They were four inventors who made lives safer for firefighters and police officers, surgery more comfortable for patients, and dreams of flying a reality for thrill- seekers. But before their revolutionary ideas of lightweight body armor, firefighter masks, modern anesthesia, and the wingsuit could be approved, they needed to be put to a life-and-death field test. Meet the men who set out to get rich or die trying, as we celebrate pioneers whose high-risk, high-reward innovations changed the world, and made millions.
All Episodes - S01
EPS01
What was Edison's controversial role in the invention of the electric chair? What's the little-known link between the Civil War and the Ouija board, or stockings and roll ...
EPS02
They were four inventors who had extraordinary vision, and their innovations would change the way we looked at the world and the universe beyond it. In this episode, we s ...
EPS03
How did one man's invention to save soldiers' lives set off an American crime wave? Which common household appliance first existed as a flattened chicken bone adorned wit ...
EPS04
They were four inventors who made lives safer for firefighters and police officers, surgery more comfortable for patients, and dreams of flying a reality for thrill- seek ...
EPS05
What's the relation between a World War II fighter jet and the baby stroller? A Joseph Pulitzer challenge and the evolution of air travel? A heated argument and the inven ...
EPS06
Was a new invention's ability to save a dying president thwarted by a coil-spring mattress? Did one of the greatest medical innovations of the 20th century come from a si ...
EPS07
What does a ship steering wheel have to do with the Colt revolver? What 400-year-old secret is the cymbal hiding? What is the link between the San Francisco earthquake of ...
EPS08
A maverick toymaker who never knew he invented a billion-dollar brick. A designer who put a smile on the face of the world for just $45. A child of slaves whose hair loss ...