Invention |
Year |
Paper money is first printed in China. |
1023 |
The magnetic compass is invented. |
1182 |
Johannes Gutenberg invents the printing press. The Gutenberg Bible was published in 1452. |
1436 |
Peter Henlein, a German locksmith from Nuremberg, invents the pocket watch. |
1510 |
Galileo Galilei invents the water thermometer. |
1593 |
Englishman William Oughtred invents the slide ruler. |
1624 |
Frenchman Blaise Pascal invents an adding machine. |
1642 |
Bartolomeo Cristofori invents the piano. |
1709 |
German
Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit invented the first mercury
thermometer. |
1714 |
Daniel
Gabriel Fahrenheit introduces the temperature
scale called Fahrenheit |
1724 |
Benjamin
Franklin invents the lightning rod. |
1752 |
English clergyman and chemist, Dr. Joseph Priestley, invents manmade carbonated water or soda water. |
1767 |
David
Bushnell's turtle is the first submarine. |
1775 |
Benjamin
Franklin invented bi-focals. |
1784 |
Eli Whitney
patents the cotton gin which combs and deseeds
bolls of cotton. |
1793 |
Oliver
Evans invents the Orukter Amphibolos, the worlds
first amphibious vehicle. |
1805 |
Benjamin
Thompson, Count Rumford, invents a coffee pot
with a metal sieve to strain away the grounds.
|
1806 |
Robert
Fulton invents the steamboat. |
1807 |
At age
20, Frenchman Louis Braille publishes the first
book in braille entitled, "Method of Writing Words,
Music and Plainsong by Means of Dots for Use by
the Blind and Arranged for Them." |
1829 |
Walter
Hunt invents the first lock-stitch sewing machine.
|
1833 |
Samuel
Colt invents the revolver. |
1836 |
Crawford
Williamson Long performs the first operation using
an ether-based anesthesia. |
1842 |
Charles
Goodyear perfects his process for "vulcanizing"
rubber, or combining it with sulfur to create
a soft, pliable substance unaffected by temperature.
|
1843 |
Samuel
F. B. Morse demonstrates his telegraph. |
1844 |
Edwin
T. Holmes of Boston begins to sell electric burglar
alarms. His workshop is later used by Alexander
Graham Bell as he develops the telephone. Holmes
is the first person to have a home phone. Ezra
J. Warner of Waterbury, Connecticut, patented
the first can opener. |
1858 |
"Colonel"
Edwin Drake invents the oil well. |
1859 |
B. Tyler
Henry creates a new lever action repeating rifle
eventually known as the Winchester. |
1860 |
James
Plimpton of Medford, Massachusetts, gives the
world the first practical four-wheeled roller
skate. |
1863 |
Lucien
B. Smith of Kent, Ohio, invents barbed wire. |
1867 |
Christopher
Latham Sholes invents the typewriter. His QWERTY
layout is still in use today. |
1873 |
George
F. Green of Kalamazoo, Michigan, invents the electric
dental drill. |
1875 |
Alexander
Graham Bell patents his telephone, built with
the assistance of young self-trained engineer
Thomas A. Watson. Susan Hibbard receives a patent
for the feather duster. |
1876 |
"Mary
had a little lamb" is the first recording
replayed on Thomas Edison's invention of the phonograph.
|
1877 |
Thomas
Edison perfects an incandescent light bulb. |
1879 |
Dr. Schuyler
Skaats Wheeler invents the electric fan. |
1882 |
L.N.
Thompson, founder of Coney Island's Luna Park,
invents the roller coaster. |
1884 |
In Rochester,
New York, George Eastman introduces the Kodak
Camera. |
1888 |
Theophilus Van Kannel of Philadelphia invents the revolving door. |
1888 |
Mrs.
WA Cockran of Shelbyville, Indiana, produces a
practical dishwasher. |
1889 |
Jesse
W. Reno, introduces a new novelty ride at Coney
Island, the escalator. |
1891 |
Edwin
S. Votey, patents his self-playing piano, which
he calls the pianola. |
1897 |
Double
edged safety razor is invented by King Camp Gillette.
|
1901 |
Willis
Carrier invents the air conditioner. George Claude
invents the neon light. James Mackenzie invents
the polygraph machine. |
1902 |
Edward
Binney and Harold Smith co-invent Crayons. At
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, brothers Orville and
Wilbur Wright have the first powered, sustained,
and controlled flight in an airplane that lasts
12 seconds. Mary Anderson invents windshield wipers.
|
1903 |
Albert
Einstein gave us E=MC2. |
1905 |
Cornflakes
are invented by William Kellogg. |
1906 |
The first
synthetic plastic (Bakelite) is invented by Leo
Baekeland. Auguste & Louis Lumiere invent
color photography |
1907 |
Jacques
E. Brandenberger invents cellophane. |
1908 |
G. Washington
invents instant coffee. |
1909 |
Thomas
Edison demonstrates the first talkie (talking
motion picture). |
1910 |
The automobile
electrical ignition system is invented by Charles
Franklin Kettering of Dayton Engineering Laboratories
Company or Delco. |
1911 |
Australian
inventor De La Mole patents the first tank |
1912 |
Arthur
Wynne invents the crossword puzzle. Mary Phelps
Jacob invents the bra. |
1913 |
Eugene
Sullivan and William Taylor co-invent Pyrex. |
1915 |
Stainless
steel is invented. |
1916 |
Charles
Strite invents the pop-up toaster. Short-wave
radio and the arc welder are invented. |
1919 |
Earle
Dickson invents the Band-Aid. The tommy-gun is
patented by John T Thompson. |
1920 |
Sir Frederick
Grant Banting invents insulin. |
1922 |
The traffic
signal is invented by Garrett A. Morgan. |
1923 |
In an
effort to make capital punishment more humane,
the State of Nevada introduces death by gas chamber.
|
1924 |
PEZ candy
is invented by Eduard Haas III. JWA Morrison invents
the quartz crystal watch. Philo Farnsworth demonstrates
the first television for potential investors by
broadcasting the image of a dollar sign. |
1927 |
Scottish
biologist Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin.
An injectable form was not to be available for
13 years. Bubble gum is invented by Walter E.
Diemer. |
1928 |
The Yo-Yo
name is trademarked by D. F. Duncan, Sr. He contributed
the slip-not to the design of the yo-yo which
allowed it to "sleep" for the first
time. Clarence Birdseye offers his quick-frozen
foods to the public. |
1929 |
3M engineer,
Richard G. Drew, patents Scotch tape. |
1930 |
The electronic
flash is invented by Harold Edgerton. |
1931 |
Working
at the research facilities at Johns Hopkins University,
Dr. William Bennett Kouwenhoven develops the defibrillator.
|
1932 |
Bell
Labs invents a voice recognition machine. |
1936 |
The photocopier
is invented by Chester F. Carlson. |
1937 |
Ladislo
Biro invents the ballpoint pen. |
1938 |
Igor
Sikorsky invents the first successful helicopter.
|
1939 |
Karl
K. Pabst of the Bantam Car. Co., Butler, Pennsylvania,
produces a four-wheel drive vehicle that will
become famous as the jeep. |
1940 |
Lyle
David Goodloe and W.N. Sullivan invent the aerosol
spray cans. |
1941 |
A team
led by J.R. Oppenheimer, Arthur H. Compton, Enrico
Fermi and Léo Szilard detonates the first atomic
bomb at the Los Alamos Lab near Santa Fe, New
Mexico. |
1945 |
Two Frenchmen,
Jacques Heim and Louis Reard , invented the bikini.
They named it after a famous nuclear testing site
in the Marshall Islands named Bikini Atoll. |
1946 |
Polaroid
photography is invented by Edwin Herbert Land.
Mobile phones are invented. |
1947 |
After
observing under a microscope the burrs that were
stuck to his pants, George de Mestral invents
Velcro®. Leo Fender invents the electric guitar.
|
1948 |
Super
glue is invented. Francis W. Davis invents power
steering. |
1951 |
Mr. Potato
Head is invented |
1952 |
Chemist Norm Larsen invents WD-40. |
1953 |
Frank
B. Colton invents the first oral contraceptive.
The nonstick pan and solar cell are introduced.
|
1954 |
The hovercraft
is invented by Christopher Cockerell. |
1956 |
Dr. Albert
Sabin develops a polio vaccine using strains of
polio too weak to cause infection but strong enough
to activate the human immune system. |
1957 |
Richard
Knerr and Arthur "Spud" Melin, founders
of the Wham-O Company, invent the Hula Hoop. |
1958 |
The Compact
Cassette, a portable tape recorder, is first produced
by Phillips. |
1962 |
Edward
Craven Walker invents the Astro Lava-Lamp. |
1963 |
Astro
Turf® is invented. NutraSweet is discovered by
a researcher, Mr. James Schlatter, at the G.D.
Searle & Company. James Russell invented the
compact disc. |
1965 |
28 year-old
Noland Bushnell invents Pong, the first video
game. He goes on to found Atari. |
1972 |
Post-it®
Notes introduced. |
1980 |
The first
IBM PC and MS-DOS are invented. For the first
time, NASA successfully launches and lands its
reusable spacecraft, the Space Shuttle. |
1981 |
The Apple
MacIntosh is invented. |
1984 |
Windows
is invented by Microsoft. |
1985 |
Fuji introduces the disposable camera. |
1986 |
Christian Andreas Doppler invents doppler radar. |
1988 |
Tim Berners-Lee invents the World Wide Web/Internet protocol (HTTP) and WWW language (HTML). |
1990 |
Microsoft makes a $150 million investment in Apple, helping Apple to stay in business. |
1997 |
Viagra ® is invented by Pfizer. Millions of men and women rejoice. |
1998 |
Apple introduces the first iPhone. |
2007 |
The HTC Dream is the first commercially available Android phone |
2008 |