Pull up a TV dinner, discover 15 vital Nebraska inventions

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Kool-Aid, the reuben, Dorothy Lynch. Yep, they all were the concoctions of a Nebraskan.

But there are many other products developed in the Cornhusker State.

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Round baler

Car rentals

911

Cary Steele checks one of his seven computer monitors while taking a 911 call in 2014 at the Lincoln Emergency Communications Center.
Although the system was first used in Alabama, Lincoln is credited as the home of the 911 system's invention.
MATT RYERSON/Journal Star file photo

Eskimo Pie

Railroad engineer invented the ski lift -- in Nebraska

The next time you sit on a ski lift on the way to the top of a mountain, think of bananas and the Union Pacific Railroad.

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Frozen TV dinners

In 1896, 17-year-old Carl A. Swanson borrowed enough money from his sisters to travel from his native Sweden to Omaha. Without knowing a word of English, he began working on a farm near Wahoo, then moved to Omaha, where he continued studying English, business and accounting.

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SAFER barrier a key player in motorsports safety

SAFER barriers — Dean Sicking of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Midwest Roadside Safety Facility examines a SAFER barrier on display at the Smith Collection Museum of American Speed on Friday, Oct. 21, 2011. (ROBERT BECKER/Lincoln Journal Star)
ROBERT BECKER / Lincoln Journal Star

Don't turn until you know where to turn.

Mac Demere watched the car in front of him lose control and veer left toward the inside of the track. He tried to anticipate the car's next move, not wanting to turn until he knew where the other car was headed next.

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CliffsNotes

Before the Internet and Wikipedia, the distinctive yellow-and-black covers of CliffsNotes adorned the bookshelves of many a college and high school student. The series of study guides (which are not to be used as a substitute for reading the actual text, OK?) was launched in Lincoln by Cliff Hillegass and his wife Catherine. From the original 16 Shakespeare titles, CliffsNotes has grown to include hundreds of works and has saved many a student.

Crete woman invented today's voting booths

Nebraska history shows many inventions have originated in the Cornhusker state, some by women and a few that have lasted for more than a century.

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Nebraska's connection to the McRib

Move over, Richie Ashburn and Bob Gibson.

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Harold Edgerton made the invisible visible

Virtually no one, anywhere in the world, is unfamiliar with the iconic photos of a drop of milk above a white haloed crown just as the previous drop hits a flat surface, or a bullet as it exits a just-pierced apple. Few outside the state, however, realize that Harold Edgerton is a native son and graduate of the University of Nebraska.