Happy Birthday January 5

King Camp Gillette was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin on January 5, 1855 and brought up in Chicago. After working for several years as a traveling salesman for a hardware company, Gillette decided he wanted to invent something disposable that would be in constant demand. After years of experimentation he developed a disposable steel blade and razor. He established the Gillette Safety Razor Company in 1901.

King Camp Gillette

Dorothy Elizabeth Levitt, Britain’s first woman racing driver, was born on January 5, 1882. In 1909 Levittt advised female drivers to use a hand mirror to see the road behind them — thus inventing the rear-view mirror — and also carry a handgun if they were travelling alone. Dorothy Levitt taught Queen Alexandra and the Royal Princesses how to drive.

For more January 5 anniversaries, including the first British North American colony to declare its independence, the publication of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and the first one-day cricket international, check out OnThatDay.