It took us 45 states to finally come to a state that doesn't have one single NBA alumni player born within its borders and honestly, we're not surprised that it is Vermont. However, we were able to discover that the state does have local basketball legend in Taylor Coppenrath. Born in the city of Barnet, Taylor Copenrath didn't play varsity basketball until his junior year of high school but somehow was able to become the Vermont Player of the Year his senior year in 2000.
Coppenrath then went on to play four years of college basketball at the University of Vermont where he led the team to three straight America East Conference titles averaging 21.4 points per game. Coppenrath is currently the all-time leader in field goals made at the university with 851 and second all-time leading scorer with a total of 2,442 points. During the 2004-05 season, Coppenrath led UVM to its first-ever NCAA Tournament victory over Syracuse. While he declared himself for the NBA Draft in 2005, he was not selected but did participate in the NBA Summer League as a member of the Boston Celtics. When he wasn't picked up by the team, he headed overseas where he played for a decade professionally.
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."