Some of the most important inventions of the world.
|
Date
|
Invention or Discovery
|
Inventor or Discoverer
|
Nationality
|
|
1250
|
Magnifying
glass
|
Roger
Bacon
|
English
|
|
1450
|
Printing
press
|
Johann
Gutenberg
|
German
|
|
1504
|
Pocket
watch
|
Peter
Henlein
|
German
|
|
1590
|
Compound
microscope
|
Zacharias
Janssen
|
Dutch
|
|
1593
|
Water thermometer
|
Galileo
|
Italian
|
|
1608
|
Telescope
|
Hans
Lippershey
|
Dutch
|
|
1625
|
Blood
transfusion
|
Jean-Baptiste
Denys
|
French
|
|
1643
|
Barometer
|
Evangelista
Torricelli
|
Italian
|
|
1656
|
Pendulum
clock
|
Christiaan
Huygens
|
Dutch
|
|
1668
|
Reflecting
telescope
|
Isaac
Newton
|
English
|
|
1671
|
Calculating
machine
|
Gottfried
Wilhelm Leibniz
|
German
|
|
1683
|
Bacteria
|
Anton van
Leeuwenhoek
|
Dutch
|
|
1687
|
Motion,
Laws of
|
Isaac
Newton
|
English
|
|
1714
|
Mercury
thermometer
|
Daniel
Gabriel Fahrenheit
|
German
|
|
1717
|
Diving
bell
|
Edmund
Halley
|
English
|
|
1725
|
Stereotyping
|
William
Ged
|
Scottish
|
|
1775
|
Submarine
|
David
Bushnell
|
American
|
|
1780
|
Steel pen
|
Samuel
Harrison
|
English
|
|
1780
|
Bifocal
lens
|
Benjamin
Franklin
|
American
|
|
1783
|
Balloon,
hot-air
|
Montgolfier Brothers
|
French
|
|
1784
|
Threshing
machine
|
Andrew
Meikle
|
British
|
|
1791
|
Gas
turbine
|
John
Barber
|
British
|
|
1795
|
Hydraulic
press
|
Joseph
Bramah
|
English
|
|
1796
|
Smallpox
vaccination
|
Edward
Jenner
|
British
|
|
1800
|
Electric
battery
|
Count
Alessandro Volta
|
Italian
|
|
1804
|
Steam
locomotive
|
Richard
Trevithick
|
British
|
|
1810
|
Printing
press
|
Frederick
Koenig
|
German
|
|
1814
|
Railroad
locomotive
|
George
Stephenson
|
British
|
|
1816
|
Bicycle
(no pedals)
|
Karl D.
Sauerbronn
|
German
|
|
1819
|
Stethoscope
|
Theophile
& Laennec
|
French
|
|
1820
|
Hygrometer
|
J.F.
Daniell
|
English
|
|
1821
|
Electric
motor
|
Michael
Faraday
|
British
|
|
1823
|
Electromagnet
|
William
Sturgeon
|
British
|
|
1824
|
Portland
cement
|
Joseph
Aspdin
|
British
|
|
1829
|
Typewriter
|
W.A. Burt
|
American
|
|
1829
|
Braille
printing
|
Louis
Braille
|
French
|
|
1831
|
Dynamo
|
Michael
Faraday
|
British
|
|
1834
|
Electric
streetcar
|
Thomas
Davenport
|
American
|
|
1835
|
Pistol
(revolver)
|
Samuel
Colt
|
American
|
|
1837
|
Telegraph
|
Samuel Morse
|
American
|
|
1839
|
Photography
|
Louis-Jacques Daguerre
|
French
|
|
1839
|
Bicycle
(with pedals)
|
Kirkpatrick
MacMillan
|
British
|
|
1846
|
Nitroglycerin
|
Ascanio
Sobrero
|
Italian
|
|
1849
|
Reinforced
concrete
|
F.J.
Monier
|
French
|
|
1849
|
Safety pin
|
Walter
Hunt
|
American
|
|
1849
|
Water
turbine
|
James
Bicheno Francis
|
American
|
|
1852
|
Elevator
(with brake)
|
Elisha
Graves Otis
|
American
|
|
1852
|
Gyroscope
|
Jean
Bernard Foucault
|
French
|
|
1855
|
Hypodermic
syringe
|
Alexander
Wood
|
Scottish
|
|
1861
|
Machine
gun
|
Richard
Jordan Gatling
|
American
|
|
1861
|
Kinematoscope
|
Coleman
Sellers
|
American
|
|
1866
|
Dynamite
|
Alfred
Bernhard Nobel
|
Swedish
|
|
1868
|
Dry cell
|
Georges
Leclanche'
|
French
|
|
1868
|
Typewriter
|
Glidden & Sholes
|
American
|
|
1876
|
Telephone
|
Alexander
Graham Bell
|
American
|
|
1877
|
Talking
machine (phonograph)
|
Thomas
Alva Edison
|
American
|
|
1877
|
Microphone
|
Emile
Berliner
|
American
|
|
1878
|
Cathode
ray tube
|
Sir
William Crookes
|
British
|
|
1879
|
Cash
register
|
James J.
Ritty
|
American
|
|
1879
|
Light Bulb
|
Thomas Alva Edison
Sir Joseph Wilson Swan |
American
British |
|
1884
|
Fountain
pen
|
Lewis
Edson Waterman
|
American
|
|
1885
|
Automobile
|
Benz and Daimler
|
German
|
|
1885
|
AC
transformer
|
William
Stanley
|
American
|
|
1887
|
Gramophone
(disc records)
|
Emile
Berliner
|
American
|
|
1888
|
Adding
machine
|
William S. Burroughs
|
American
|
|
1888
|
Photograph camera
|
George Eastman
|
American
|
|
1891
|
Motion picture camera & viewer(Cinetograph)
|
Thomas Alva Edison
William K. L. Dickson |
American
British |
|
1893
|
Diesel
engine
|
Rudolf
Diesel
|
German
|
|
1895
|
X-ray
|
Wilhelm K. Roentgen
|
German
|
|
1895
|
Wireless telegraph
|
Guglielmo Marconi
|
Italian
|
|
1903
|
Airplane
|
Wright Brothers
|
American
|
|
1903
|
Electrocardiograph
|
Willem
Einthoven
|
Dutch
|
|
1911
|
Air
conditioning
|
W.H.
Carrier
|
American
|
|
1911
|
Vitamins
|
Casimir
Funk
|
Polish
|
|
1911
|
Neon lamp
|
Georges
Claude
|
French
|
|
1914
|
Gas-Mask
|
Garrett
Morgan
|
American
|
|
1923
|
Autogiro
|
Juan de la
Cierva
|
Spanish
|
|
1923
|
Three-way
Traffic Signal
|
Garrett
Morgan
|
American
|
|
1926
|
Aerosol
can
|
Erik
Rotheim
|
Norwegian
|
|
1928
|
Penicillin
|
Sir
Alexander Fleming
|
British
|
|
1933
|
Frequency
modulation (FM)
|
Edwin H. Armstrong
|
American
|
|
1935
|
Radiolocator
(radar)
|
Sir Robert
Watson-Watt
|
British
|
|
1938
|
Ballpoint
pen
|
Georg and
Ladislao Biro
|
Hungarian
|
|
1939
|
Helicopter
|
Igor
Sikorsky
|
American
|
|
1942
|
Guided
missile
|
Wernher
von Braun
|
German
|
|
1942
|
Nuclear
reactor
|
Enrico
Fermi
|
American
|
|
1945
|
Atomic
bomb
|
U.S.
scientists
|
American
|
|
1946
|
Digital
computer, electronic
|
J. P. Eckert & J. W. Mauchly
|
American
|
|
1947
|
Holography
|
Dennis Gabon
|
English
|
|
1947
|
Bathyscaphe
|
Auguste Piccard
|
Swiss
|
|
1947
|
Microwave oven
|
Percy L.
Spencer
|
American
|
|
1948
|
Transistor
|
Bardeen, Brattain & Shockley
|
American
|
|
1950
|
Color
television
|
Peter Carl
Goldmark
|
American
|
|
1950
|
Nuclear
Magnetic Resonance
|
Felix
Bloch & Edward Purcell
|
American
|
|
1952
|
Hydrogen
bomb
|
U.S.
government scientists
|
American
|
|
1955
|
Optical
fibers
|
Narinder
S. Kapany
|
Indian
|
|
1956
|
Videotape
|
Charles
Ginsberg, Ray Dolby
|
American
|
|
1958
|
Communications
satellite
|
U.S.
government scientists
|
American
|
|
1959
|
Integrated
circuit
|
Jack
Kilby, Robert Noyce
|
American
|
|
1960
|
Laser
|
Charles Hard Townes, Arthur L. Schawlow, and Gordon Gould
|
American
|
|
1962
|
Light-emitting
diode (LED)
|
Nick
Holonyak, Jr.
|
American
|
|
1964
|
Liquid-crystal
display
|
George
Heilmeier
|
American
|
|
1967
|
Human
heart transplant
|
Christiaan
Neethling Barnard
|
S. Africa
|
|
1969
|
Internet (initially "ARPAnet")
|
Leonard Kleinrock
|
American
|
|
1971
|
Microprocessor
|
Ted Hoff
|
American
|
|
1972
|
Electronic
pocket calculator
|
J.S. Kilby and J.D. Merryman
|
American
|
|
1975
|
CAT (computerized axial tomography) scanner
|
Godfrey N.
Hounsfield
|
British
|
|
1975
|
Fiberoptics
|
Bell
Laboratories
|
American
|
|
1976
|
Computer
(personal)
|
Steve Wozniak
|
American
|
|
1979
|
Compact
disc
|
Joop
Sinjou
Toshi Tada Doi |
Dutch
Japanese |
|
1982
|
Artificial
heart
|
Robert K.
Jarvik
|
American
|
