PAPER CLIP Johan Vaaler secured his patent rights in Germany in 1899. He was granted an American patent in 1901 with his many different designs. The document makes you wonder how anyone could possibly come up with something else and still call it a paper clip as the description of the "paperclip or holder" in the document of the clip he got patented is that: It consists of forming same of a spring material, such as a piece of wire, that is bent to a rectangular, triangular, or otherwise shaped hoop, the end parts of which wire piece form members or tongues lying side by side in contrary directions. CHEESE-SLICER The cheese-slicer is a Norwegian invention. On a hot summerday in 1927 Thor Bjørklund had his lunchbreak in his carpenter-workshop at Lillehammer. As usual, he was curious about the lunch his wife had prepared for him. He was very excited when he discovered the four slices of bread with gouda-cheese (yellow-cheese)..... but the high temperature caused his cheese to melt, which made the cheese look uninviting. Therefore he tried to divide the slices of cheese so that he didn´t have to eat so much of it. At first he tried the knife.....that didn´t work.....then he tried the saw. That didn´t work either. After that he found his plane that he had been using recently to slice some wood. And it worked perfectly well. But it was a bit difficult to use. And you couldn´t store it in the kitchen. Therefore he decided to make it smaller. After thinking about this over night, he found a thin slice of steel. He cut it and bent it down, while the back of the steel-slice was bent up. Then you could have a nice slice of cheese go through. Neighbours and friends loved his invention, so he had to make one for them too. After a while he realized that he should take out a patent for his product, later this year he got it (by the way, the patent-number is 43377). Some FAMOUS PEOPLE and COMPANIES in NORWAY Here is some on famous names in Norway. Have you hear or seen something they have done? A-ha was a pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. Billboard album chart, yielded two international number-one singles, "Take on Me" and "The Sun Always Shines on T.V.", and earned the band a Grammy Award nomination as Best New Artist. StarGate is a record producing and songwriting team, composed of Tor Erik Hermansen from Askim and Mikkel Storleer Eriksen, from Trondheim but based in New York City. Ray Kay is a is a music video & commercial director from Haugesund. Ray Kay is one of the hottest music video directors working today. Harald Zwart is a film director born in the Netherlands, and raised in Fredrikstad. Harald Zwart has directed music videos for the Norwegian band a-ha, for the songs Velvet and Forever Not Yours. Snøhettta is a award winning Interior and Architrctural firm. Snøhettta is often associated with projects outside of it´s home in Oslo. Two local clothing designers from Stryn, Simen Staalnacke and Peder Børresen, gave birth to a clothing concept Moods of Norway. Magnus Carlsen is a chess Grandmaster and chess prodigy who is currently the number-one ranked player in the world from Tønsberg. In January 2010 he became the seventh player in history to be ranked number one in the world on the official FIDE rating list. Magnus Voll Mathiassen (MVM) from Drammen is an independent graphic designer and illustrator, was picked out by Rihanna and used on the artist 7th release, "Unapologetic". Edvard Munch (Painter) Henrik Ibsen (Writer) Edvard Grieg (Music) Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (Nobel Prize for Literature) Gustav Vigeland (Sculptures) Henrik Wergeland (National Poet) Knute Rockne (American Football) Leiv Eiriksson (Explorer) Fridtjof Nansen Nobel Peace Prize Roald Amundsen (Explorer) Thor Heyerdahl (Explorer) Herman Wildenvey (Poet) Jonas Lie (Writer) Alexander L. Kielland (Writer) Jan Stenerud (American Football) Marilyn Monroe (Actress) Sigrid Undset (Nobel Prize for Literature) Knut Hamsun (Nobel Prize for Literature) Ole Bull (Violinist) Kirsten Flagstad (Operasinger) Jakob Weidemann (Painter) Karsten Solheim (Inventor) Theodor Kittelsen (Troll Magic painter) Christian Skredsvig (Painter) Frits Thaulow (Painter) Sonja Henie (Ice Queen) Matt Groening (Cartoonist) Conrad Hilton (Hilton Hotel Chain) Stein Eriksen (Alpine Skiier) Liv Ullmann (Actress) Jørgen Moe (Author) Peter Asbjørnsen (Author) Adolph Tidemand (Painter) Hans F. Gude (Painter) Triztán Vindtorn (Poet) Hariton Pushwagner (Pop Art Painter)