The most mundane things that you use every day (think post it notes, rubber bands, concrete) often have fascinating stories behind them.
In fact, people often only notice how something's designed when it goes wrong. But the process of discovery, testing and prototyping anything, no matter how ordinary, is full of pitfalls and the occasional exhilarating breakthrough.
jcb 1945. Joseph Cyril Bamford
Bamford's initials have become synonymous with the machine that he invented - the hydraulic digger. Or, to give its proper name, the backhoe loader. Bamford started out designing and building tipping trailers in a rented garage in 1945. Selling them at his local market for £45 each, he realised that the addition of a hydraulic ram could tip loaded trailers easily and reliably - a first in Europe. By 1948, he was selling hydraulic trailers and developing designs for a hydraulic arm for tractors, called the Si-draulic. Just five years later, the first JCB as we know it debuted.
As sharp a marketer as he was an engineer, Bamford visited everyone who bought one of his diggers. He presented them with a JCB kettle that plugged into a special socket on the dashboard, enabling drivers to make a cup of tea without leaving the comfort of their cabin.
Spitfire