Inventing the Fun

Life wouldn’t be as fun without the work of these three inventors.

We owe a lot to inventors. Their innovations have kept our food cold, lit our homes, and kept us safe in moving traffic. But what about the things that make life fun? Here are three inventors who have brought us joy.

James West: The Microphone

James West

What do Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and BTS all have in common? They have all used microphones based on James West’s invention. In fact, probably every musical artist alive today has. West, along with co-inventor Gerhard Sessler, changed the world forever when they created the foil electret microphone in 1962. This highly sensitive device wasn’t the first microphone, but the new design made it easy to manufacture. Plus, it could be made small enough to fit into hearing aids and telephones. The foil electret microphone is still the basis for nearly all microphones and music recording equipment used today.

Lisa Gelobter: Web Animation

Lisa Gelobter

Do you have a favorite website? Maybe it has colorful animations! The Internet would be less exciting if it weren’t for Lisa Gelobter! Gelobter, a computer scientist, helped create a tool that made it easy to add animation to websites. Before this, web pages were text-heavy with only still images. In other words, nothing moved. This was because animations and multimedia couldn’t be uploaded because they were such large files. Working with a team of engineers, Gelobter created technology that allowed developers to make the multimedia files smaller and thus put animated graphics on websites. This technology, called Shockwave, powered animation and multimedia on the web. Animated multimedia changed not only the Internet but also how people communicate.

Lonnie Johnson: The Super Soaker

Lonnie Johnson

Lonnie Johnson’s story may be the best of all. Johnson is an engineer who worked for NASA helping send robotic probes into space. But during his free time, he created a toy that changed summer fun—the Super Soaker. Used for water fights and summer games, the Super Soaker squirts a stream of water, making it the ideal toy for summer fun with friends. People loved it so much, it became America’s top-selling toy of the early 1990s. The fun didn’t stop there for Johnson, who went on to invent other technology used in Nerf toys.

February is Black History Month! For more Black History Month coverage, check out our February 2 page.

NEWS BREAK

Jesse Jackson Has Died

In this 1983 photo, Jesse Jackson announces that he is running in the 1984 U.S. presidential election.

Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson has died. He was 84.

Born in South Carolina in 1941, Jackson grew up at a time when the southern United States was racially segregated. He began protesting segregation while still a teen and eventually worked alongside civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Jackson dedicated his life to the fight for civil rights. In 1971 he founded an organization called PUSH to help Black Americans get jobs and open businesses. He later founded the Rainbow Coalition to help all Americans in a broader fight for equal opportunities.

Jackson ran for president twice—in 1984 and 1988. Although he did not win, his efforts made history. No other Black candidate had been so successful in a presidential election up to that point.

Jackson’s work expanded outside the United States. He spoke out against a racist system called apartheid in South Africa and peacefully negotiated for the release of prisoners of war during international conflicts.

“[Our father’s] unwavering belief in justice, equality, and love uplifted millions,” his family said in a statement. “And we ask you to honor his memory by continuing the fight for the values he lived by.”

NEWS EXTRA

Olympic Highlights!

Kokomo Murase of Japan competes in the women’s big air final at the 2026 Olympic Games.

The 2026 Winter Olympic Games are in full swing in Italy! Don’t worry if you’ve been missing the action—the Games will continue until February 22.

Here’s just a taste of what has happened so far.

Two athletes from Japan won big medals—gold—for catching big air. In big air snowboarding, athletes go down a ramp and then do a trick in the air. Kokomo Murase completed a trick called a frontside triple 14 to win the gold medal in the women’s big air finals. Kira Kimura won the gold medal in the men’s big air finals with a trick called the Run 3 switch backside 1980.

Franjo von Allmen of Switzerland is the reigning king of alpine skiing! The 24-year-old won gold in all three alpine events: the downhill, the super-G, and the men’s team combined. On the women’s side, Olympic legend Lindsey Vonn of the United States broke her leg in the downhill race, ending her attempt to make a comeback. American Breezy Johnson won the gold medal.

Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron of France took home the gold medal in ice dancing. The pair defeated three-time world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States, who had been favored to win. Chock and Bates came in second, winning the silver medal.

Italian speed skater Francesca Lollobrigida won gold medals in the women’s 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter races, bringing her Olympic career medal total to four. The home crowd cheered when Lollobrigida completed the 5,000-meter race just 0.10 seconds before Merel Conijn of the Netherlands, who won the silver. Lollobrigida has now won more Olympic medals than any other Italian speed skater in the history of the Games.

Did You Know?

The Pet Rock was one of the most absurd toy crazes in history. That’s right, it really was just a rock.

This quirky “toy” became a cultural obsession in the 1970s when millions of people in the United States bought their very own Pet Rock.

Gary Dahl (seen here in 1975) created the Pet Rock in the 1970s.

It’s the Year of the Horse!

A set of horse lanterns are lit up during a lantern show in China in January 2026.

On February 17, billions of people around the world will celebrate Lunar New Year and with it, the start of the Year of the Horse. The Lunar New Year is an annual festival that begins between January 21 and February 20, depending on the cycles of the Moon. It is traditionally celebrated in Asian countries such as China, Vietnam, and South Korea. People of Asian descent also celebrate this annual holiday in their communities around the globe.

Lunar New Year celebrations typically include family gatherings, specials foods, red decorations, and lanterns. In China, the Lunar New Year also marks a change in the Chinese Zodiac. The zodiac consists of 12 animals. People are thought to have the personality traits of the animal that represents their birth year. The 2026 Lunar New Year marks the end of the Year of the Snake and the start of the Year of the Horse. You can find your animal in the image below.

Cultures around the world have holidays that follow a lunar calendar. Many people in India celebrate Diwali, which follows the Hindu lunar calendar. Muslim and Jewish peoples around the globe also celebrate respective holidays aligned with the Moon’s cycle.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Find your birth year to learn which animal is linked to it.

A Legendary Festival

People perform “The Story of the Nian” as part of a Lunar New Year celebration in Singapore in 2020.

Lunar New Year festivities date back thousands of years. Some traditions developed to ward away “Nian,” a frightening monster at the center of an ancient legend. Read more about the origins of the holiday at Britannica!

WORD OF THE WEEK

gizmo

PART OF SPEECH:

noun

Definition:

: a usually small mechanical or electronic device

Definitions provided by

Word Flower

How many words can you make with these letters? All words must use the center letter.

In Case You Missed It

Life wouldn’t be as fun without the work of these three inventors.

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February 5, 2026

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January 22, 2026

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“In the News: Inventing the Fun.” Britannica School, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 13 Feb. 2026. https://news.eb.com/level2/inventing-the-fun/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026 [Replace this date with today’s date.]