美国总统的七项奇怪发明
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.
美国人使用的很多东西都是受美国总统启发或是由他们发明的。众所周知，自由和美国是由乔治・华盛顿（编注：美国第一任总统，1789～1797在任）创造的，那所有其他的呢？本文列出了美国总统的七项奇怪发明，欣赏一下吧。
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政党分肥制
安德鲁・杰克逊（编注：美国第七任总统，1829～1837在任）因将政党分肥制“发扬光大”而功不可没，因为他把许多政府职位分给了帮他赢得大选的朋友们。正是这种任人唯亲的制度从那时以来一直腐化堕落，业已被沿袭到了成为政治体系中合乎常情的一部分的地步。
2圣诞树灯
每年我们都会用电灯装饰圣诞树，这一传统要归功于格罗弗・克利夫兰（编注：美国第22和第24任总统，1885～1889、1893～1897在任）。托马斯・爱迪生的朋友爱德华・H・约翰逊发明了第一批圣诞树灯，但是那些习惯点蜡烛装饰圣诞树的人们并不太接受这种灯，虽然正是由于那些蜡烛，许多房子被烧毁了。不过，在1895年12月，克利夫兰要求白宫前面的那棵圣诞树要用电灯装饰。这一举动为促使这些漂亮的彩灯变得如此广受欢迎奠定了基础。
315边形谷仓和条播犁
在创造了整个国家之后，乔治・华盛顿并没有停止发明。相反，他还发明了一些农耕设施，比如用来提高小麦脱谷效率的15边形谷仓和条播犁。这两项发明都是由华盛顿使用和改进的，据这位美国首任总统说，这两项发明提高了农业产量。他的确是美国历史上最棒的总统。而且除此之外，乔治・华盛顿也是我们过总统日的原因，这个节日最初就是为了庆祝华盛顿的生日而设立的。
4胡佛球
尽管发明胡佛球的并不是赫伯特・胡佛（编注：美国第31任总统，1929～1933在任）本人，但他是发明胡佛球运动必不可少的因素。那些年在白宫任职的医生乔尔・T・布恩海军上将是这项运动的发明者。胡佛球运动将排球的网与网球的得分规则及球场相结合。参与的每个队由2～4人组成，队员轮流投掷一颗4～6磅重的球，另一队必须接住这个球并立即扔回去。接到球的人必须在接球点原地投球。发明这项运动原本是为了让赫伯特・胡佛总统保持健康，也难怪球会那么沉。
5一种使船能够在浅滩浮起来的设备
总统发明家不止一个，但持有专利的总统就只有亚伯拉罕・林肯（编注：美国第16任总统，1861～1865在任）一人。林肯因发明了可以令沙洲或浅滩上的船只浮起的器械而被授予专利。这个发明就是在船只每侧装上两个可以充气的腔体，从而能让船只漂起来免受水中杂物的破坏。林肯的许多船只都曾撞上沙洲，受此困扰，他想出了这个发明。