Blinking inspired the creation of auto parts: The inventor of the intermittent windshield wiper, Robert Kearns, came up with the game-changing idea after a wedding night mishap — a champagne cork flew straight into his left eye, leaving him with irregular blinking patterns. Kearns later went blind and suffered from a mental breakdown after years in court spent battling Ford and other automakers, accusing them of pilfering his revolutionary design. He was portrayed by Greg Kinnear in the 2008 film “Flash of Genius.”
