In 1969 a young inventor patented a unique heart-attack-sensing watch that used the wearer’s pulse to regulate the time. That’s right: there are no quartz crystals or tuning forks in here. The system senses your pulse and shows information on two registers – the standard, optimal time and a dial that runs faster or slower depending on the user’s current heart-rate. You’d then be able to tell if your heart rate was too wild or unsustainable and could help you avoid heart attacks.
There is also a unique alarm that goes off when you’re experiencing arrhythmia. In short, it will tell you when you’re having a heart attack.
But the best thing? The very best thing? The inventor of this device was Herbert Zeppo Marx AKA “The Handsome Marx Brother.” After Zeppo left the group he became an engineer and began a company called Marman Products that, in addition to the watch, made the clamp that held the Fat Man nuclear bomb in its bay.
You can see the full patent here and here’s Zeppo and Groucho hamming it up in Horse Feathers.
Seattle, WA
San Diego, CA
Menlo Park, CA
San Francisco, CA
Berlin, Germany
Boston, MA
