But apparently his âsinkerâ made quite an impression on Warden. Like many other guys trying to hang on to a big league job, Ribant was clever in finding a way to get hitters out, conventional or otherwise. His âsinkerâ turned out to beâ¦the âspitballâ. Now the idea behind a âspitterâ is not some wet, gooey mess, but rather to create a âheavyâ spot on the baseball, thereby causing it to have greater wind resistance and sink dramatically when it gets to within a few feet of home plate.
When Benjamin Franklin invented his mechanical version of the instrument in 1761, he called it the armonica, based on the Italian word armonia, which means harmony. The unrelated free-reed wind instrument aeolina, today called the  harmonica , was not invented until 1821, sixty years later.
By Espie Estrella. The saxophone is known as a single-reed musical instrument that is a staple in jazz bands. Considered to be newer than other musical instruments in terms of its music history, the saxophone was invented by Antoine-Joseph (Adolphe) Sax. Adolphe Sax was born on Nov. 6, 1814 in Dinant, Belgium.His father, Charles, was a maker of musical instruments.onsidered to be newer than other musical instruments in terms of its music history, the saxophone was invented by Antoine-Joseph (Adolphe) Sax. Adolphe Sax was born on Nov. 6, 1814 in Dinant, Belgium. His father, Charles, was a maker of musical instruments.