Incredible Products That Were Invented by the US Military

—Some things invented by the military have found their way into our everyday lives. In fact, practically everything you can think of contains some part, material, or process that came about through military funding. On this list, we're going to take a look at some cool military technologies and army inventions.

Microwaves were a direct evolution of the radar systems America and England developed to detect German fighters coming across the Channel. Functionally, there's no difference at all between a microwave and a radar emitter; the 2.45 gHz frequency that microwaves use is actually within the range of most Naval surface ship radar systems

—Birds Eye revolutionized the home dining experience in the 1950s."

The freeze-drying technique used to keep these foods fresh and tasty when re-heated was pioneered by the military in WWII, and proved vital for maintaining stores of medical supplies and antibiotics in

We used to use tampons to plug bullet holes

That's right. Back in 1914, a lumber mill called Kimberly Clark developed a new product - a fluffly, absorbent, cotton-like material called "cellulocotton." Kimberly Clark found a customer in the U.S. government who bought loads of what we would today recognize as tampons and pads, and sent them out with medics to plug bullet holes and serve as absorbent padding for bandages. Kimberly learned from returning nurses that the women on the front lines had been using the bullet-hole plugs and absorbent pads for exactly what you'd think. Kimberly Clark (reluctantly) created a new division called Kotex, which remains the name brans.

—Many people think of the GPS satellites that circle our Earth as pretty recent inventions, but in fact, our own Navy starting building the network more than 50 years ago. Back in the 1950s,

NASA started putting a series of radio navigation satellites into orbit; they functioned like orbiting lighthouses, giving ships a fixed point to navigate by during the day and on cloudy nights when the stars Digital camera technology started out on spy satellites in 1976 - which is at least a little ironic, considering how much spying they've done with cell phones and laptop lenses since then The KH-11 Kennan satellite was the very first fully electronic camera capable of beaming images back to ground commanders in almost real time. Crazy as it sounds today, prior to 1976, spy satellites were just film cameras sitting up in orbit. back to Earth,

Back in the day, Napoleon offered 12,000 francs to anyone who could come up with a way to keep his massive army supplied with food that hadn't gone rotten on the way. And, because it was France, the answer involved wine bottles

Specifically, pouring still-hot sauces and other puree'd products into the bottles, then quickly sealing them with corks.

Anyone who has severe allergies is familiar with the EpiPen. The spring-loaded, single-use syringes contain epinephrine, which counteracts allergic reactions and can help to save a sufferer's life But similar devices have been saving lives for decades. Some of the first were issued in World War I first aid kids, and were used to treat soldiers exposed to chemical agents and nerve

All remote control vehicles (including those little camera drones that you control with your phone) can trace their lineages back to a top-secret WWII mission that claimed one very well-known life. "Operation Aphrodite" involved packing a worn-out old bomber with tons of explosives and a radio control device

—The bomber's human pilot would take the plane off the runway, and bail out once the bomb plane was pointed the right way. From there, a radio controller in a chase plane would visually direct the world's first (and most powerful) "standoff missile" into heavily protected fortifications like U-Boat pens and V-2 launch sites. Unfortunately, thanks to a faulty fuse, one of the bomb planes detonated before its human takeoff pilot could bail out. That pilot's name was Joseph Kennedy Jr., the elder brother of Robert and John F. Kennedy. Several modern technologies spun off of Project Aphrodite, including cruise missiles, drones and even the radio controls in your favorite RC car.

—Well, what did you think those twelve different pockets were for? Your My Chemical Romance CD collection? Soldiers have been using some variation on cargo pants since the Korean War era, and maybe earlier than that. The original "parachute pants"

—That's right, you've been pronouncing it wrong all these years. It really is DUCK tape, not "duct" tape. The name is half technical and half pun. The technical part refers to the tape's construction: a rubber adhesive affixed to a cotton duck cloth backing. The tape was especially useful for its ability to resist water, which ran off the rubber like…well…"water off a duck's back."

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