17 Awesome All-American Inventions for DIYers

LUTRON: CHALK ONE UP FOR THE LITTLE GUY

Back in the 1950s, light-dimming switches were bulky commercial affairs that generated a lot of heat. Joel Spira, a physicist from New York City, knew he could build a better one. He worked in a small lab set up in a spare bedroom of the apartment where he lived with his wife, Ruth.

In 1959, he was successful at creating a solid-state, rotary dimmer that used less energy, created less heat, and was small enough to fit in a standard electrical box. Almost as impressive, he was able to sell his product in a market dominated by giant manufacturers such as GE and Westinghouse.

Joel and his wife incorporated Lutron in 1961. The company now holds more than 2,700 patents worldwide and builds more than 15,000 different products, many in the United States.