Important Historical Inventions and Inventors

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Invention

Date

Inventor

Nationality

Adding machine

1642

Blaise Pascal

French

Platform scales

1830

Thaddeus Fairbanks

American

Cash register

1879

James Ritty

American

Comptometer

1885

Dorr E. Felt

American

Adding machine

1888

W. Burroughs

American

Mechanical computer

1928

Vannevar Bush

American

Automatic digital computer

1944

Howard Aiken

American

Electronic digital computer

1946

J.P. Eckert
J.W. Mauchly

American
American

Electronic pocket calculator

1972

J.S. Kilby
J.D. Merryman

American
American

Supercomputer

1976

J.H. Van Tassel

American

Parallel computing

1979

Seymour R. Cray, Jr.
David Gelernter

American
American

Stereotyping

1725

William Ged

Scottish

Steel pen

1780

Samuel Harrison

English

Hydraulic press

1795

Joseph Bramah

English

Lithography

1796

Alois Senefelder

German

Papermaking machine

1798

N.L. Robert

French

Printing press

1810

Frederick Koenig

German

Typewriter

1829

W.A. Burt

American

Braille printing

1829

Louis Braille

French

Stereoscope

1832

C. Wheatstone

English

Calotype photography

1835

Henry F. Talbot

English

Telegraph

1837

S.F.B. Morse

American

Morse code

1838

S.F.B. Morse

American

Daguerreotype photography

1839

Louis Daguerre
J.N. Niepce

French
French

Blueprint

1840

John Herschel

English

Facsimile

1843

Alexander Bain

Scottish

Rotary printing press

1846

Richard M. Hoe

American

Web-fed rotary press

1865

William Bullock

American

Telephone

1876

A.G. Bell

American

Phonograph

1877

Thomas Edison

American

Microphone

1878

D.E. Hughes

American

Linotype

1883

O. Mergenthaler

American

Fountain pen

1884

L.E. Waterman

American

Flexible roll film

1884

George Eastman

American

Halftone engraving

1886

F.E. Ives

American

Monotype

1887

Tolbert Lanston

American

Kodak camera

1888

George Eastman

American

Movie projector

1893

Thomas Edison

American

Wireless telegraphy

1896

G. Marconi

Italian

Telephotography

1904

Arthur Korn

American

Audion

1906

Lee De Forest

American

Superheterodyne radio circuit

1918

E.H. Armstrong

American

Sound motion pictures

1922-26

T.W. Case

American

Conception of television

1908

A.A.C. Swinton

Scottish

Iconoscope

1923

V. Zworykin

American

Loudspeaker

1924

C.W. Rice
E.W. Kellogg

American
American

Televisor

1925

John L. Baird

Scottish

Image dissector

1928

P. Farnsworth

American

Magnetic recording tape

1928

Fritz Pfleumer

German

Stereophonic sound system

1931

A.D. Blumlein English

 

Frequency modulation (FM)

1933

E.H. Armstrong

American

Xerography

1942

Chester Carlson

American

Holography

1947

Dennis Gabon

English

LP record

1948

Peter Carl Goldmark

American

Polaroid camera

1948

Edwin Land
Walter H. Brattain

American
American

Color television picture tube
(Tri-Color Tube that made viewing the color signal possible U.S. Patent 40235 (August 17, 1940)

1940

Guillermo González Camarena

Mexican

Color television system
(Signal Transmission)

1940

Peter Carl Goldmark

Born:Budapest 1906, Died: Westchester [N. Y.] 1977

Videotape

1956

Charles Ginsberg
Ray Dolby

American
American

Compact disc

1979

Joop Sinjou
Toshitada Doi

Dutch
Japanese

Compact disc interactive

1986

Richard Bruno

American

Seed drill

1701

Jethro Tull

English

Thresher

1786

Andrew Meikle

Scottish

Soda from salt

1789

N. Leblanc

French

Cast-iron plow

1797

Charles Newbold

American

Canning

1804

Francois Appert

French

Ice-making machine

1830

Jacob Perkins

American

Reaper

1831

Cyrus McCormick

American

Steel plow

1837

John Deere

American

Refrigerating machine

1851

John Gorrie

American

Condensed milk

1853

Gail Borden

American

Harvester

1858

Charles and William Marsh

American

Refrigerator car

1877

G.F. Swift

American

Milk test

1890

S.M. Babcock

American

Quick-frozen food

1925

C. Birdseye

American

Microwave oven

1947

Percy L. Spencer

American

Micrometer

1636

W. Gascoigne

English

Crucible steel process

1740

Benjamin Huntsman

English

Steel rolling mill

1783

Henry Cort

English

Electroplating

1805

Luigi Brugnatelli

Italian

Miner's safety lamp

1815

Humphry Davy

English

Babbitt metal

1838

Isaac Babbitt

American

Bessemer converter

1851

William Kelly

American

Steel converter

1856

Henry Bessemer

English

Open-hearth steel process

1858

William Siemens

British

Electric furnace

1861

William Siemens

British

Manganese steel

1883

Robert Hadfield

English

Aluminum reduction

1886

Charles M. Hall***
Paul Heroult***

 

Each worked independently on developing technologies.

American
French

Thermite

1895

Hans Goldschmidt

German

Bottle-making machinery

1904

Michael J. Owens

American

Compound microscope

1590

Zacharias Janssen

Dutch

Thermometer

1593

Galileo

Italian

Barometer

1643

Evangelista Torricelli

Italian

Pendulum clock

1656

Christiaan Huygens

Dutch

Reflecting telescope

1668

Isaac Newton

English

Achromatic lens

1733

Chester M. Hall

English

Marine chronometer

1749

John Harrison

English

Bifocal spectacles

1760

Benjamin Franklin

American

Illuminating gas

1792

William Murdoch

Scottish

Hygrometer

1820

J.F. Daniell

English

Gyroscope

1852

J.B.L. Foucault

French

Bunsen burner

1855

Robert Bunsen

German

Welsbach (gas) mantle

1885

K.A. von Welsbach

Austrian

Bathysphere

1930

Charles William Beebe

American

Cyclotron

1931

E.O. Lawrence

American

Electron microscope

1932

Max Knoll
Ernst Ruska

German
German

Betatron

1940

D.W. Kerst

American

Nuclear reactor

1942

Enrico Fermi**

 

Head of team that developed the project.

American

Synchrocyclotron

1945

E.M. McMillan***
Vladimir Veksler***

 

(Each worked independently on developing technologies.)

American
Soviet

Maser

1953

Charles Townes**

American

Head of team that developed the project.

 

 

 

Carbon dating

1955

W.F. Libby**

 

(Head of team that developed the project.)

American

Superconducting magnetic levitation

1968

James Powell
Gordon Danby

American
U.S. citizen; born in Canada

Scanning tunneling microscope

1983

Gerd Binnig
Heinrich Rohrer

German
German

Steam pump

1698

Thomas Savery

English

Steam engine, reciprocating

1705

Thomas Newcomen

English

Diving bell

1717

Edmund Halley

English

Steam Engine

1765

James Watt

Scottish

Motorized carriage

1769

Nicolas Cugnot

French

Balloon

1783

Montgolfier brothers

French

Steamboat

1787

John Fitch

American

Screw propeller

1804

John Stevens

American

Steam locomotive

1804

Richard Trevithick

English

Railway locomotive

1814

George Stephenson

English

Bicycle

1816

Karl D. Sauerbronn

German

Electric streetcar

1834

Thomas Davenport

American

Regenerative steam engine

1847

William Siemens

British

Hydraulic turbine

1849

James B. Francis

American

Elevator

1852

Elisha G. Otis

American

Nonrigid airship

1852

H. Giffard

French

Sleeping car

1857

George M. Pullman

American

Gas engine

1860

Etienne Lenoir

French

Streamlined train

1865

Samuel Calthrop

American

Railway air brakes

1868

G. Westinghouse

American

Car coupler

1873

Eli H. Janney

American

Internal combustion engine

1875

Siegfried Marcus

Austrian

Gas engine

1876

Nikolaus A. Otto

German

Glider

1877

Otto Lilienthal

German

Steam turbine

1884

C.A. Parsons

English

Gasoline-powered automobile

1885

Karl Benz

German

Air-inflated rubber tire

1887

J.B. Dunlop

Scottish

 

 

 

 

Steam turbine

1889

C.G. de Laval

Swedish

Tesla Coil

1891

Nikola Tesla (1856 - 1943)

Born: Belgrade, Yugoslavia; Naturalized American Citizen

Diesel engine

1892

Rudolph Diesel

German

Self-powered model airplane

1896

S.P. Langley

American

Airplane

1903

Wright brothers

American

Gyrocompass

1911

Elmer A. Sperry

American

Automobile self-starter

1911

C.F. Kettering

American

Hydroplane

1911

Glenn Curtis

American

Ethyl gasoline

1922

T. Midgley, Jr.

American

Traffic Signal

1923

Garrett A. Morgan

American

Jet propulsion

1937

Frank Whittle

English

Helicopter

1939

Igor Sikorsky

Naturalized American citizen

Electricity-producing breeder reactor

1951

Atomic Energy Commission

American

Solar cell

1954

D.M. Chaplin
C.S. Fuller
G.L. Pearson

American
American
American

Wankel engine

1956

Felix Wankel

German

Hovercraft

1956

Christopher Cockerell

English

Submarine

1775

David Bushnell

American

Shrapnel shell

1784

Henry Shrapnel

English

Breech-loading rifle

1810

John H. Hall

American

Revolver

1835

Samuel Colt

American

Guncotton

1845

Christian Schonbein

German

Conical bullet

1849

Claude Minie

French

Breech-loading cannon

1852

W.G. Armstrong

English

Ironclad steamboat

1861

John Ericsson

American

Gatling gun

1861

R.J. Gatling

American

Self-propelled torpedo

1864

Robert Whitehead

English

Maxim gun

1884

Hiram S. Maxim

British

Bolt-action rifle

1889

P. von Mauser

German

Lewis gun

1911

Isaac Lewis

American

Tank

1914

E.D. Swinton

English

Automatic rifle

1918

John Browning

American

Liquid-fuel rocket

1926

R.H. Goddard

American

Garand rifle

1934

John C. Garand

American

Guided missile

1942

Wernher von Braun

German

Ballistic missile

1944

Wernher von Braun

German

Atomic bomb

1945

J. Robert Oppenheimer**

 

(Head of team that developed the project.)

American

Hydrogen bomb

1952

Edward Teller**

 

(Head of team that developed the project.)

American

Neutron bomb

1958

Samuel Cohen**

 

(Head of team that developed the project.)

American

Knitting machine

1589

William Lee

English

Flying shuttle

1733

John Kay

English

Spinning jenny

1764

J. Hargreaves

English

Spinning frame

1769

R. Arkwright

English

Spinning mule

1779

Samuel Crompton

English

Power loom

1785

E. Cartwright

English

Cotton gin

1793

Eli Whitney

American

Jacquard loom

1800

J.M. Jacquard

French

Mackintosh (raincoat)

1823

C. Macintosh

Scottish

Sewing machine

1830

B. Thimonnier

French

Rubber vulcanization

1839

C. Goodyear

American

Mercerized cotton

1844

John Mercer

English

Sewing machine

1845

Elias Howe

American

Shoe welt stitcher

1874

C. Goodyear, Jr.

American

Rayon

1884

H. de Chardonnet

French

Zipper

1893

W.L. Judson

American

Rubber heel

1896

H. O'Sullivan

American

Cotton-picking machine

1936

John and Mack Rust

American

Nylon

1937

W.H. Carothers

American

Hook-and-loop fastener

1948

G. de Mestral

Swiss

Hydraulic cement

1756

John Smeaton

English

Portland cement

1824

Joseph Aspdin

English

Steam hammer

1839

James Nasmyth

Scottish

Reinforced concrete

1849

F.J. Monier

French

Cylinder lock

1860

Linus Yale

American

Carborundum

1891

E.G. Acheson

American

Air conditioning

1911

W.H. Carrier

American

Voltaic cell

1800

Alessandro Volta

Italian

Dynamo

1831

Michael Faraday

English

Electrolysis

1834

Michael Faraday

English

Dry cell

1868

Georges Leclanche

French

Arc lamp

1878

C.F. Brush

American

Incandescent lamp

1879

Thomas Edison

American

Cathode ray tube

1879

William Crookes

English

Transformer

1885

William Stanley

American

Photoelectric cell

1893

Julius Elster
Hans F. Geitel

German
German

Diode

1904

J.A. Fleming

English

Neon light

1910

Georges Claude

French

Radar parts

1935

R. Watson-Watt

Scottish

Transistor

1948

William Shockley
John Bardeen

American
American

Optical fiber

1955

Narinder Kapany

German

Laser

1958

Gordon Gould

American

Integrated circuit

1959

Jack Kilby
Robert Noyce

American
American

Light-emitting diode

1962

Nick Holonyak, Jr.

American

Liquid-crystal display

1964

George Heilmeier

American

Microprocessor

1971

Ted Hoff

American

High-temperature super-conductors

1986

J. Georg Bednorz
Karl A. Muller

German
Swiss

Blood transfusion

1625

Jean-Baptiste Denys

French

Stethoscope

1781

Rene-Theophile-Hyacinthe Laennac

French

Vaccination, small pox

1796

Edward Jenner

English

Hypodermic syringe

1853

Alexander Wood

Scottish

Antiseptic surgery

1865

Joseph Lister

English

Aspirin

1889

Dresser

German

X-ray

1895

Wilhelm Konrad Rontgen

German

Electro-cardiograph

1903

Willem Einthoven

Dutch

Sulfa drugs

1908

Paul Gelmo

Austrian

Insulin

1922

Sir Frederick G. Banting
J.J.R. MacLeod

Canadian
Canadian

Penicillin

1928

Alexander Fleming

English

Electroencephalogram

1929

Hans Berger

German

Cardiac pacemaker

1932

A.S. Hyman

American

Kidney machine

1944

Willem Kolff**

(Head of team that developed the project.)

Dutch

Polio vaccine

1954

Jonas Salk

American

Oral contraceptive

1955

Gregory Pincus

American

Artificial heart

1957

Willem Kolff**  (Head of team that developed the project.)

Dutch

CAT scanner

1968

Godfrey Hounsfield***
Allan Cormack***

 

(Each worked independently on developing technologies.)

English
American

Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging

1971

Raymond Damadian

American

Recombinant-DNA technology

1972-73

Paul Berg
Herbert W. Boyer
Stanley Cohen

American
American
American

Positron emission tomography

1978

Louis Sokoloff

American

Jarvik-7 artificial heart

1978

Robert K. Jarvik

American

 

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