Any NBA list where you are forced to leave Kobe Bryant out is blasphemous, but this time around it has to be done in regards to who holds the NBA crown for their respective state and that's exactly what Wilt does for Pennsylvania. There is a good argument for the two being interchangeable or considered 'Pennsylvania 1A' and 'Pennsylvania 1B,' but we'll leave up to you to debate. Wilt Chamberlain was simply an anomaly for being 7'1 during his era of professional basketball. Prior to ever dunking a basketball in the NBA, he spent stints at the University of Kansas and as a member of the Harlem Globetrotters before being claimed as a territorial pick by the Philadelphia Warriors in the 1959 NBA Draft.
Instantaneously, Wilt 'The Stilt' became a force becoming the only NBA player to average 40 and 50 points per game during a regular season, scoring an NBA's highest 100 points in a single game, and becoming the only NBA player to average 30 points and 20 rebounds a game in a single season. The Philadelphia-bred Chamberlain surprisingly only won two NBA titles in his career, one with the 76ers in 1967 and one with Lakers in 1972. With four MVP Awards and one Finals MVP (1972) under his belt, Chamberlain defined what it meant to dominate in the NBA.
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."