By Thomas Sellers Jr.
Months without sports has made life tough for me.
As major professional athletics slowly returned in late July, I was more curious than excited to see how things would play out during a global pandemic. So before I fully invested into the NBA’s Bubble, MLB’s attempt at a 60-game season and the crowd-less NHL contests, I kept myself entertained with classic videos on Youtube, watching steaming services and playing games on my cell phone.
That was the best way to cure my boredom during downtime since April. Then I stumbled across the fact that August 20 is National Radio Day. One of the greatest inventions in the communication medium of all time deservingly has a day dedicated to its contributions to the world.
While driving the radio is my No. 1 companion of all time. We’ve traveled to Louisville, Nashville, Little Rock, Huntsville, Tunica and many more places together since 1999. From sports to news to music, the radio has been one of the most entertaining inventions in my life.
So this is the perfect time to recognize my top 10 most entertaining inventions of all time. This Best Sellers’ List will focus on those things that take no major talent to use to cure boredom, make a party more fun and can be used to pass the time.
So things like pen and paper to draw won’t be listed. No musical instruments will be featured because I can’t play any. And the automobile might be driven by many U.S. Americans, but we’ve all seen talentless folks behind the wheel.
- Puzzles & Coloring Books
This duo was introduced to me at a tender age. As far back as I can remember, I was coloring pages of black lines depicting an image. And when those pages were done, I found myself tackling a puzzle starting with five pieces. Eventually I graduated to 20-, 50-, 100- and even 1,000-piece puzzles.
The origins of jigsaw puzzles goes back to the 1760s with John Spilsbury getting credit. The engraver and mapmaker are said to have created the first jigsaw puzzle in 1767. The European mapmaker pasted maps onto wood and cut them into small pieces. It quickly became an educational toy.
Then the history of the coloring book goes back to the 1880s with the McLoughlin Brothers getting the recognition for the invention. Another educational tool, the coloring book joined puzzles as a way of just keeping people entertained.
Both inventions have children and adult editions now. I am not ashamed to be seen in public buying a coloring book or puzzle set. I like a challenge. - Video Game Systems
This piece of home entertainment is approaching 50 years. We’re currently on the eighth generation of video game consoles. The first video game system emerged in 1972 when Ralph H. Baer devised the concept of playing simple spot-based games on a television screen in 1966. Six years later, that thought process emerged as the Magnavox Odyssey.
This invention has made celebrities out of fictional characters like PacMan, Super Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, Donkey Kong and Ryu.
It’s like a rite of passage for my teenage boys in America since the 1980s. Systems I’ve owned in my lifetime are Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, and Nintendo Wii.
Right now I’m too old to care about video games. But once my mid-life crisis hits, I’m sure I will own the PlayStation 8. - Board Games
While video games systems are old to a Xennials, everybody breathing on earth can agree board games are super ancient. Board games are pre-historic. Before there was a written word, people were playing board games. A series of 49 small carved painted stones were found at the 5,000-year-old Başur Höyük burial mound in southeast Turkey. These are the earliest gaming pieces ever found. Fast forward to 2020, it’s hard to find somebody who hasn’t played Monopoly, Chess, Checkers, Scrabble, Yahtzee, Pictionary or Candy Land. I love a good game of Sorry, Trouble, and Smart A**.
For hours of fun, set up the Connect Four board. And get any lame party buzzing with the Twister board. From Hungry Hungry Hippos to Clue, board games are a great way to bond and create long-lasting memories. - Walkman
Sony gets the marketing bragging rights on this device. The first prototype was built from a modified Sony Pressman, a compact cassette recorder designed for journalists and released in 1977.
The Walkman quickly went from a work tool to an essential part of entertainment across the world. It was the best way to take your music everywhere you went. Exercising, waiting at the doctor’s offices or trying to drown out your family, just pop on your headphones.
The Walkman has evolved into the CD player, iPod, MP3 and now our mobile device. - Cell Phones
I guess the natural next selection on this countdown would have to be the cell phone. In addition of music, you can also access many classic board games on this device. With the touch of the screen, you can color an image and move a puzzle piece into place.
Oh of course the cell phone can house your video games. And all the other choices on this Best Sellers’ List can be featured on the cell phone. So why isn’t the mobile phone No. 1 on this countdown?
Simply, it’s just the host for all the other great inventions of entertainment. When my phone needs to charge, I have to go to the original form. And the phone keeps me from interacting with other humans most of the time. I still enjoy human contact (of course six feet apart). - Radio
The fore-mention radio makes my top 5 for most entertaining inventions to cure boredom. Thank you Mr. Heinrich Hertz for this pice of technology. Radio waves were first identified and studied by the German physicist in 1886. The first practical radio transmitters and receivers were developed around 1895 by Italian Guglielmo Marconi.
Just a few years later, the radio became a commercial product. Now most of us access the marvel of technology through our cars. The platform is home to genres like sports, business, news, entertainment, performances and of course music.
The radio is the companion to most drivers because we spend more time alone in automobiles. Radio personalities become like friends instead of celebrities in your hometown. That’s why when a longtime voice leaves a station, we have a national day of mourning. - Computer
The computer is that timeless invention. It’s always cool, trendy and updated. But the first computer was not for entertainment. Back in 1880, the U.S. population had grown so large that it took more than seven years to tabulate the U.S. Census results. The government sought a faster way to get the job done, giving rise to punch-card based computers that took up entire rooms.
Now computers are the home of our emails, social media, games, work files and much more. The most vital component of the computer is the Internet. The computer will also allow us to access our streaming multimedia apps.
And the device is still good for crunching numbers and keeping up the population. All our government has to do is log into TikTok, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. - Playing Cards
Wow, Thomas you’ve ranked playing cards in your top 3 of all time? Yes solely off the strength of the game called spades. My high school best friend Eric Forte’ and I ran the table from Memphis to Boston in spades. We once achieved a Boston in Boston… At the time we dominated the competition in the late 1990s, we didn’t know the origin of playing cards dated back to the Tang dynasty around the 9th century AD as a result of the usage of woodblock printing technology.
Beside the 52-card deck, we have played Uno, Dutch Blitz, Taboo and other situational games. But give me spades all day, everyday. - Television
For a century, you have been vital to communication and entertainment. Here is my public thank you to the television. The TV has outlasted the VCR, DVD player, countless video game systems and even networks.
Just when we were ready to write your obituary, you illustrated to us that you are the perfect devise to display our streaming apps, Youtube selections, current game consoles and anything a HDMI cord can transfer.
For us old-heads, the TV is still great to watch the local news, live sports and end a long day. I normally pop my TV on the ID Network and let the murder mysteries tuck me into bed with a spooky story or two. - Printing Press
Coming in at No. 1 is the foundation for all the other inventions on this list. The printing press either helped to create the other pieces of entertainment mention already or enhanced it with instructions and rules. In Germany, around 1440, goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press.
The press introduced items to read like books, magazines and newspaper. All still around today that help us pass the time.
Your favorite TV shows, social media influencers and entertainers normally read a script that is printed or on a electronic device. We know how words should look and be structured because of the printing press.
The printing press led to inventions that created our board games, playing cards, puzzles and coloring books.
Instructions and manuals were printed to build computers, TVs, the walkman and video game systems. And all those things we love on the radio, I bet some printed piece of paper played a role in information being transferred to the masses. So thanks Mr. Gutenberg for being the foundation for all entertainment.
THOMAS SELLERS JR. is the editor of The Millington Star and both the sports editor and a weekly personal columnist for West 10 Media/Magic Valley Publishing. Contact him by phone at (901) 433-9138, by fax to (901) 529-7687 and by email to [email protected].
