Inventions & discoveries
 

[FONT="Comic Sans MS"][SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkRed"]Inventions & discoveries

A

Air Brake :
George Westinghouse, U.S.A. 1911.

Air Conditioning :
Willis Carrier, U.S.A. 1911.

Airplane :
engine-powered, Wilbur & Orville Wright, U.S.A., 1903.

Airship :
Henri Giffard, France, 1852; Ferdinand von Zeppelin, Germany, 1900.

Antibiotics :
Louis Pasteur, Jules-Francois Joubert, France, 1887; (discovery of penicillin) Alexander Fleming, Scotland, 1928.

Antiseptic :
(surgery) Joseph Lister, England, 1867.

Aspirin :
Dr. Felix Hoffman, Germany, 1899.

Atom :
(nuclear model of) Ernest Rutherford, England, 1911.

Atomic Structure :
Ernest Rutherford, England, 1911; Niels Bohr, Denmark, 1913.

Automated Teller Machine (ATM) :
Don Wetzel, U.S.A., 1968.

Automobile :
(first with internal combustion engine, 250 rmp) Karl Benz, Germany, 1885; (first with practical highspeed internal combustion engine, 900 rpm) Gottlieb Daimler, Germany, 1885; (first true automobile, not carriage with motor) Rene Panhard, Emile Lavassor, France, 1891; (carburetor, spray) Charles E. Duryea, U.S.A., 1892.

Autopilot :
(for aircraft) Elmer A. Sperry, U.S.A., c.1910, first successful test, 1912, in a Curtiss flying boat.


B

Bacteria :
Anton van Leeuwenhoek, The Netherlands, 1683.

Bakelite :
Leo Hendrik Baekeland, U.S.A., 1907.

Ball Bearing :
Philip Vaughan, England, 1794.

Ballon, Hot-air :
Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier, France, 1783.

Bar Codes :
Monarch Marking, U.S.A. 1970.

Barometer :
Evangelista Torricelli, Italy, 1643.

Bicycle :
Karl D. von Sauebronn, Germany, 1816; (first modern model) James Starley, England, 1884.

Big Bang Theory :
(the universe originated with a huge explosion) George LeMaitre, Belgium, 1927; (modified LeMaitre theory labeled “Big Bang”) George A. Gamov, U.S.A., 1948; (cosmic microwave background radiation discovered) Arno A. Penzias and Robert W. Wilson, U.S.A. 1965.

Blood, Circulation of :
William Harvey, England, 1628.

Bomb, Atomic :
J. Robert Oppenheimer et al., U.S.A., 1945.

Bomb, Thermonuclear (hydrogen) :
Edward Teller et al., U.S.A., 1952.

Boyle’s Law :
(relation between pressure and volume in gases) Robert Boyle, Ireland, 1662.

Braille :
Louis Braille, France, 1829.

Bridges :
(suspension, iron chains) James Finley, Pa., 1800; (wire suspension) Marc Seguin, Lyons, 1825; (truss) Ithiel Town, U.S.A., 1820.

Bullet :
(conical) Claude Minie, France, 1849.


C

Calculating Machine :
(logarithms) John Napierm Scotland, 1614; (digital calculator) Blaise Pascal, 1642; (multiplication machine) Gottfried Leibniz, Germany, 1671; (“analytical engine” design, included concepts of programming, taping) Charles Babbage, England, 1835.

Camera :
George Eastman, U.S.A., 1888; (Polaroid) Edwin Land, U.S.A., 1948

Car Radio :
William Lear, Elmer Wavering, U.S.A. 1929.

Cells :
Robert Hooke, England, 1665.

Chewing Gum :
John Curtis, U.S.A., 1848; (chicle-based) Thomas Adams, U.S.A., 1870.

Cholera Bacterium :
Robert Koch, Germany, 1883.

Circuit, Integrated :
(theoretical) G.W.A. Dummer, England, 1952; Jack S. Kilby, Texas Instruments, U.S.A., 1959.

Clock, Pendulum :
Christian Huygens, The Netherlands, 1656.

Clock, Quartz :
Warren A. Marrison, Canada/U.S.A., 1927.

Cloning, Animal :
John B. Gurdon, U.K., 1970.

Coca-Cola :
John Pemberton, U.S.A., 1886.

Combustion :
Antoine Lavoisier, France, 1777.

Compact Disk :
RCA, U.S.A., 1972.

Compact Disk (CD) :
Philips Electronics, The Netherlands; Sony Corp., Japan, 1980.

Computed Tomography
(CT scan, CAT scan) :
Godfrey Hounsfield, Allan Cormack, U.K. U.S.A., 1972

Computers :
(analytical engine) Charles Babbage, 1830s; (ENIAC, Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator, first all-electronic, completed) John Presper Eckert, Jr., John Mauchly, U.S.A., 1945; (UNIVAC, Universal Automatic Computer) 1951; (personal computer) Steve Wozniak, U.S.A., 1976.

Computer Laptop :
Radio Shack Corp., U.S.A., 1983.

Concrete :
Joseph Monier, France, 1877.


D

DDT :

Othmar Zeidler, Germany, 1874.

Detector, Metal :

Gerhard Fisher, Germany/U.S.A., late 1920s.

Deuterium :

(heavy hydrogen) Harold Urey, U.S.A., 1931.

DNA :

(deoxyribonucleic acid) Friedrich Meischer, Germany, 1869; (determination of double-helical structure) F. H. Crick, England and James D. Watson, U.S.A., 1953.

Dye :

William H. Perkin, England, 1856.

Dynamite :

Alfred Nobel, Sweden, 1867.


E


Electric Generator (dynamo) :

(laboratory model) Michael Faraday, England, 1832; Joseph Henry, U.S.A., c.1832; (hand-driven model) Hippolyte Pixii, France, 1833; (alternating-current generator) Nikola Tesla, U.S.A., 1892.

Electron :

Sir Joseph J. Thompson, U.S.A., 1897.

Electronic Mail :

Ray Tomlinson, U.S.A., 1972.

Elevator, Passenger :

Elisha G. Otis, U.S.A., 1852.

E=mc2

(equivalence of mass and energy) Albert Einstein, Switzerland, 1907.

Engine, Internal Combustion :

No single inventor. Fundamental theory established by Sadi Carnot, France, 1824; (two-stroke) Etienne Lenoir, France, 1860; (ideal operating cycle for four-stroke) Alphonse Beau de Roche, France, 1862; (operating four-stroke) Nikolaus Otto, Germany, 1876; (diesel) Rudolf Diesel, Germany, 1892; (rotary) Felix Wanket, Germany, 1956.

Evolution :

: (organic) Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, France, 1809; (by natural selection) Charles Darwin, England, 1859.


F

Facsimile (fax) :

Alexander Bain, Scotland, 1842.

Fiber Optics :

Narinder Kapany, England, 1955.

Film Photographic :

George Eastman, U.S.A., 1884.

Flashlight, Battery-operated Portable :

Conrad Hubert, Russia/U.S.A., 1899

Flask, Vacuum (Thermos) :

Sir James Dewar, Scotland, 1892.

Fuel Cell :

William R. Grove, U.K., 1839


G

Genetic Engineering :

Stanley N. Cohen, Herbert W. Boyer, U.S.A., 1973.

Gravitation, Law of :

Sir Issac Newton, England, c.1665 (published 1687).

Gunpowder :

China, c.700.

Gyrocompass :

Elmer A. Sperry, U.S.A., 1905.

Gyroscope :

Jean Leon Foucault, France, 1852.


H

Helicopter :

(double rotor) Heinrich Focke, Germany, 1936; (single rotor) Igor Silorsky, U.S.A., 1939.

Helium First Observed on Sun:

Sir Joseph Lockyer, England, 1868.

Home Videotape Systems
(VCR) :

(Betamax) Sony, Japan, (1975); (VHS) Matsushita, Japan, 1975.


I

Ice Age Theory :

Louis Agassiz, Swiss-American, 1840.

Insulin :

(first isolated) Sir Frederick G. Banting and Charles H. Best, Canada, 1921; (discovery first published) Banting and Best, 1922; (Nobel Prize awarded for purification for use in humans) John Macleod and Banting, 1923; (first synthesized), China, 1966.

Internet :

Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) at the Dept. of Defense, U.S.A., 1969.

Iron, Electric :

Henry W. Seely, U.S.A., 1882.

Isotopes :

Frederick Soddy, England, 1912.


J

Jet Propulsion :

(engine) Sir Frank Whittle, England, Hans von Ohain, Germany, 1936; (aircraft) Heinkel He 178, 1939.


L

Laser :

(theoretical work on) Charles H. Townes, Arthur L. Schawlow, U.S.A. Basov, A. Prokhorov, U.S.S.R., 1958; (first working model) T. H. Maiman, U.S.A., 1960.

LCD (liquid crystal display) :

Hoffmann-La Roche, Switzerland, 1970.

Lens, Bifocal :

Benjamin Franklin, U.S.A., c.1760.

Light-Emitting Diode (LED) :

Nick Holonyak, Jr., U.S.A., 1962.

Light, Speed of :

(theory that light has finite velocity) Olaus Roemer, Denmark, 1675.

Locomotive :

(steam powered) Richard Trevithick, England, 1804; (first practical, due to multiple-fire-tube boiler) George Stephenson, England, 1829; (largest steam-powered) Union Pacific’s “Big Boy”, U.S.A., 1941.

Loud Speaker :

Chester W. Rice, Edward W. Kellogg, U.S.A., 1924.


M

Machine Gun :

(multibarrel) Richard J. Gatling, U.S.A., 1862; (single barrel, belt-fed) Hiram S. Maxim, Anglo-American, 1884.

Magnet, Earth is :

William Gilbert, England, 1600.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) :

Raymond Damadian, Paul Lauterbur, U.S.A., early 1970s.

Matchstick/box :

(phosphorus) Francois Derosne, France, 1816; (friction) Charles Sauria, France, 1831; (safety) J. E. Lundstrom, Sweden, 1855.

Metric System :

Revolutionary government of France, 1790-1801.

Microphone :

Charles Wheatstone, England, 1827.

Microscope :

(compound) Zacharias Janssen, The Netherlands, 1590; (electron) Vladimir Zworykin et al., U.S.A., Canada, Germany, 1932-1939.

Microwave Oven :

Percy Spencer, U.S.A., 1947.

Missile, Guided :

Wernher von Braun, Germany, 1942.

Motion, Laws of :

Isaac Newton, England, 1687.

Motion Pictures :

Thomas A. Edison, U.S.A., 1893.

Motion Pictures, Sound :

Product of various inventions. First picture with synchronized musical score : Don Juan, 1926; with spoken diologue : The Jazz Singer, 1927; both Warner Bros.

Motor, Electric :

Michael Faraday, England, 1822; (alternating-current) Nikola Tesla, U.S.A., 1892.

Motorcycle :

(motor tricycle) Edward Butler, England, 1884; (gasoline-engine motorcycle) Gottlieb Daimler, Germany, 1885.

Moving Assembly Line :

Henry Ford, U.S.A., 1913.


N

Neutron :

James Chadwick, England, 1932.

Nuclear Fission :

Otto Hahn, Fritz Strassmann, Germany, 1938.

Nuclear Reactor :

Enrico Fermi, Italy, et al., 1942.

Nylon :


Wallace H. Carothers, U.S.A., 1937.


O

Ozone :

Christian Schonbein, Germany, 1839.


P

Pacemaker :

Clarence W. Lillehie, Earl Bakk, U.S.A., 1957.

Paper :

China, c.100 A.D.

Parachute :

Louis S. Lenormand, France, 1783.
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