Frisbee Inventor Walter Frederick Morrison (1920-2010)

Last week, the inventor of the Frisbee, Walter "Fred" Morrison passed away at the age of 90. Fred came up with the idea for the Frisbee shortly after World War II. He realized that flinging cake pans through the air was a lot of fun, but a more aerodynamic "pan" would work a lot better. In fact, a lot of people and groups lay claim to "inventing" the Frisbee concept since tossing pie and cake pans was apparently a pretty popular activity on college campuses and beaches for many years. But, it was Fred Morrison, with the help of his wife and some colleagues, who developed a better flying disc made out of plastic.

He originally named the disc the "Pluto Platter" to cash in on the flying saucer craze of the 1950s. He sold the invention to the Wham-O toy company, which eventually changed the name to Frisbee because that's what college students in New England were calling it since they associated the toy with the tossed pies of the Frisbie Pie Company.

This innovation has created hours of enjoyment for people everywhere and for many happy dogs. Thanks, Fred, for all the fun!

Pepsi is Looking for Your Ideas

You have probably seen the commercials, but just in case you haven't, I want to let you know that Pepsi is looking for your big ideas to improve health, arts & culture, neighborhoods, education, food & shelter, and the planet. The contest is called the "Pepsi Refresh Project."

Once ideas are submitted, people may vote for up to 10 ideas each day. Each month, Pepsi will provide up to 10 grants at the $5K, $25K, $50K levels and up to two $250K grants to the winning ideas.

I love the idea of Pepsi getting their customers to participate in selecting their corporate philanthropy projects. I'll be thinking of the ideas we have to submit!

For more information and to submit ideas, click here.