Everyday Items With Military Origins

Military Technology: A surprising number of everyday products, from kitchen appliances to clothing and snacks, began as solutions to wartime problems, because armies pour money into innovation and then peace releases those inventions into ordinary life.

Duct Tape: In 1943 ordnance factory worker Vesta Stoudt wrote to President Roosevelt suggesting a waterproof cloth tape for sealing ammunition boxes, and Johnson & Johnson's Permacel division made 'duck tape' for the troops.

Microwave Oven: Raytheon engineer Percy Spencer noticed a candy bar melting in his pocket while working near radar magnetrons, and the first commercial Radarange of 1947 stood nearly 6 feet tall.

Trench Coat: Burberry and Aquascutum supplied these belted, weatherproof coats to British officers in the First World War, and the epaulets and D rings once held gear and grenades.

Trench Watch: Before the First World War men carried pocket watches and wristwatches were seen as women's jewelry, but soldiers needed to synchronize attacks with their hands free.

Aviator Sunglasses: Bausch & Lomb developed them for US Army Air Corps pilots in the 1930s, and the design was later sold to the public as Ray-Ban, meaning it bans the sun's rays.

T-Shirt: The US Navy issued crew neck cotton undershirts in the early 1900s, and returning Second World War veterans made them everyday civilian wear.

Cargo Pants: The British Army introduced trousers with large leg pockets as part of its 1938 battle dress uniform, and paratroopers soon made the design standard.

Cardigan: The button up sweater is named for the Earl of Cardigan, who led the doomed Charge of the Light Brigade in the Crimean War.

Balaclava: Knitted head coverings were sent to British troops freezing near Balaclava during the Crimean War, and the face mask took the town's name.

Kotex: Kimberly-Clark's Cellucotton was made as super absorbent bandage material in the First World War, and after army nurses repurposed it, the company launched the first mass market disposable pad.

Kleenex: The same Cellucotton was used in gas mask filters during the First World War, then sold in 1924 as a makeup remover before people started using it to blow their noses.

Canned Food: In 1810 Nicolas Appert won Napoleon's prize for a way to preserve food for armies on the march, sealing food in glass jars and boiling it before anyone understood why it worked.

M&M's: Forrest Mars reportedly got the idea from sugar shelled chocolates soldiers ate in the Spanish Civil War, and early M&M's were sold largely to the US military because the shells stopped melting.

Instant Coffee: George Washington's instant coffee (the inventor, not the president) was shipped to the trenches in the First World War, and soldiers reportedly asked for 'a cup of George.'

Silly Putty: A General Electric engineer created it while trying to invent a synthetic rubber for the Second World War, and it flopped as a war material before becoming a toy in 1950.

Super Glue: Harry Coover first stumbled on cyanoacrylate in 1942 while trying to make clear plastic gun sights and rejected it as too sticky, before rediscovering it years later.

Nylon: When DuPont diverted nylon to parachutes and rope in the Second World War, stockings vanished from stores, and their return in 1945 sparked the so called nylon riots.

Willys MB: The rugged Second World War utility vehicle known as the Jeep inspired the entire consumer SUV category that followed.

Jerrycan: German engineers designed the stackable fuel can for the Wehrmacht in the 1930s, and Allied forces copied it so eagerly that it was named after their slang for Germans.

SCR-300: This backpack radio built by Motorola for the US Army in the Second World War is widely considered the first 'walkie talkie.'

ENIAC: One of the first general purpose electronic computers was funded by the US Army to calculate artillery firing tables and was unveiled in 1946.

ARPANET: The Pentagon funded network that became the internet sent its first message in 1969; the operator tried to type 'LOGIN' but the system crashed after 'LO.'

GPS: The US military's satellite navigation system was opened to civilians after Soviet jets shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 007 in 1983 when it strayed off course.

EpiPen: Its spring loaded auto injector design was adapted from military devices built to let soldiers inject nerve agent antidotes in a hurry.