Greatest inventions of all time
The greatest inventions of all time have profoundly shaped the course of human history and continue to influence our daily lives. From the invention of the wheel, which revolutionized transportation and trade, to the printing press, which democratized knowledge and spurred the Renaissance, each innovation has left an indelible mark. Electricity transformed communication and industry, while the internet connected the world in ways unimaginable just a few decades ago. These inventions not only reflect human creativity and ingenuity but also demonstrate our relentless pursuit of progress and improvement.
- Founder of Wheel
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- Inventor: Unknown
- Year: ~3500 BCE
- Country: Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq)
- Founder of Printing Press
- Inventor: Johannes Gutenberg
- Year: 1440
- Country: Germany
- Founder of Electricity
- Inventor: Benjamin Franklin (key discoveries)
- Year: 1752
- Country: USA
- Founder of Telephone
- Inventor: Alexander Graham Bell
- Year: 1876
- Country: USA
- Founder of Light Bulb
- Inventor: Thomas Edison
- Year: 1879
- Country: USA
- Founder of Internet
- Inventor: ARPANET team
- Year: 1969
- Country: USA
- Founder of Personal Computer
- Inventor: Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak (Apple I)
- Year: 1976
- Country: USA
- Founder of Airplane
- Inventors: Wright Brothers
- Year: 1903
- Country: USA
- Founder of Penicillin
- Inventor: Alexander Fleming
- Year: 1928
- Country: UK
- Founder of Automobile
- Inventor: Karl Benz (modern car)
- Year: 1886
- Country: Germany
- Founder of Camera
- Inventor: Joseph Nicéphore Niépce
- Year: 1816 (first photograph)
- Country: France
- Founder of Radio
- Inventor: Guglielmo Marconi
- Year: 1895
- Country: Italy
- Founder of Television
- Inventor: Philo Farnsworth
- Year: 1927
- Country: USA
- Founder of Steam Engine
- Inventor: James Watt
- Year: 1765
- Country: Scotland
- Founder of Refrigeration
- Inventor: Carl von Linde
- Year: 1876
- Country: Germany
- Founder of Vaccination
- Inventor: Edward Jenner
- Year: 1796
- Country: UK
- Founder of Nuclear Reactor
- Inventor: Enrico Fermi
- Year: 1942
- Country: USA
- Founder of DNA Double Helix Structure
- Inventors: James Watson and Francis Crick
- Year: 1953
- Country: UK/USA
- Founder of Microscope
- Inventor: Zacharias Janssen
- Year: 1590
- Country: Netherlands
- Founder of Telescope
- Inventor: Hans Lippershey
- Year: 1608
- Country: Netherlands
- Founder of Battery
- Inventor: Alessandro Volta
- Year: 1800
- Country: Italy
- Founder of Antibiotics
- Inventor: Alexander Fleming (Penicillin)
- Year: 1928
- Country: UK
- Founder of Solar Power
- Inventor: Edmond Becquerel (Photovoltaic effect)
- Year: 1839
- Country: France
- Founder of Internet Protocol (IP)
- Inventors: Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn
- Year: 1974
- Country: USA
- Founder of Laser
- Inventors: Arthur Schawlow and Charles Townes
- Year: 1960
- Country: USA
- Founder of Credit Card
- Inventor: Frank McNamara (Diners Club)
- Year: 1950
- Country: USA
- Founder of Barometer
- Inventor: Evangelista Torricelli
- Year: 1643
- Country: Italy
- Founder of Photography
- Inventor: Louis Daguerre
- Year: 1839
- Country: France
- Founder of X-rays
- Inventor: Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen
- Year: 1895
- Country: Germany
- Founder of Insulin
- Inventors: Frederick Banting and Charles Best
- Year: 1921
- Country: Canada
- Founder of Fiber Optics
- Inventor: Narinder Singh Kapany
- Year: 1954
- Country: India/USA
- Founder of Smartphone
- Inventors: Steve Jobs and Apple team (iPhone)
- Year: 2007
- Country: USA
- Founder of Wireless Communication
- Inventor: Nikola Tesla
- Year: 1890s
- Country: USA/Serbia
- Founder of Artificial Intelligence
- Key Figures: Alan Turing, John McCarthy
- Year: 1950s
- Country: UK/USA
- Founder of Pacemaker
- Inventor: Wilson Greatbatch
- Year: 1958
- Country: USA
- Founder of Electric Motor
- Inventor: Michael Faraday
- Year: 1821
- Country: UK
- Founder of GPS
- Inventors: U.S. Department of Defense
- Year: 1973
- Country: USA
- Founder of Rubber Vulcanization
- Inventor: Charles Goodyear
- Year: 1839
- Country: USA
- Founder of Braille
- Inventor: Louis Braille
- Year: 1824
- Country: France
- Founder of Dynamite
- Inventor: Alfred Nobel
- Year: 1867
- Country: Sweden
- Founder of Stethoscope
- Inventor: René Laennec
- Year: 1816
- Country: France
- Founder of Velcro
- Inventor: George de Mestral
- Year: 1955
- Country: Switzerland
- Founder of Morse Code
- Inventor: Samuel Morse
- Year: 1837
- Country: USA
- Founder of Concrete
- Inventors: Romans (modern reinforced concrete by Joseph Monier)
- Year: 1849 (reinforced concrete)
- Country: France
- Founder of Solar Panel
- Inventor: Bell Labs team
- Year: 1954
- Country: USA
- Founder of Artificial Heart
- Inventor: Robert Jarvik (Jarvik-7)
- Year: 1982
- Country: USA
- Founder of Electric Guitar
- Inventor: George Beauchamp (Rickenbacker)
- Year: 1931
- Country: USA
- Founder of World Wide Web
- Inventor: Tim Berners-Lee
- Year: 1989
- Country: UK
- Founder of Genetic Engineering
- Inventors: Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen
- Year: 1973
- Country: USA
- Founder of Plastic
- Inventor: Leo Baekeland (Bakelite)
- Year: 1907
- Country: USA
- Founder of Electricity Generation
- Inventor: Michael Faraday
- Year: 1831
- Country: UK
- Founder of Flushing Toilet
- Inventor: John Harington
- Year: 1596
- Country: UK
- Founder of Steam Locomotive
- Inventor: George Stephenson
- Year: 1814
- Country: UK
- Founder of Cotton Gin
- Inventor: Eli Whitney
- Year: 1793
- Country: USA
- Founder of Safety Elevator
- Inventor: Elisha Otis
- Year: 1852
- Country: USA
- Founder of Seismograph
- Inventor: Zhang Heng
- Year: 132
- Country: China
- Founder of Hypodermic Needle
- Inventor: Charles Gabriel Pravaz
- Year: 1853
- Country: France
- Founder of Antiseptics
- Inventor: Joseph Lister
- Year: 1867
- Country: UK
- Founder of Anesthesia
- Inventor: William Morton
- Year: 1846
- Country: USA
- Founder of Contact Lenses
- Inventor: Adolf Gaston Eugen Fick
- Year: 1888
- Country: Germany
- Founder of Quantum Mechanics
- Key Figures: Max Planck, Albert Einstein
- Year: 1900s
- Country: Germany
- Founder of Cloning
- Key Achievement: Dolly the Sheep (Ian Wilmut team)
- Year: 1996
- Country: UK
- Founder of Microwave Oven
- Inventor: Percy Spencer
- Year: 1945
- Country: USA
- Founder of Ultrasound
- Inventor: Ian Donald
- Year: 1958
- Country: UK
- Founder of Holography
- Inventor: Dennis Gabor
- Year: 1947
- Country: Hungary
- Founder of Electricity Distribution
- Inventor: Nikola Tesla (AC power)
- Year: 1880s
- Country: USA/Serbia
- Founder of LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)
- Inventor: George Heilmeier
- Year: 1968
- Country: USA
- Founder of 3D Printing
- Inventor: Chuck Hull
- Year: 1984
- Country: USA
- Founder of MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging)
- Inventors: Paul Lauterbur and Peter Mansfield
- Year: 1973
- Country: USA/UK
- Founder of Polio Vaccine
- Inventor: Jonas Salk
- Year: 1955
- Country: USA
- Founder of Bluetooth
- Inventor: Jaap Haartsen (Ericsson team)
- Year: 1994
- Country: Sweden
- Founder of LED (Light Emitting Diode)
- Inventor: Nick Holonyak
- Year: 1962
- Country: USA
- Founder of Nanotechnology
- Key Figure: Richard Feynman
- Year: 1959
- Country: USA
- Founder of Google Search Engine
- Inventors: Larry Page and Sergey Brin
- Year: 1998
- Country: USA
- Founder of Smart Grid
- Inventor: Multiple contributors
- Year: 2000s
- Country: USA
- Founder of Wind Turbine
- Inventor: Poul la Cour (modern design)
- Year: 1891
- Country: Denmark
- Founder of Electric Car
- Inventor: Robert Anderson (first crude electric vehicle)
- Year: 1832
- Country: Scotland
- Founder of Hovercraft
- Inventor: Christopher Cockerell
- Year: 1956
- Country: UK
- Founder of Compact Disc (CD)
- Inventors: James Russell, Sony and Philips
- Year: 1982
- Country: USA/Japan/Netherlands
- Founder of Supercomputer
- Inventor: Seymour Cray
- Year: 1964 (CDC 6600)
- Country: USA
- Founder of VHS (Video Home System)
- Inventor: JVC team
- Year: 1976
- Country: Japan
- Founder of Smartwatch
- Inventor: Multiple contributors (Pebble, Apple)
- Year: 2012 (Pebble)
- Country: USA
- Founder of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine
- Key Figure: Fei-Fei Li
- Year: 2010s
- Country: USA
- Founder of Augmented Reality
- Key Development: Google Glass
- Year: 2013
- Country: USA
- Founder of Virtual Reality
- Key Development: Oculus Rift (Palmer Luckey)
- Year: 2012
- Country: USA
- Founder of Gene Editing (CRISPR)
- Inventors: Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier
- Year: 2012
- Country: USA/France
- Founder of Blockchain
- Inventor: Satoshi Nakamoto (pseudonym)
- Year: 2008
- Country: Unknown
- Founder of Electric Kettle
- Inventor: Arthur Leslie Large
- Year: 1922
- Country: UK
- Founder of Wind-up Radio
- Inventor: Trevor Baylis
- Year: 1991
- Country: UK
- Founder of Drone
- Key Development: Military and commercial use (General Atomics)
- Year: 1994 (Predator drone)
- Country: USA
- Founder of CCTV
- Inventor: Walter Bruch
- Year: 1942
- Country: Germany
- Founder of Smart Home Technology
- Inventors: Various (Nest Labs, Amazon Echo)
- Year: 2010s
- Country: USA
- Founder of Electric Toothbrush
- Inventor: Philippe-Guy Woog
- Year: 1954
- Country: Switzerland
- Founder of Heart-Lung Machine
- Inventor: John Gibbon
- Year: 1953
- Country: USA
- Founder of PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction)
- Inventor: Kary Mullis
- Year: 1983
- Country: USA
- Founder of E-book Reader
- Inventor: Michael Hart (Project Gutenberg)
- Year: 1971 (concept), 1998 (Rocket eBook)
- Country: USA
- Founder of Nuclear Power Plant
- Inventor: Enrico Fermi
- Year: 1954 (Obninsk)
- Country: Russia/USA
- Founder of Space Shuttle
- Inventors: NASA team
- Year: 1981
- Country: USA
- Founder of Smart Thermostat
- Inventor: Nest Labs team
- Year: 2011
- Country: USA
100. Reusable Rocket
- Inventor: SpaceX team (Elon Musk) –
- Year: 2015
- Country: USA
