There are numerous things that Americans use that were inspired or invented by U.S. presidents. It's a known fact that freedom and America was invented by George Washington， but what about all the others？ Here is a list of 7 weird presidential inventions. Enjoy.

美國人使用的很多東西都是受美國總統(tǒng)啟發(fā)或是由他們發(fā)明的。眾所周知，自由和美國是由喬治·華盛頓（編注：美國第一任總統(tǒng)，1789～1797在任）創(chuàng)造的，那所有其他的呢？本文列出了美國總統(tǒng)的七項奇怪發(fā)明，欣賞一下吧。

The Spoils System1）

Andrew Jackson is credited for making big2） the spoils system because he gave a lot of jobs in the government to his friends that helped him win the election. It's this kind of nepotism3） that since then has been corrupted and copied to the point that it has become a natural part of the political system.

Christmas Tree Lights

Grover Cleveland is responsible for the tradition in which every year we decorate the Christmas tree with electrical lights. A friend of Thomas Edison， Edward H. Johnson invented the first Christmas tree lights， but they weren't received very well by people who were used to decorating their trees with lighted candles. It is because of those candles that a lot of houses were burned down. Cleveland， however， requested that the Christmas tree in front of the White House be decorated with electrical lights in December 1895. This act was the cornerstone4） that made these pretty colored lights so popular.

Fifteen-sided Barn and Drill Plow5）

George Washington didn't stop after inventing an entire country. Instead， he invented some farming innovations such as the fifteen-sided barn， which was used for more efficient wheat threshing6）， and the drill plow. Both of these inventions were used and developed by Washington， and， according to the first U.S. president， enhanced the output in agriculture. He was indeed， the best president in the history of the United States. And， on top of7） that， George Washington is also the reason why we have a Presidents' Day. This was first introduced to celebrate the birthday of Washington.

Hooverball

Even though Herbert Hoover wasn't the inventor per se8）， he is a building block9） in the invention of the Hooverball sport. Admiral Joel T. Boone， the physician from the White House in those years， invented the sport. Hooverball mixes the net from volleyball with the scoring and court10） from tennis. Teams are formed of two to four people who take turns in throwing a ball with a weight of four to six pounds that has to be caught by the other team and immediately thrown back. The person who catches the ball has to throw it back without moving from the place where he caught it. The sport was intended to keep President Herbert Hoover fit， and with a ball that heavy， it's no surprise.

A Device for Buoying11） Vessels over Shoals12）

There were some presidential inventors， but only Abraham Lincoln is a patent holder. Lincoln was granted the patent for his apparatus13） that would be able to lift boats over sandbars14） and shoals. This invention used two chambers15） on each of the sides of the boat that would have inflated16） which could have lifted the boat and prevented any damage to it caused by things inside the water. Lincoln came up with this invention after being annoyed that a lot of his boats ran into sandbars.

Swivel17） Chair

Even though Thomas Jefferson is best known for his invention called the Declaration of Independence， one of the founding fathers of the United States had some other skills as well. He invented a macaroni18） press19） and an iron plow developed with his son-in-law. That plow was a lot more capable of digging than the usual wooden plows that people used at the time. It was truly a useful and great invention. However， his most important invention is probably the swivel chair. We should be thankful to him for this very amazing invention.

Walking Stick with a Microscope

James Madison loved to combine different things together. One invention of his is the walking stick that had a microscope inside it. This is a very useful thing to have if you wish to closely examine what you step on. It's believed that Andrew Jackson used this walking stick， probably to better see the people he was whipping the snot out of20）.

1政黨分肥制

安德魯·杰克遜（編注：美國第七任總統(tǒng)，1829～1837在任）因將政黨分肥制“發(fā)揚光大”而功不可沒，因為他把許多政府職位分給了幫他贏得大選的朋友們。正是這種任人唯親的制度從那時以來一直腐化墮落，業(yè)已被沿襲到了成為政治體系中合乎常情的一部分的地步。

2圣誕樹燈

每年我們都會用電燈裝飾圣誕樹，這一傳統(tǒng)要歸功于格羅弗·克利夫蘭（編注：美國第22和第24任總統(tǒng)，1885～1889、1893～1897在任）。托馬斯·愛迪生的朋友愛德華·H·約翰遜發(fā)明了第一批圣誕樹燈，但是那些習慣點蠟燭裝飾圣誕樹的人們并不太接受這種燈，雖然正是由于那些蠟燭，許多房子被燒毀了。不過，在1895年12月，克利夫蘭要求白宮前面的那棵圣誕樹要用電燈裝飾。這一舉動為促使這些漂亮的彩燈變得如此廣受歡迎奠定了基礎。

315邊形谷倉和條播犁

在創(chuàng)造了整個國家之后，喬治·華盛頓并沒有停止發(fā)明。相反，他還發(fā)明了一些農耕設施，比如用來提高小麥脫谷效率的15邊形谷倉和條播犁。這兩項發(fā)明都是由華盛頓使用和改進的，據這位美國首任總統(tǒng)說，這兩項發(fā)明提高了農業(yè)產量。他的確是美國歷史上最棒的總統(tǒng)。而且除此之外，喬治·華盛頓也是我們過總統(tǒng)日的原因，這個節(jié)日最初就是為了慶祝華盛頓的生日而設立的。

4胡佛球

盡管發(fā)明胡佛球的并不是赫伯特·胡佛（編注：美國第31任總統(tǒng)，1929～1933在任）本人，但他是發(fā)明胡佛球運動必不可少的因素。那些年在白宮任職的醫(yī)生喬爾·T·布恩海軍上將是這項運動的發(fā)明者。胡佛球運動將排球的網與網球的得分規(guī)則及球場相結合。參與的每個隊由2～4人組成，隊員輪流投擲一顆4～6磅重的球，另一隊必須接住這個球并立即扔回去。接到球的人必須在接球點原地投球。發(fā)明這項運動原本是為了讓赫伯特·胡佛總統(tǒng)保持健康，也難怪球會那么沉。

5一種使船能夠在淺灘浮起來的設備

總統(tǒng)發(fā)明家不止一個，但持有專利的總統(tǒng)就只有亞伯拉罕·林肯（編注：美國第16任總統(tǒng)，1861～1865在任）一人。林肯因發(fā)明了可以令沙洲或淺灘上的船只浮起的器械而被授予專利。這個發(fā)明就是在船只每側裝上兩個可以充氣的腔體，從而能讓船只漂起來免受水中雜物的破壞。林肯的許多船只都曾撞上沙洲，受此困擾，他想出了這個發(fā)明。

6轉椅

雖然托馬斯·杰斐遜（編注：美國第三任總統(tǒng)，1801～1809在任）最為人熟知的是他發(fā)明的《獨立宣言》，但身為美國國父之一的他還有一些別的手藝。他發(fā)明了一種通心面壓榨機，還與他的女婿一同發(fā)明了一種鐵犁。這種犁在犁地時比當時人們使用的木犁要好用得多，真的是一項有用而偉大的發(fā)明。然而，他最重要的發(fā)明可能還要數轉椅。我們理應為這一了不起的發(fā)明而感謝他。

7帶顯微鏡的手杖

詹姆斯·麥迪遜（編注：美國第四任總統(tǒng)，1809～1813在任）喜歡將不同的東西合為一體。他的發(fā)明之一就是裝有內置顯微鏡的手杖。如果你想近距離觀察你踩到的東西，那么這個手杖就是一件非常有用的工具，值得擁有。據說，安德魯·杰克遜使用過這種手杖，可能是為了更好地看清他正在痛打的人。

1.spoils system： 政黨分肥制，又稱政黨分贓制，是執(zhí)政黨的領導人把政府公職、官位大量分配給本黨成員的一種用人制度。

2.make ... big： 飛黃騰達；成功

3.nepotism [?nep?t?z?m] n. 任人唯親

4.cornerstone [?k??n?st??n] n. 基礎；最重要的部分

5.plow [pla?] n. 犁

6.threshing [?θre???] n. 打谷，脫粒

7.on top of： 除……之外

8.per se [?p?? ?se?] adv. 本身；本質上

9.building block： 必不可少的組成部分

10.court [k??t] n. （網球、籃球、羽毛球或壁球等的）球場

11.buoy [b??] vt. 使浮起

12.shoal [???l] n. 淺灘，沙洲

13.apparatus [??p??re?t?s] n. 器械；器具；設備

14.sandbar [?s?ndbɑ?（r）] n. （尤指）河口沙壩，港口沙洲

15.chamber [?t?e?mb?（r）] n. （機器、植物或動物的）腔，膛，室

16.inflate [?n?fle?t] vi. 充氣

17.swivel [?sw?vl] adj. 旋轉的；能轉動的

18.macaroni [?m?k??r??ni] n. 通心面

19.press [pres] n. 壓榨機

20.whip the snot out of： <美俚>痛打。 snot [sn?t] n. 鼻涕