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Great Inventions and Inventors
Famous inventions and the people or years behind them.
0 of 73 known
73 cards
- Light bulb (practical)InventionThomas Edison, 1879
- TelephoneInventionAlexander Graham Bell, patented 1876
- Airplane (first powered flight)InventionWilbur and Orville Wright, 1903
- Printing press with movable type in EuropeInventionJohannes Gutenberg, about 1440
- Steam engine (improved)InventionJames Watt, 1700s
- Cotton ginInventionEli Whitney, 1793
- TelegraphInventionSamuel Morse and others, 1830s-40s
- RadioInventionGuglielmo Marconi and others, 1890s
- Television (early electronic)InventionPhilo Farnsworth and others, 1920s
- World Wide WebInventionTim Berners-Lee, 1989
- First programmable computer conceptInventionCharles Babbage's Analytical Engine, 1830s
- Vaccine for smallpoxInventionEdward Jenner, 1796
- Polio vaccineInventionJonas Salk, 1955
- PenicillinInventionAlexander Fleming, 1928
- BatteryInventionAlessandro Volta, 1800
- DynamiteInventionAlfred Nobel, 1867
- Safety pinInventionWalter Hunt, 1849
- Sewing machine (practical)InventionElias Howe, 1846
- Telescope (first used for astronomy)InventionGalileo, 1609
- Microscope (early compound)InventionZacharias Janssen and others, late 1500s
- Thermometer (mercury)InventionDaniel Fahrenheit, 1714
- BarometerInventionEvangelista Torricelli, 1643
- Pendulum clockInventionChristiaan Huygens, 1656
- Lightning rodInventionBenjamin Franklin, 1750s
- Bifocal glassesInventionBenjamin Franklin
- ReaperInventionCyrus McCormick, 1830s
- Elevator with safety brakeInventionElisha Otis, 1850s
- Jet engineInventionFrank Whittle and Hans von Ohain, 1930s
- TransistorInventionBardeen, Brattain and Shockley, 1947
- Integrated circuitInventionJack Kilby and Robert Noyce, late 1950s
- Personal computer revolutionInvention1970s and 1980s, with machines such as the Apple II
- Mobile phone (first handheld call)InventionMartin Cooper, 1973
- LaserInventionTheodore Maiman built the first working laser, 1960
- Satellite (first)InventionSputnik 1, 1957
- Automobile (gasoline)InventionKarl Benz, 1885
- Model T assembly line carsInventionHenry Ford, 1908
- Bicycle with pedalsInventionDeveloped in the 1860s
- PaperInventionInvented in China, about 105 CE
- Printing (woodblock)InventionDeveloped in China long before Europe
- CompassInventionInvented in China
- GunpowderInventionInvented in China
- WheelInventionInvented in Mesopotamia about 3500 BCE
- PlowInventionEarly farming tool invented thousands of years ago
- ZipperInventionWhitcomb Judson, 1893, improved by Gideon Sundback
- VelcroInventionGeorge de Mestral, 1941
- Post-it noteInventionSpencer Silver and Art Fry, 1970s
- Microwave ovenInventionPercy Spencer, 1940s
- CrayonsInventionCrayola introduced them in 1903
- Bakelite plasticInventionLeo Baekeland, 1907
- NylonInventionWallace Carothers at DuPont, 1935
- BrailleInventionLouis Braille, 1824
- StethoscopeInventionRene Laennec, 1816
- PasteurizationInventionLouis Pasteur, 1860s
- X-ray machineInventionBased on Wilhelm Roentgen's discovery, 1895
- Insulin discoveryInventionBanting and Best, 1921
- PacemakerInventionDeveloped in the 1950s
- MRI scannerInventionDeveloped in the 1970s
- Hot air balloonInventionMontgolfier brothers, 1783
- Parachute (modern)InventionDeveloped by Andre-Jacques Garnerin, 1797
- Rocket (liquid-fueled)InventionRobert Goddard, 1926
- Space ShuttleInventionNASA, first launch 1981
- Internet's ancestorInventionARPANET, 1969
- EmailInventionRay Tomlinson, 1971
- GPSInventionDeveloped by the US in the 1970s-90s
- Electric motor (early)InventionMichael Faraday and others, 1820s-30s
- Dynamo generatorInventionFaraday's principle; used widely by 1870s
- Alternating current systemInventionNikola Tesla and George Westinghouse
- PhonographInventionThomas Edison, 1877
- Motion picture cameraInventionLumiere brothers and Edison's team, 1890s
- Photography (early)InventionLouis Daguerre, daguerreotype 1839
- Aqualung (scuba)InventionJacques Cousteau and Emile Gagnan, 1943
- 3D printingInventionDeveloped in the 1980s
- LEGO brick (modern)InventionGodtfred Kirk Christiansen, 1958
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