Inventors' Day

Inventors' Day is a day of the year set aside by a country to recognise the contributions of inventors. Not all countries recognise Inventors' Day. Those countries which do recognise an Inventors' Day do so with varying degrees of emphasis and on different days of the year.

By location

Argentina

László József Bíró

The Inventors' Day (Spanish: Día del Inventor) in Argentina has been celebrated since 1986 and is held yearly on September 29, the birthday of the inventor of the ballpoint pen, László József Bíró.^[1]

Austria, Germany and Switzerland

Hedy Lamarr, actress and inventor

The Inventors' Day (German: Tag der Erfinder) in the German-speaking countries Germany, Austria and Switzerland is celebrated on November 9, the birthday of the Austrian-born inventor and Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr whose main invention was the frequency-hopped spread spectrum 1942.

The day was proclaimed by Berlin inventor and entrepreneur Gerhard Muthenthaler. According to the website of the organisation^[2] it intends to pursue the following goals:

• Encourage people towards their own ideas and for a change to the better
• Remind people of forgotten inventors

Hungary

Albert Szent-Györgyi, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1937

The Inventors' Day (Hungarian: Feltalálók Napja) is celebrated on June 13 in memoriam of Albert Szent-Györgyi who registered his national patent about the synthesized Vitamin C in 1941. It is celebrated by the Association of Hungarian Inventors (MAFE) since 2009.^[3]

Moldova

Since 1995, the Republic of Moldova has celebrated an Inventors' and Rationalizers' Day annually at the end of June.^[4]

Thailand

Thailand recognises February 2 as Inventors' Day each year. The Thai Cabinet set this date to commemorate the anniversary of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s allocation of a patent for a slow speed surface aerator on February 2, 1993.^[5]

United States

Thomas Alva Edison

Ronald Reagan as President of the United States proclaimed February 11, 1983 as National Inventors' Day, Proclamation 5013, to "...call upon the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities".

In recognition of the enormous contribution inventors make to the nation and the world, the Congress, pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 140 (Public Law 97 - 198), has designated February 11, the anniversary of the birth of the inventor Thomas Alva Edison, who held over 1,000 patents, as National Inventors' Day.

See also

• The heroic theory of invention and scientific development
• World Intellectual Property Day
• World Book and Copyright Day

References

1. ^ "Well-known 20th and 21st century Hungarians". MTI – Hungarian News Agency Corp. Archived from the original on April 9, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080409110845/http://english.mti.hu/default.asp?menu=6&cat=33. Retrieved 2008-04-28. 
2. ^ Inventors-day.com
3. ^ Magyar Feltalálók Napja official page, 2011
4. ^ "Inventors and Rationalizers Day". State Agency on Intellectual Property of the Republic of Moldova (AGEPI). http://www.agepi.md/en/noutati/detail.php?ID=684. Retrieved 2008-04-28. 
5. ^ ^[dead link] "The 2007 Inventors' Day Project". National Research Council of Thailand. 2007-01-18. http://nrct.net/eng/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1284^{[dead link]}. Retrieved 2008-04-28. ^{[dead link]}