The US Patent and Trademark Office just issued the 10 millionth utility patent using its current numbering system, which dates back to 1836. Patent #10,000,000 was issued to Joseph Marron and Raytheon, for “Coherent LADAR Using Intra-Pixel Quadrature Detection,” which describes a method of bouncing lasers off of targets to figure out their range and velocity. You know, radar, but with lasers. LADAR. Go with it.
The very first US patent was signed by George Washington in 1790, but the numbering system reset with the Patent Act of 1836, which was written by Sen. John Ruggles. The first patent granted under the act, Patent #1, was granted to... Sen. John Ruggles. Well done.
Anyway, the USPTO has a fun website that’s full of factoids /...
