While you may know the board game Monopoly, you probably don't know the incredible story of the game's invention. This week's episode reveals the true story of the person responsible for inventing the game, and Parker Brothers' purposeful deceit in perpetuating the myth behind the game's origin. Do not pass GO, do not collect $200...go directly to episode 10 of Killer Inventions!  

Listen to the first two seasons of Killer Means Awesome to hear more incredible true stories. Season one features amazing tales about recently discovered shipwrecks and Season two highlights biographies of people you really should know!

Some inventions don’t look particularly clever or useful in hindsight. The ‘baby cage’ may be one of those inventions! Developed in the early 20th century in response to diseases like tuberculosis and the Spanish Flu, the baby cage was not for the faint of heart. Nor for those scared of heights. Improbably enough, the contraption continued to be used as late as the 1950s. 

Tune into Episode 9 for the full story on this odd chapter in American tinkering. 

Listen to the first two seasons of Killer Means Awesome to hear more incredible true stories. Season one features amazing tales about recently discovered shipwrecks and Season two highlights biographies of people you really should know!

Some say youth is wasted on the young, however, that is definitely not the case with the three inventors featured in this episode, each of whom was under the age of 16 when they made history. Check out these three incredible inventors and their killer inventions in Episode 8 of Killer Means Awesome!

Listen to the first two seasons of Killer Means Awesome to hear more incredible true stories. Season one features amazing tales about recently discovered shipwrecks and Season two highlights biographies of people you really should know!

The invention of dynamite in 1867 transformed industry, mining, railroad building, and modern warfare. It also led to the creation of the Nobel Prizes. For the full story of the brilliant, moody Swede who invented both dynamite and the Nobel Prizes, check out Episode 7 of Killer Means Awesome!

Listen to the first two seasons of Killer Means Awesome to hear more incredible true stories. Season one features amazing tales about recently discovered shipwrecks and Season two highlights biographies of people you really should know!

For thousands of years people all over the world have chewed gum or gum-like substances. Still, the invention of the modern chewing gum industry took place in the United States in the 1800s, and while you may be familiar with names like William Wrigley, Jr., an exiled Mexican General was also responsible for the gum you enjoy today. Hear the incredible true story of how chewing gum evolved from the naturally occurring flavorless birch bark tar to the chemically crafted Lebron James’ Lightning Lemonade Bubblicious Bubble Gum.

Listen to the first two seasons of Killer Means Awesome to hear more incredible true stories.  Season one features amazing tales about recently discovered shipwrecks and Season two highlights biographies of people you really should know!

The magical sound of slide guitar is a modern invention. Though long associated with American blues music, the location of its earliest pioneers may surprise you! Tune into Killer Means Awesome to find out who invented the musical technique, who set the standard for playing, and why you should never, ever let guitarist Ry Cooder drive you through the mountains.

Listen to the first two seasons of Killer Means Awesome to hear more incredible true stories.  Season one features amazing tales of recently discovered shipwrecks and season two highlights biographies of people you really should know!

Diminutive in stature but a giant in the world of inventions, the brilliant Grace Hopper talked her way into the Navy after Pearl Harbor and went on to become arguably the most pivotal innovator at the dawn of the information age.

Listen to the first two seasons of Killer Means Awesome to hear more incredible true stories.  Season one features amazing tales about recently discovered shipwrecks and Season two highlights biographies of people you really should know!

From its earliest, primitive versions in the 1940s to the powerful, high-tech devices of today, the fabled 'black box' on airplanes has captured both the public imagination and the careful attention of engineers and investigators. Perhaps no other device does more to unravel the mystery of a plane crash than the flight recorder, which is built to withstand explosions, fires, water exposure, and intense deep-sea pressure. For the full history of this fascinating device -- including the incredible lengths which investigators go to in order to recover it after a crash -- check out the latest episode of Killer Means Awesome!

Listen to the first two seasons of Killer Means Awesome to hear more incredible true stories.  Season one features amazing tales of recently discovered shipwrecks and season two highlights biographies of people you really should know!

In 1856 William Henry Perkin was an 18 year old college student on spring break when he accidentally invented a method for creating synthetic purple dye, a storied color which also happened to be the most coveted in all of Europe.  Still, no one could have imagined William’s home experiment would inadvertently usher in the first science-based industry, making William rich and famous, bringing color to the masses, and ultimately changing the world.

Listen to the first two seasons of Killer Means Awesome to hear more incredible true stories.  Season one features amazing tales about recently discovered shipwrecks and Season two highlights biographies of people you really should know!

The Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann was the first person to synthesize LSD in 1938.  From an accidental LSD trip to today’s worldwide renaissance in government-sanctioned research, perhaps no psychedelic has triggered more controversy and headlines than LSD.  What started as the brainchild of the young chemist looking for new medicines, LSD has been used in psychiatry, religious ceremonies, the creative arts, and even CIA spy-craft!  

Listen to the first two seasons of Killer Means Awesome to hear more incredible true stories.  Season one features amazing tales about recently discovered shipwrecks and Season two highlights biographies of people you really should know!