies...
#30
Garbage Disposal
The garbage disposal unit was invented in 1927 by John W. Hammes, an architect working in Racine, Wisconsin. He applied for a patent in 1933 that was issued in 1935.
BusLady 5 years ago
My ex works in water treatment. He says they should be illegal.
Load More Replies...
Oskar vanZandt 5 years ago
Not a good idea, really, in this day and age of recycling and separating things to be disposed of in an environmentally (and sewer) friendly way... Don't have these in Europe/The UK.
DanieLegz 5 years ago
I have one in my kitchen downstairs and I'm from london, U.K.?
Load More Replies... Add New Image
What do you think ?
depicus 5 years ago
A lot of stuff was invented in the 1920's - wonder if the 2020's will be the same productive decade
BusLady 5 years ago
She wasn't invented until 1926. :-) BTW, if Marylin Monroe were still living, she would also be 94.
Load More Replies... 
Oskar vanZandt 5 years ago
Love Betty White... she's ace. Loved her since I watched The Golden Girls in the 80s/90s... Rose was hilarious! Sophia too... "Picture it, Sicily 1912..."
Loki C 5 years ago
My greatgram died when I was about 9 (I'm 32 now) and she had been born in 1902 at the tail end of the Victorian era. It's really fascinating.
Carrie Roettger 5 years ago
I love Betty Whiteso much. She reminds me of my Meme. My Meme was born in 1912 she lived through all of those inventions, both world wars, the Spanish Flu pandemic, the Great Depression and so much more. I was so lucky to have a grandmother like her and my kids were too. I miss her everyday.
Load More Replies...
depicus 5 years ago
A lot of stuff was invented in the 1920's - wonder if the 2020's will be the same productive decade
BusLady 5 years ago
She wasn't invented until 1926. :-) BTW, if Marylin Monroe were still living, she would also be 94.
Load More Replies... Oskar vanZandt 5 years ago
Love Betty White... she's ace. Loved her since I watched The Golden Girls in the 80s/90s... Rose was hilarious! Sophia too... "Picture it, Sicily 1912..."
Loki C 5 years ago
My greatgram died when I was about 9 (I'm 32 now) and she had been born in 1902 at the tail end of the Victorian era. It's really fascinating.
Carrie Roettger 5 years ago
I love Betty Whiteso much. She reminds me of my Meme. My Meme was born in 1912 she lived through all of those inventions, both world wars, the Spanish Flu pandemic, the Great Depression and so much more. I was so lucky to have a grandmother like her and my kids were too. I miss her everyday.
Load More Replies...
Related on Bored Panda
