The origins of certain items are synonymous with certain U.S. States. No one would question that iPhones were created in California, air conditioning got its' start in Florida, surfing traces its' beginnings to Hawaii, and bourbon was created in Kentucky.

But what is South Dakota's most notable invention?

The website Supercompressor.com tackled that issue in their recent story, 'The Best Invention From all 50 States'. Their choice for the Rushmore state? The Cyclotron.

So what in the world is a Cyclotron and what is its' connection with South Dakota?

This special type of particle accelerator was invented by Ernest Lawrence in 1932. Lawrence, a native of Canton, studied at the University of South Dakota, before moving on to the University of Minnesota, University of Chicago, and Yale. He was eventually hired to teach at the University of California and founded a laboratory that was renamed in his honor after his death in 1958.

I thought the writers of the article might instead give the nod to the Briggs & Stratton engine, the air-cooled gasoline engine created by Watertown native and South Dakota State grad Stephen Foster Briggs, and Harold M. Stratton, a successful grain merchant, who owned a farm in South Dakota. The idea for the engine got its' start in 1907 during an upper-level engineering class project in Brookings.

But even if you're not impressed by the Cyclotron of the Briggs & Stratton engine, it could be a lot worse. According to this story, New York's top invention is toilet paper.

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