10 Inventions That Were Stolen Ideas
Carly Tennes
Published
01/12/2025
in
wow
Though capitalism may often be thought to breed innovation — at least according to one genre of meme — it also brings with it something else: A whole lot of theft. Just as the creators of Monopoly, the windshield wiper, and several other inventors whose ideas were snatched away in pursuit of cold hard cash ... and probably some bragging rights.
From whiskey to an entire animation studio, here are 10 inventions that were actually stolen ideas.
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1. Monopoly
Image in Public DomainLong before folks ended friendships, severed familial ties and left their lovers over soured rounds of Monopoly, the classic board game was known as “The Landlord’s Game,” designed by a woman named Elizabeth Magie in 1904. Intended to warn of the dangers of capitalism, Magie learned this lesson the hard way, after her idea was stolen by entrepreneur Charles Darrow. -
2. Desktop Interfaces
Courtesy of historyloversclub on Instagram“Apple got the idea of a desktop interface from Xerox. Later, Steve Jobs accused Gates of stealing from Apple. Gates said, ‘Well Steve, I think it's more like we both had this rich neighbor named Xerox and I broke into his house to steal the TV set and found out that you had already stolen it.’” -
3. The Windshield Wiper
Courtesy of Robrob42“Robert Kearns who invented the Intermittent Windshield Wiper System only to have his invention stolen by the Big 3 auto manufacturers. He then sued and won.” -
4. Jack Daniel’s Whiskey
Image in Public Domain“Nathan ‘Nearest’ Green, a slave, taught Jack Daniel how to brew whiskey. He became Daniel's Master Distiller, and is now known as ‘The Godfather of Tennessee Whiskey.’ His son George also became a Master Distiller and some of his descendants STILL work for Jack Daniel's Whiskey to this day.” -
5. The Telephone
Image in Public DomainThough Alexander Graham Bell is largely thought to have invented the telephone, several have speculated that he may have stolen the invention from Elisha Gray, citing the similarities between drawings in the pair’s respective notebooks. -
6. DreamWorks
Courtesy of DreamWorks“The simultaneous releases of ‘Antz’ and ‘A Bug's Life’ was due to Jeffrey Katzenberg being denied the position of President at Disney, and stealing their idea to start DreamWorks.” -
7. Nuclear Fission
Image in Public Domain“Lise Meitner, an Austrian-born physicist, discovered that atomic nuclei can be split in half. She and her nephew explained and named nuclear fission in 1939, but the recognition went to Otto Hahn for this discovery. He was granted a Nobel Prize in 1944 in Chemistry.” -
8. The Sewing Machine
Image in Public DomainOnce thought to be invented by Isaac Singer of the Singer Corporation, inventor Elias Howe sued over the royalties to the device in a legal battle that lasted from 1849 to 1854. He ultimately won. -
9. The Steam Powered Vehicle
Image in Public Domain“[Denis Papin], the inventor who first powered a vehicle using steam, had his designs stolen from him, died destitute, and was buried in a pauper's pit.” -
10. The Radio
Image in Public DomainOne heralded as the inventor of the radio, inventor Guglielmo Marconi allegedly pulled his design from elements featured in Nikola Tesla's patents.
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- 10 Inventions That Were Stolen Ideas
Monopoly
Long before folks ended friendships, severed familial ties and left their lovers over soured rounds of Monopoly, the classic board game was known as “The Landlord’s Game,” designed by a woman named Elizabeth Magie in 1904. Intended to warn of the dangers of capitalism, Magie learned this lesson the hard way, after her idea was stolen by entrepreneur Charles Darrow.
Long before folks ended friendships, severed familial ties and left their lovers over soured rounds of Monopoly, the classic board game was known as “The Landlord’s Game,” designed by a woman named Elizabeth Magie in 1904. Intended to warn of the dangers of capitalism, Magie learned this lesson the hard way, after her idea was stolen by entrepreneur Charles Darrow.
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