Harvard may be at the forefront of innovation in nanotechnology and stem cells, but the University can lay claim to a more basic invention as well.
Wired magazine has a story on the patenting of the catcher's mask, 130 years ago this month, by Fred Thayer, who at the time was the captain of the
Harvard baseball team. Harvard Magazine covered Thayer's invention in the past; see stories here and here. Read the Wired story here.