Joe Montana's biography is something out of an unrealistic, cheesy sports movie. Young Montana grew up in a blue-collar, rugged coal mining city with big dreams of making it big in sports one day. Young Montana goes off to college where he becomes extremely successful than off to the pros to become an undefeated champion wreaking havoc on whoever got into his way. While this may sound unbelievable and somewhat far-fetched, it's 100% true and he's undeniably one of the best players to ever strap up their pads and pick up a football. Hailing from New Eagle, Pennsylvania, Joe Montana AKA 'The Comeback Kid' played his collegiate football at the University of Notre Dame from 1974 to 1978. Montana wouldn't see any major playing time until his sophomore season but would eventually lead the prestigious football program to two Cotton Bowl victories in 1977 and 1978.
Somehow in the 1979 NFL Draft, Joe Montana was selected 82nd overall in the third round by the San Francisco 49ers where he would play fourteen out of the sixteen seasons of his NFL career. As a rookie, Montana played in all sixteen regular-season NBA games but only attempted twenty-three passes. It wasn't until the 1980 season, Montana would become the team's official starting quarterback and he would begin his reign of terror on the entire league. Montana would lead the Niners to the playoffs a total of nine times, making four Super Bowl appearances and winning every single one (XVI, XIX, XXIII, and XXIV). Montana was the first player ever to win three Super Bowl MVP honors (XVI, XIX, and XXIV). The Comeback Kid currently holds Super Bowl records for most pass attempts without an interception (122) and all-time highest passer rating (127.8). Montana played his final two NFL seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs and led the team to its first-ever AFC Championship game in 1994 before officially retiring.
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."