The man who invented the touchscreen... in 1923

In 1861, a boy named Émile Dufresne was born in Lyon, France. He wasn’t wealthy. He wasn’t well connected. And he wasn’t even formally educated.

But Émile had two things: curiosity and a knack for tinkering.

Those two traits led him to a life of invention where, through serendipity and bold experimentation, he stumbled upon ideas that wouldn’t become mainstream until nearly a century later.

The Cup That Cooled Itself

In 1889, Dufresne patented a self-cooling cup. His idea was simple but radical: a double-walled glass filled with ammonium nitrate and water. Twist or shake the cup, and a chemical reaction would instantly chill your drink, no ice cubes required.

It worked, but there was one problem: chemicals that could burn skin if spilled weren’t exactly ideal for cafés and kitchens. So the invention faded into obscurity.

The Glow-in-the-Dark Newspaper

Two decades later, Émile turned his attention to the printing press. In 1911, he helped create a newspaper printed with phosphorescent ink. Imagine reading your evening paper in bed, without a lamp.

The press went wild. “A luminous invention!” one headline declared.

But there was a catch. The ink rubbed off on readers’ hands, leaving glowing fingerprints everywhere. What could have been revolutionary turned into more of a party trick.

The First Touchscreen (Almost)

In the 1920s, Émile devised a pressure-sensitive glass panel that could detect touch. Long before smartphones or tablets, he imagined people interacting with machines through screens instead of buttons.

He presented the prototype to the French Academy of Sciences. They dismissed it as impractical, too complex, and unnecessary. Can you imagine?

Fifty years later, touchscreens began to quietly transform the world.

The Silent Typewriter

In the 1930s, Émile tackled another problem: noisy typewriters. His solution was a rubber-lined chamber that muffled every keystroke.

The machine worked, but it was clunky, expensive, and looked like you were typing inside a shoebox. Offices decided to stick with the noise instead.

The Happy Accident of Being Early

Émile Dufresne died in 1942, largely forgotten. Most of his prototypes never made it past the workshop stage.

But looking back, his inventions read like a blueprint for the future: instant cooling, luminous screens, touch interfaces, and quieter workspaces.

His story is a reminder that sometimes the right idea arrives at the wrong time.

And that’s the beauty of serendipity, it doesn’t always create overnight success, but it plants seeds that can blossom decades later.

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