Hailing from Silver City, Mississippi, Spencer Haywood probably has the most unique entry story into the realm of professional basketball than anyone else on this list. After moving to Detroit in 1964, Haywood led his high school basketball team to the state championship game and won in 1967. Later, he found himself averaging an insane 28.2 points and 22.1 rebounds per game while attending a community college. He was contacted to join the Men's US National Basketball Team for the 1968 Summer Olympics where he would go on to lead the team in scoring averaging 16.1 points per game and setting a United States field goal percentage record of 71%.
Following the Olympics, Haywood transferred to the University of Detroit where he revealed that he would go pro following his sophomore year of college. The NBA denied Haywood's request to enter the NBA Draft due to the rules stating that he would enter with his graduating class. Haywood being the forward-thinking young man that he was, he joined the ABA and won Most Valuable Player before being drafted to the Seattle Sonics in 1970. Haywood would go on to become an NBA Champion with 1980 Los Angeles Lakers and 4x NBA All-Star. Way to work the system, Spencer.
When we think of inventors, the image that comes to mind is usually that of a frazzled scientist toiling away in a lab, not celebrities pulled from the pages of Us Weekly. However, a number of well-known public figures hold patents for various innovations. Some are related to the work that made them famous, while others are offshoots of hobbies or just a single great idea.
Part of guitar wizard Eddie Van Halen's signature sound was his two-handed tapping technique, but letting all ten fingers fly while simultaneously holding up the guitar's neck could get a bit tricky. Van Halen came up with a novel way to get around this problem, though; he invented a support (top) that could flip out of the back of his axe's body to raise and stabilize the fretboard so he could tap out searing songs like "Eruption." While Van Halen was obviously interested in improving his guitar work, the patent application he filed in 1985 notes that the device would work with any stringed instrument. Want to tap out a scorching mandolin solo? Find someone selling Eddie's device.
It’s probably not surprising that James Cameron—who designed a submersible to take him to the deepest known part of the ocean—will often invent technology to make his films if what he needs doesn’t exist. He holds a number of patents, including US Patent No. 4996938, “apparatus for propelling a user in an underwater environment,” that he and his brother, Michael, created to film The Abyss and patented in 1989. The device is basically an underwater dolly equipped with propellers that makes it easy for a camera operator to maneuver in the water—and allowed Cameron to capture the shots he wanted for the 1989 film, part of which was filmed in an abandoned nuclear reactor.
In 1987 Jamie Lee Curtis designed and patented a disposable diaper that included a waterproof pocket that held baby wipes. She hasn't profited from her idea yet, though, since she refuses to license the patent until diaper companies make biodegradable products.
You know him as a rock legend, but Neil Young also loves trains—so much that he owns a stake in a model train manufacturing company and has an extensive collection. He also holds seven patents related to model trains, including Patent No. US5441223, "Model train controller using electromagnetic field between track and ground."