5.Sweet'n'Low
5.低脂糖
This sugar substitute was discovered in 1879 by a chemist named Ira Remsen who couldn't be bothered to wash his hands before eating. At that time, the national obsession with weight-loss schemes hadn't started, and folks were happy to eat plain old sugar. Saccharin didn't come into mainstream use until World War I imposed rations on consumer staples like sugar, and people began buying up alternatives in droves.
这种糖的替代品是一个不喜欢饭前洗手的化学家雷姆森在1879年发明的。那时很多人还没开始痴迷于减肥，而且他们还很乐意吃普通的糖。直到第一次世界大战时，物资紧缺，对食糖之类的消费必需品实行定量配给，糖精的使用才逐渐变成一种主流，人们也才开始成群结队地去购买这种替代品。

The same thing happened again in World War II, and when a father and son team combined saccharine with dextrose at their diner in the 1950s, their product was rebranded as Sweet'n'Low. Turning the leftovers from wartime rationing into a new weight-loss gimmick, saccharin survived the return of natural sugar and kept its place on restaurant tables across America.
同样的事情在二战期间再一次出现。那是20世纪50年代，一位父亲和儿子们在用餐时把糖精和葡萄糖混合在一起，并把这个产品重新命名为"低脂糖"。这把战争时期残羹剩饭的限量供给变成了一种瘦身的新花招。糖精被当做是一种天然糖的回归，在美国大多数饭店的餐桌上都可以见到它的身影。

4.Microwave Ovens
4.微波炉

Before Hot Pockets and TV dinners made the nuclear option a staple of the American kitchen, microwaves were simply a side-effect of World War II radar emitters. Self-taught engineer Percy Spencer was conducting research on magnetrons — a key component of radar systems — when he noticed that a candy bar in his pocket had melted. He theorized that microwaves emitting from the magnetrons generated the heat responsible for ruining his snack. Naturally, he tested his theory by proceeding to blow eggs and popcorn up using microwave emissions.
当今社会，爆米花与电视餐盛行，微波炉已然成为美国家庭厨房的霸主。但在二战期间，微波只不过是雷达辐射源产生的一种电磁波。珀西·斯宾塞是当时一名自学成才的工程师，他在研究雷达系统的关键部件——磁控管时发现，口袋里的巧克力棒竟然化了。他认为，宝贝巧克力棒之所以会化，是因为磁控管发出的微波产生了热效应。之后，他成功利用微波烹调鸡蛋、制作爆米花，在证实自己推断的同时还能享用美食，赞！
He finally managed to pull himself away from his new toy long enough to let his employers know what he had found. His discovery was soon put to work, and the first commercial microwave ovens were produced in 1955.
很长一段时间，他都在潜心研究微波"新宠"，雇主们这才了解到他发现了微波的热效应。很快，他的新发现就投入了生产，第一台家用微波炉也于1955年面世。

3.Duct Tape
3.布基胶带

Quibbles over whether "duct" or "duck" came first aside, this ubiquitous, multi-functional tape first emerged during the Second World War. GIs needed a flexible, water-proof material they could use to repair everything from canteens to ammunition cases. When Johnson and Johnson came up with a combination medical tape and self-adhesive strip they could deliver in rolls to the troops, duct tape was born.
布基胶带在我们的生活中随处可见，它最初是指管道胶带还是防水胶带早已不得而知，但有一点毋庸置疑——这款多功能胶带是在二战时期推广开来的。战争时期，美国士兵需要修补的东西很多，他们希望有一款多功能的防水材料，既能用于水壶等生活用品，又能用于各种军事装备。于是，强生公司结合了医用胶带与自粘胶带的特性，推出了一款便于运输的军用产品，布基胶带由此应运而生。
The versatility of the tape made it popular among troops long after the war ended. Consumer demand quickly turned the military tool into a household name — which is only fitting, considering it was a Navy mother who first conceived of the idea out of concern for her enlisted family.
布基胶带应用广泛，在二战结束后依然深受士兵们青睐。随着市场需求的与日俱增，这款军用产品很快就家喻户晓了。人们认为布基胶带的创意源自一名海军的母亲，而她会有这样的奇思妙想只是出于对儿子的关心。

2.Disposable Syringes
2.一次性针筒

As anyone who lived through the '80s most homophobic health scare can tell you, sharing needles is a quick way to spread diseases. But before America became obsessed with HIV/AIDs, the military was trying to balance the need for frontline painkillers with the risk of overdoses and morphine addiction.
80年代是最严重的同性恋健康恐慌期，任何一个经历过这个时期的人都可以告诉你，共用针头是快速传播疾病的一种方式。但在美国受到HIV/AIDs困扰之前，军队还冒着用药过度和对吗啡上瘾的风险来满足前线对止痛药的需求。
During the American Civil War, as well as the First World War, wounded soldiers pretty much had to play through the pain until they were carted off to ad hoc medical tents and treated with morphine there. By World War II, the old glass and metal syringes were abandoned in favor of a new product, called the Syrette, which was compact (limiting the dosage it could administer), and expendable. Syrettes were distributed to troops pre-filled with single doses of morphine. This set the stage for later inventors who moved beyond distributing morphine to troops and reworked the product into a mass-produced medical device, now typically made of plastic.
在美国内战和第一次世界大战期间，受伤的战士在被送到临时救护帐篷并在那里注射吗啡进行麻醉前，都要和疼痛作斗争。到了第二次世界大战，旧的玻璃管和金属注射器都被弃置，这催生了新产品：西雷特皮下注射器。它外型小巧且不能二次使用，在装入一次剂量的吗啡后才分发到军队。这就为后来的发明家们在用这种注射器分发军用吗啡的基础之上，将它改良为可批量生产的医疗用品奠定了基础。现在这种注射器通常用塑料制成。

1.Disney
1.迪士尼

No, Walt Disney didn't start his namesake entertainment company in the midst of World War II. As the screaming voices of those within the Disney vault will tell you, his animation studio had been enjoying years of success with a string of animated shorts in the 1920s, as well as feature-length efforts like Snow White.
虽然华特·迪士尼在二战中期还没有创立他的同名公司，但在20世纪20年代，他的工作室已经成功推出了一系列动画短片和像《白雪公主》一样的长片。
Walt proceeded to drive all that success straight into the ground, releasing a string of feature-length failures (we now call them "classics") and then fumbling management of his striking animators who wanted Disney to unionize. By the time he capitulated, the company was facing bankruptcy. Then the U.S. government, out of concern over fascist influence in South America, offered Disney an all-expenses paid trip down through Brazil, Argentina and Chile. The plan was for Disney to do a series of animated propaganda pieces celebrating Latin American culture, softening international relations and allowing the U.S. to focus on storming European beaches. Disney's deal with the military grew to include a series of propaganda cartoons, and resuscitated his collapsing brand so it could grow into the international entertainment superpower we all know and fear today. Without WWII, Disney would have gone whistling while he worked into the margins of history.
取得成功后，华特开始走下坡路。他制作了一系列失败的长片作品（我们现称之为"经典"），此外，他还得研究对一些动画设计师进行管理——他们要求成立工会，否则就罢工。但到他最终决定让步的时候，他的公司已经面临着破产的局面了。之后，考虑到法西斯在南美洲的影响，美国政府承担了迪士尼在巴西、阿根廷和智利的所有推广费用。该计划要求迪士尼做出一系列动画宣传片来赞美拉美文化，为的是缓和美国和南美洲各国之间的关系，使美国集中精力对付欧洲沿海地区。军事形势成就了迪士尼，他制作了一系列宣传动画片，恢复了他没落的品牌。自此，迪士尼成为了当今世上首屈一指的国际娱乐王国。如果没有二战，迪士尼恐怕早就被淹没在历史的洪流之中了。

审校：梅子九 编辑：旭旭 来源：前十网