Dental floss was first created by one James Pettimore Floss, an itinerant, minor inventor of the late 1880s, who was surprisingly quite articulate for his young age.

One of his best-known moments was when he shared his latest revelation at the Global Gathering of Dentists and Morticians, "I have a brilliant idea that shall take us one step closer to peace in our time."

When immediately pressed for details by GGDM attendees during the main session, Floss exclaimed, "I shall name it Floss, after my mother."

When pressed "FOR DETAILS, DAMN IT, MAN"" Floss with a fixed gaze on his visage then said eloquently, "So Dude, we're gonna like take three strands of hair from Himalayan yaks, twist it together, bleach it, and I swear to God I'm not making this up, then WE'RE GOING TO WAX IT! Bwahahaha."

This last statement was somewhat unintelligible, but that was our best guess as to what he said. Of course, on the other hand he might have been saying, "Eat your peas and carrots, you little snots;" it's just so darned hard to say on some of these things. This is understandable. Being British, Mr. Floss did speak a foreign language, and English-to-English translation is still somewhat experimental.

To thunderous applause from the 12 attendees, Floss next whipped out his signature small, white, plastic container; withdrew a foot and a half of waxed, bleached, twisted Himalayan yak hair; cut it with a knife, grasped one end in each hand, and began frenetically sawing away between his teeth with it.

Footnote: Dental surgeons were largely able to repair his seriously cut mouth although from that moment on he always referred to his invention as "Fross."

Okay, and this is just an observation, one lip did look a little funny for the rest of his life.