Recently, Google made it easier for users to search through 7 million patents dating back to 1776. If your into that sort of thing here’s what you might find: Samuel Clemens patent for improvement in scrapbooks, filed June 24, 1873. So, now we know, Mark Twain is responsible for the "self-pasting" scrapbook.
If you are really industrious you can come up with a whole list of patents filed by former Hotel Chelsea residents and guests. Didn’t Arthur C. Clarke invent something?
Living with Legends 
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