At the 48th slot on the list, Chigusa Nagayo, hailing from Omura, Nagasaki, Japan. While only standing at 5'5 was known for her intimidating demeanor and grit. Nagayo was a trained submission specialist known to leave her opponents writhing in pain. Nagayo began her wrestling journey in 1980 in the All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling league (Zenjo) and gained popularity as one-half of The Crush Gals alongside, Lioness Asuka.
Nagayo wrestled from 1980 to 1989 and returned from her early retirement in 1993 and wrestled until 2005. Within that time, Nagayo started her very own highly-successful pro-wrestling promotion company called, the GAEA Women's Professional Wrestling organization (GAEA) and briefly wrestled as under the alter ego Lady Zero. Throughout her wrestling career, Nagayo captured the AJW Junior Championship (2x), All-Pacific Championship (2x), IWA World Women's Championship (2x), WWWA World Single Championship, and WWWA World Tag Team Championship (4x). Nagayo is truly a pioneer for the sport.
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."