On This Day - December 28, 2026

The U.S. Patent Office issued patent No. 98,304 to William Finley Semple of Mount Vernon, Ohio for chewing gum. However, the first person to commercially produce chewing gum was John B. Curtis of Maine.

The U.S. Patent Office issued patent No. 355,139 to Josephine Garis Cochran for her invention of the "dish washing" machine. She is the first inventor to successfully produce a commercially marketable dishwasher. The inventor soon established the Cochran’s Crescent Washing Machine Company. In later years, the company would become part of KitchenAid.

Pioneering filmmakers, brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière presented 10 short films in their first public performance.

Elizabeth Jordan Carr was born at Norfolk General Hospital. She was the first American baby conceived using in vitro fertilization. December 28th Celebrated (and Not So Celebrated) Birthdays