Timeline of historic inventions
This is a chronological list of inventions.
Note: Dates for inventions are often controversial. Inventions are often invented by several inventors around the same time, or may be invented in an impractical form many years before another inventor improves the invention into a practical form. Where there is ambiguity, the date of the first working version of the invention is used here.
- Indeterminate: Language
- 2.4 mya: Olduwan - struck stone tools, in East Africa
- 1.65 mya: Acheulean - struck and reworked stone tools, in Kenya
- 1 mya: Controlled fire and cooking in East Africa
- 500 tya: Shelter construction [1]
- 100-500 tya: Clothing
- 400 tya: Pigments in Zambia [2]
- 400 tya: Spears in Germany [3]
- 100 tya: Lithic blades in Africa and the Near East
- 60 tya: Ships probably used by settlers of New Guinea
- 50 tya: Flute in Slovenia
- 50 tya: Bow in Tunisia [4] [5]
- 43 tya: Mining in Swaziland and Hungary
- 37 tya: Tally sticks in Swaziland [6]
- 30 tya: Sewing needles
- 26 tya: Ceramics in Moravia
- 25 tya: Atlatl in NW Africa [7]
- 12 tya: Pottery in Japan
- Agriculture and Alcoholic beverages in the Fertile Crescent
- Adobe in the Near East
- 9500 BC: Granary in the Jordan Valley
- 8700 BC: Metalworking (copper pendant) in Iraq
- Animal husbandry in the Near East
- Plaster in Jericho
- 6200 BC: Map in Çatalhöyük
- Cloth woven from flax fiber
- Irrigation in the Fertile Crescent
- Ploughs in Mesopotamia
- Beer and bread in Sumer
- Wheel and axle combination in Mesopotamia
- 4000 BC: Canal in Mesopotamia
- 3800s BC: Engineered roadway in England
- 3500 BC: Plywood in Egypt
- 3500 BC: Writing in Sumer
- 3500 BC: Carts in Sumer
- 3100 BC: Drainage in the Indus Valley Civilization (India/Pakistan)
- Dental surgery in Mehrgarh (Indus Valley Civilization)
- Bronze: Susa
- Silk in China
- Cement in Egypt
- River boats in Egypt
- 2800 BC: Soap in Mesopotamia
- 2800 BC: Button in the Indus Valley Civilization
- 2600 BC: Artificial sewage systems in the Indus Valley Civilization
- 2500 BC: Flush toilets in the Indus Valley Civilization
- 2400 BC: Shipyard in Lothal (Indus Valley Civilization)
- 2000 BC: Currency
- Sledges in Scandinavia
- Alphabet in Egypt
- Candles in Egypt
- Glass in Egypt
- Rubber in Mesoamerica
- Spoked wheel chariot in the Near East
- Water clock in Egypt
- Bells in China
- 600s BC: Coins in Lydia
- 500s BC: Sugar in India
- 500s BC: Dental bridge in Etruria
- 500s BC: Trebuchet in China
- 400s BC: Plastic surgery: Sushruta
- 400s BC: Catapult in Syracuse
- 300s BC: Compass in China.
- 300s BC: Screw: Archytas
- 200s BC: Crossbow in China
- 200s BC: Compound pulley: Archimedes
- 200s BC: Odometer: Archimedes?
- 150s BC: Astrolabe: Hipparchus
- 100s BC: Parchment in Pergamon
- 1st century BC: Glassblowing in Syria
- 87 BC: Clockwork (the Antikythera mechanism): Posidonius?
- 40 BC: earliest known rolling-element bearing in Roman ship
- 50: Mouldboard plough in Gaul
- 100s: Aeolipile : Hero of Alexandria
- 100s: Stern mounted rudder in China
- 105: Paper: Cai Lun
- 132: Rudimentary Seismometer: Zhang Heng
- 200s: Wheelbarrow: Zhuge Liang
- 200s: Horseshoes in Germany
- 300: Wootz steel in India
- 300s: Stirrup in China
- 300s: Toothpaste in Egypt
- 600s: Windmill in Persia
- 673: Greek fire: Kallinikos of Heliopolis
- 700: Quill pen
- 800s: Gunpowder in China
- 852: Parachute: Armen Firman
- 900: Horse collar in Europe
- 900s: Solid rocket in China
- Woodblock printing in China
- Porcelain in China
- Spinning wheel in China or India
- 1041: Movable type printing press: Bi Sheng
- 1280s: Eyeglasses in Northern Italy
- Mechanical clocks in Northern Italy
- Sandpaper in China
- Arquebus and Rifle in Europe
- 1441: Rain gauge: Jang Yeong-sil
- 1450s: Alphabetic, movable type printing press: Johann Gutenberg
- 1451: Concave lens for eyeglasses: Nicholas of Cusa
- 1490 - 1492: Globe "Nürnberg Terrestrial Globe" by German mapmaker Martin Behaim
- 1498: Toothbrush in China
- 1500(circa): Ball bearing: Leonardo Da Vinci
- 1500(circa): Scissors: Leonardo Da Vinci
- 1510: Pocket watch: Peter Henlein
- 1540: Ether: Valerius Cordus
- 1576: Ironclad warship: Oda Nobunaga
- 1581: Pendulum: Galileo Galilei
- 1589: Stocking frame: William Lee
- 1593: Thermometer: Galileo Galilei
- Musket in Europe
- Pencil in England
- 1608: Telescope: Hans Lippershey
- 1609: Microscope: Galileo Galilei
- 1620: Slide rule: William Oughtred
- 1623: Automatic calculator: Wilhelm Schickard
- 1631: Vernier scale: Pierre Vernier
- 1642: Adding machine: Blaise Pascal
- 1643: Barometer: Evangelista Torricelli
- 1645: Vacuum pump: Otto von Guericke
- 1657: Pendulum clock: Christiaan Huygens
- 1679: Pressure cooker: Denis Papin
- 1698: Steam engine: Thomas Savery
- 1700: Piano: Bartolomeo Cristofori
- 1701: Seed drill: Jethro Tull
- 1705: Steam piston engine: Thomas Newcomen
- 1710: Thermometer: René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur
- 1711: Tuning fork: John Shore
- 1714: Mercury thermometer: Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit
- 1730: Mariner's quadrant: Thomas Godfrey
- 1731: Sextant: John Hadley
- 1733: Flying shuttle: John Kay (Flying Shuttle)
- 1742: Franklin stove: Benjamin Franklin
- 1750: Flatboat: Jacob Yoder
- 1752: Lightning rod: Benjamin Franklin
- 1762: Iron smelting process: Jared Eliot
- 1767: Spinning jenny: James Hargreaves
- 1767: Carbonated water: Joseph Priestley
- 1769: Steam engine: James Watt
- 1769: Water Frame: Richard Arkwright
- 1769: Steam car: Nicolas Cugnot
- 1775: Submarine Turtle: David Bushnell
- 1775: new kind of Boring machine: John Wilkinson
- 1777: Card teeth making machine: Oliver Evans
- 1777: Circular saw: Samuel Miller
- 1779: Spinning mule: Samuel Crompton
- 1780s: Iron rocket: Tipu Sultan in India
- 1783: Multitubular boiler engine: John Stevens
- 1783: Parachute: Jean Pierre Blanchard
- 1783: Hot air balloon: Montgolfier brothers
- 1784: Bifocals: Benjamin Franklin
- 1784: Argand lamp: Ami Argand
- 1784: Shrapnel shell: Henry Shrapnel
- 1785: Power loom: Edmund Cartwright
- 1785: Automatic flour mill: Oliver Evans
- 1786: Threshing machine: Andrew Meikle
- 1787: Non-condensing high pressure Engine: Oliver Evans
- 1790: Cut and head nail machine: Jacob Perkins
- 1791: Steamboat: John Fitch
- 1791: Artificial teeth: Nicholas Dubois De Chemant
- 1793: Cotton gin: Eli Whitney
- 1793: Optical telegraph: Claude Chappe
- 1797: Cast iron plow: Charles Newbold
- 1798: Vaccination: Edward Jenner
- 1798: Lithography: Alois Senefelder
- 1799: Seeding machine: Eliakim Spooner
- 1800: Electric battery: Alessandro Volta
- 1801: Jacquard loom: Joseph Marie Jacquard
- 1802: Screw propeller steamboat Phoenix: John Stevens
- 1802: Gas stove: Zachäus Andreas Winzler
- 1804: Locomotive: Richard Trevithick
- 1805: Submarine Nautilus: Robert Fulton
- 1807: Steamboat Clermont: Robert Fulton
- 1808: Band saw: William Newberry
- Arc lamp: Humphry Davy
- 1811: Gun Breechloader: Thornton
- 1812: Metronome: Dietrich Nikolaus Winkel
- 1814: Steam Locomotive (Blucher): George Stephenson
- 1816: Miner's safety lamp: Humphry Davy
- 1816: Metronome: Johann Nepomuk Maelzel (reputed)
- 1816: Stirling engine: Robert Stirling
- 1816: Stethoscope: Rene Theophile Hyacinthe Laennec
- 1817 two-wheeled Draisine or velocipede: Karl Drais
- 1817: Kaleidoscope: David Brewster
- 1819: Breech loading flintlock: John Hall
- 1821: Electric motor: Michael Faraday
- 1823: Electromagnet: William Sturgeon
- 1826: Photography: Joseph Nicéphore Niépce
- 1826: internal combustion engine: Samuel Morey
- 1827: Insulated wire: Joseph Henry
- 1827: Screw propeller: Josef Ressel
- 1827: Friction match: John Walker
- 1830: Lawn mower: Edwin Beard Budding
- 1830: Stenotype on punched paper strip: Karl Drais
- 1831: Multiple coil magnet: Joseph Henry
- 1831: Magnetic acoustic telegraph: Joseph Henry (patented 1837)
- 1831: Reaper: Cyrus McCormick
- 1831: Electrical generator: Michael Faraday, Ányos Jedlik
- 1834: The Hansom cab is patented
- 1834: Louis Braille perfects his Braille system
- 1834: Refrigerator: Jacob Perkins
- 1834: Combine harvester: Hiram Moore
- 1835: Photogenic Drawing: William Henry Fox Talbot
- 1835: Revolver: Samuel Colt
- 1835: Morse code: Samuel Morse
- 1835: Electromechanical Relay: Joseph Henry
- 1835: Incandescent light bulb: James Bowman Lindsay
- 1836: Samuel Colt receives a patent for the Colt revolver (February 24)
- 1836: Improved screw propeller: John Ericsson
- 1836: Sewing machine: Josef Madersberger
- 1837: Photography: Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre
- 1837: First US electric printing press patented by Thomas Davenport (February 25)
- 1837: Steel plow: John Deere
- 1837: Standard diving dress: Augustus Siebe
- 1837: Camera Zoom Lens: Jozef Maximilián Petzval
- 1838: Electric telegraph: Charles Wheatstone (also Samuel Morse)
- 1838: Forerunner of Morse code: Alfred Vail
- 1838: closed diving suit with a helmet: Augustus Siebe
- 1839: Vulcanization of rubber: Charles Goodyear
- 1840: screw-propelled frigate, USS Princeton: John Ericsson
- 1840: artificial fertilizer: Justus von Liebig
- 1842: Anaesthesia: Crawford Long
- 1843: Typewriter: Charles Thurber
- 1843: Fax machine: Alexander Bain
- 1843: Ice cream maker: Nancy Johnson
- 1845: Portland cement: William Aspdin
- 1845: Double tube tire: Robert Thomson (inventor)
- 1846: Sewing machine: Elias Howe
- 1846: Rotary printing press: Richard M. Hoe
- 1849: Safety pin: Walter Hunt
- 1849: Francis turbine: James B. Francis
- 1849: Telephone: Antonio Meucci
- 1852: Airship: Henri Giffard
- 1852: Passenger elevator: Elisha Otis
- 1852: Gyroscope: Léon Foucault
- 1855: Bunsen burner: Robert Bunsen
- 1855: Bessemer process: Henry Bessemer
- 1856: First celluloids: Alexander Parkes
- 1858: Undersea telegraph cable: Fredrick Newton Gisborne
- 1858: Shoe sole sewing machine: Lyman R. Blake
- 1858: Mason jar: John L. Mason
- 1859: Oil drill: Edwin L. Drake
- 1860: Linoleum: Fredrick Walton
- 1860: Repeating rifle: Oliver F. Winchester, Christopher Spencer
- 1860: Self-propelled torpedo: Giovanni Luppis
- 1861: Ironclad USS Monitor: John Ericsson
- 1861: Siemens regenerative furnace: Carl Wilhelm Siemens
- 1862: Revolving machine gun: Richard J. Gatling
- 1862: Mechanical submarine: Narcís Monturiol i Estarriol
- 1862: Pasteurization: Louis Pasteur, Claude Bernard
- 1863: Player piano: Henri Fourneaux
- 1864: First concept typewriter: Peter Mitterhofer
- 1865: Compression ice machine: Thaddeus Lowe
- 1865: Roller Coaster: LaMarcus Adna Thompson
- 1865: Barbed wire: Louis Jannin
- 1866: Dynamite: Alfred Nobel
- 1868: First practical typewriter: Christopher Sholes, Carlos Glidden and Samuel W. Soule, with assistance from James Densmore
- 1868: Air brake (rail): George Westinghouse
- 1868: Oleomargarine: Mege Mouries
- 1869: Vacuum cleaner: I.W. McGaffers
- 1870: Magic Lantern projector: Henry R. Heyl
- 1870: Stock ticker: Thomas Alva Edison
- 1870: Mobile Gasoline Engine, fitted to a cart precursor to 1888 automobile: Siegfried Marcus
- 1871: Cable car (railway): Andrew S. Hallidie
- 1871: Compressed air rock drill: Simon Ingersoll
- 1872: Celluloid (later development): John W. Hyatt
- 1872: Adding machine: Edmund D. Barbour
- 1873: Railway knuckle coupler: Eli H. Janney
- 1873: Modern direct current electric motor: Zénobe Gramme
- 1874: Electric street car: Stephen Dudle Field
- 1875: Dynamo: William A. Anthony
- 1875: Magazine (firearm): Benjamin B. Hotchkiss
- 1876: Carpet sweeper: Melville Bissell
- 1876: Gasoline carburettor: Daimler
- 1876: Loudspeaker: Alexander Graham Bell
- 1877: Stapler: Henry R. Heyl
- 1877: Induction motor: Nikola Tesla
- 1877: Phonograph: Thomas Alva Edison
- 1877: Electric welding: Elihu Thomson
- 1877: Twine Knotter: John Appleby
- 1877: Microphone: Emile Berliner
- 1878: Cathode ray tube: William Crookes
- 1878: Transparent film: Eastman Goodwin
- 1878: Rebreather: Henry Fleuss
- 1879: Pelton turbine: Lester Pelton
- 1879: Automobile engine: Karl Benz
- 1879: Cash register: James Ritty
- 1879: Automobile (Patent): George B. Seldon ... note did NOT invent automobile
- 1880: Photophone: Alexander Graham Bell
- 1880: Roll film: George Eastman
- 1880: Safety razor: Kampfe Brothers
- 1880: Seismograph: John Milne
- 1881: Electric welding machine: Elihu Thomson
- 1881: Metal detector: Alexander Graham Bell
- 1882: Electric fan: Schuyler Skatts Wheeler
- 1882: Electric flat iron: Henry W. Seely
- 1883: Auto engine - compression ignition: Gottlieb Daimler
- 1883: two-phase (alternating current) induction motor: Nikola Tesla
- 1884: Linotype machine: Ottmar Mergenthaler
- 1884: Fountain pen: Lewis Waterman NB: Did not invent fountain pen, nor even "first practical fountain pen". Started manufacture in 1883, too.
- 1884: Punched card accounting: Herman Hollerith
- 1884: Trolley car, (electric): Frank Sprague, Charles Van Depoele
- 1885: Automobile patent granted (internal combustion engine powered): Karl Benz first automobile put into production
- 1885: Automobile, differential gear: Karl Benz
- 1885: Maxim gun: Hiram Stevens Maxim
- 1885: Motor cycle: Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach
- 1885: Alternating current transformer: William Stanley
- 1886: Dishwasher: Josephine Cochrane
- 1886: Gasoline engine: Gottlieb Daimler
- 1886: Improved phonograph cylinder: Tainter & Bell
- 1887: Monotype machine: Tolbert Lanston
- 1887: Contact lens: Adolf E. Fick, Eugène Kalt and August Muller
- 1887: Gramophone record: Emile Berliner
- 1888: Polyphase AC Electric power system: Nikola Tesla (30 related patents.)
- 1888: Kodak hand camera: George Eastman
- 1888: Ballpoint pen: John Loud
- 1888: Pneumatic tube tire: John Boyd Dunlop
- 1888: Harvester-thresher: Matteson (?)
- 1888: Kinematograph: Augustin Le Prince
- 1888: Automobile Mobile Gasoline Engine: Siegfried Marcus
- 1889: Automobile, (steam): Sylvester Roper
- 1889: Automobile, (gasoline): Gottlieb Daimler
- 1890: Pneumatic Hammer: Charles B. King
- 1891: Automobile Storage Battery: William Morrison
- 1891: Zipper: Whitcomb L. Judson
- 1891: Carborundum: Edward G. Acheson
- 1892: Color photography: Frederic E. Ives
- 1892: Automatic telephone exchange (electromechanical): Almon Strowger - First in commercial service.
- 1893: Photographic gun: E.J. Marcy
- 1893: Carburetor: Donát Bánki and János Csonka
- 1893: Half tone engraving: Frederick Ives
- 1893: Wireless communication: Nikola Tesla
- 1894: Radio transmission: Jagdish Chandra Bose
- 1895: Phatoptiken projector: Woodville Latham
- 1895: Phantascope: C. Francis Jenkins
- 1895: Diesel engine: Rudolf Diesel
- 1895: Radio signals: Guglielmo Marconi
- 1895: Shredded Wheat: Henry Perky
- 1896: Vitascope: Thomas Armat
- 1896: Steam turbine: Charles Curtis
- 1896: Electric stove: William S. Hadaway
- 1897: Automobile, magneto: Robert Bosch
- 1897: Modern escalator: Jesse W. Reno
- 1898: tapered roller bearing: Henry Timken
- 1898: Remote control: Nikola Tesla
- 1899: Iron-mercury coherer with telephone detector: Jagdish Chandra Bose
- 1899: Automobile self starter: Clyde J. Coleman
- 1899: Magnetic tape recorder: Valdemar Poulsen
- 1899: Gas turbine: Charles Curtis
- 1900: Rigid dirigible airship: Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin
- 1900: Self-heating can
- 1900s: Microwave optics: Jagdish Chandra Bose
- 1901: Improved wireless transmitter: Reginald Fessenden
- 1901: Instant coffee by Sartori Kato
- 1901: Mercury vapor lamp: Peter C. Hewitt
- 1901: Disposable razor blade: King C. Gillette
- 1901: Vacuum cleaner: Hubert Booth
- 1902: Ostwald process: Wilhelm Ostwald
- 1902: Radio magnetic detector: Guglielmo Marconi
- 1902: Air Conditioner: Willis Carrier
- 1902: Neon lamp: Georges Claude
- 1902: Radio telephone: Poulsen Reginald Fessenden
- 1902: Rayon cellulose ester: Arthur D. Little
- 1903: Electrocardiograph (EKG): Willem Einthoven
- 1903: Powered Monoplane: Richard Pearse
- 1903: Powered airplane: Wilbur Wright and Orville Wright
- 1903: Bottle machine: Michael Owens
- 1903: Windshield wiper: Mary Anderson
- 1904: Thermionic valve: John Ambrose Fleming
- 1904: Separable Attachment Plug: Harvey Hubbell
- 1904: Tractor: Benjamin Holt
- 1905: Radio tube diode: John Ambrose Fleming
- 1906: Sonar (first device): Lewis Nixon
- 1906: Triode amplifier: Lee DeForest
- 1907: Color photography: Auguste and Louis Lumiere
- 1907: Helicopter: Paul Cornu
- 1907: Radio amplifier: Lee DeForest
- 1907: Radio tube triode: Lee DeForest
- 1907: Vacuum cleaner, (electric): James Spangler
- 1907: Washing machine, (electric): Alva Fisher (Hurley Corporation)
- 1908: Cellophane: Jacques E. Brandenberger
- 1908: Geiger counter: Hans Geiger and Ernest Rutherford
- 1908: Gyrocompass: Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe
- 1908: Haber process: Fritz Haber
- 1908: Tea bag: Thomas Sullivan
- 1909: Monoplane: Henry W. Walden
- 1909: Bakelite: Leo Baekeland
- 1909: Gun silencer: Hiram Percy Maxim
- 1910: Thermojet engine: Henri Coandă
- 1911: Gyrocompass: Elmer A. Sperry
- 1911: Automobile self starter (perfected): Charles F. Kettering
- 1911: Air conditioner: Willis Haviland Carrier
- 1911: Cellophane: Jacques Brandenburger
- 1911: Hydroplane: Glenn Curtiss
- 1912: Ecstacy: Merck
- 1912: Photography ;Lapse-time camera for use with plants:Arthur C. Pillsbury
- 1912: Regenerative radio circuit: Edwin H. Armstrong
- 1913: Cracking process for Gasoline: William M. Burten
- 1913: Crossword: Arthur Wynne
- 1913: Double acting wrench: Robert Owen
- 1913: Gyroscope stabilizer: Elmer A. Sperry
- 1913: Radio receiver, cascade tuning: Ernst Alexanderson
- 1913: Radio receiver, heterodyne: Reginald Fessenden
- 1913: Stainless steel: Harry Brearley
- 1913: X-Ray (improved): William D. Coolidge
- 1914: Radio transmitter triode mod.: Ernst Alexanderson
- 1914: Liquid fuel rocket: Robert Goddard
- 1914: Tank, military: Ernest Dunlop Swinton
- 1915: Tungsten Filament: Irving Langmuir
- 1915: Searchlight arc: Elmer A. Sperry
- 1915: Radio tube oscillator: Lee DeForest
- 1915: Pyrex: Corning Inc.
- 1916: Browning Gun: John Browning
- 1916: Thompson submachine gun: John T. Thompson
- 1916: Incandescent gas lamp: Irving Langmuir
- 1917: Sonar echolocation: Paul Langevin
- 1917: Cruise missile: Charles Kettering
- 1918: Superheterodyne receiver: Edwin H. Armstrong
- 1918: Interrupter gear: Anton Fokker
- 1918: Radio crystal oscillator: A.M. Nicolson
- 1918: Pop-up toaster: Charles Strite
- 1919: Flip-flop circuit: William Eccles and F. W. Jordan
- 1919: Theremin: Leon Theremin
- 1922: Radar: Robert Watson-Watt, A. H. Taylor, L. C. Young, Gregory Breit, Merle Antony Tuve
- 1922: Technicolor: Herbert T. Kalmus
- 1922: Water skiing: Ralph Samuelson
- 1922: Photography : First mass production photo machine:Arthur C. Pillsbury
- 1923: Arc tube: Ernst Alexanderson
- 1923: Sound film: Lee DeForest
- 1923: Television Electronic: Philo Farnsworth
- 1923: Wind tunnel: Max Munk
- 1923: Autogyro: Juan de la Cierva
- 1923: Xenon flash lamp: Harold Edgerton
- 1925: Ultra-centrifuge: Theodor Svedberg - used to determine molecular weights
- 1925: Television Nipkow System: C. Francis Jenkins
- 1925: Telephoto: C. Francis Jenkins
- 1926: Television Mechanical Scanner: John Logie Baird
- 1926: Aerosol spray: Rotheim
- 1927: Mechanical cotton picker: John Rust
- 1927: PEZ Candy: Eduard Haas III
- 1927: Photography:First microscopic motion picture camera: Arthur C. Pillsbury
- 1928: Sliced bread: Otto Frederick Rohwedder
- 1928: Electric dry shaver: Jacob Schick
- 1928: Antibiotics: Alexander Fleming
- 1928: Preselector gearbox: Walter Gordon Wilson
- 1929: Electroencephelograph (EEG): Hans Berger
- 1929: Kinescope:Vladimir Zworykin
- 1929: Photography:First X-Ray motion picture camera:Arthur C. Pillsbury
- 1920s: Band aid: Earle Dickson
- 1920s: Insulin
- 1920s: Mechanical potato peeler: Herman Lay
- 1930: Neoprene: Wallace Carothers
- 1930: Nylon: Wallace Carothers
- 1930: Photography: Underwater Motion Picture Camera: Arthur C. Pillsbury
- 1931: the Radio telescope: Karl Jansky Grote Reber
- 1931: Iconoscope: Vladimir Zworykin
- 1932: Polaroid glass: Edwin H. Land
- 1935: microwave radar: Robert Watson-Watt
- 1935: Trampoline: George Nissen and Larry Griswold
- 1935: Spectrophotometer: Arthur C. Hardy
- 1935: Casein fiber: Earl Whittier Stephen
- 1935: Hammond Organ: Laurens Hammond
- 1936: Pinsetter (bowling): Gottfried Schmidt
- 1937: Turboprop engine: György Jendrassik
- 1937: Jet engine: Frank Whittle and Hans von Ohain
- 1937: O-ring: Niels Christensen
- 1938: Ballpoint pen: Laszlo Biro
- 1938: Fiberglass: Russell Games Slayter John H. Thomas
- 1939: FM radio: Edwin H. Armstrong
- 1939: Helicopter: Igor Sikorsky
- 1939: View-master: William Gruber
- 1939: Automated teller machine: Luther George Simjian
- 1942: Bazooka Rocket Gun: Leslie A. Skinner C. N. Hickman
- 1942: Undersea oil pipeline: Hartley, Anglo-Iranian, Siemens in Operation Pluto
- 1942: Frequency hopping: Hedy Lamarr and George Antheil
- 1943: Aqua-Lung: Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Emile Gagnan
- 1944: Electron spectrometer: Deutsch Elliot Evans
- 1945: Slinky: Richard James and Betty James
- 1945: Nuclear weapons (but note: chain reaction theory: 1933)
- 1946: Microwave oven: Percy Spencer
- 1946: Mobile Telephone Service: AT&T and Southwestern Bell
- 1946: Computer: John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert
- 1947: Transistor: William Shockley, Walter Brattain, John Bardeen
- 1947: Polaroid camera: Edwin Land
- 1948: Long Playing Record: Peter Carl Goldmark
- 1948: Holography: Dennis Gabor
- 1949: Atomic clocks
- 1951: Liquid Paper: Bette Nesmith Graham
- 1951: Nuclear power reactor: Walter Zinn
- 1952: Fusion bomb: Edward Teller and Stanislaw Ulam
- 1952: Hovercraft: Christopher Cockerell
- 1953: Maser: Charles Townes
- 1953: Medical ultrasonography
- 1954: Transistor radio (dated from the from Regency TR1) (USA)
- 1954: Geodesic dome: Buckminster Fuller
- 1955: Velcro: George de Mestral
- 1955: Hair spray Helene Curtis
- 1955: Hard Drive: Reynold Johnson with IBM
- 1956: Digital clock
- 1956: Optical fiber: Basil Hirschowitz, C. Wilbur Peters, and Lawrence E. Curtiss
- 1956: Videocassette recorder: Ampex
- 1957: Jet Boat: William Hamilton
- 1957: Bubble Wrap: Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes
- 1958: Integrated circuit: Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments, Robert Noyce at Fairchild Semiconductor
- 1958: Communications satellite: Kenneth Masterman-Smith
- 1959: Snowmobile: Joseph-Armand Bombardier
- 1960: Laser: Theodore Harold Maiman
- 1961: Optical disc: David Paul Gregg
- 1961: Cochlear implant: William House
- 1962: Light-emitting diode: Nick Holonyak
- 1962: Space observatory: Ball Brothers Aerospace Corporation [8]
- 1963: Computer mouse: Douglas Engelbart
- 1967: Automatic Teller Machine: John Shepherd-Barron
- 1967: Hypertext: Andries van Dam and Ted Nelson
- 1968: Video game console: Ralph H. Baer
- 1969: ARPANET (first packet switching network): United States Department of Defense
- 1971: E-mail: Ray Tomlinson
- 1971: Liquid Crystal Display: James Fergason
- 1971: Microprocessor
- 1971: Pocket calculator: Sharp Corporation
- 1971: Magnetic resonance imaging: Raymond V. Damadian
- 1971: Floppy Disk: David Noble with IBM
- 1972: Computed Tomography: Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield
- 1973: Ethernet: Bob Metcalfe and David Boggs
- 1973: Genetically modified organism: Stanley Norman Cohen and Herbert Boyer
- 1973: Personal computer: Xerox PARC
- 1974: Rubik's Cube: Ernő Rubik
- 1974: Hybrid vehicle: Victor Wouk [9]
- 1975: Digital camera: Steven Sasson
- 1976: Gore-Tex fabric: W. L. Gore
- 1977: Personal stereo: Andreas Pavel
- 1977: Cellular mobile phone: Bell Labs [10]
- 1978: Spring loaded camming device: Ray Jardine
- 1978 : Spreadsheet: Dan Bricklin
- 1970s: Leaf blower in Japan
- 1981: Scanning tunneling microscope: Gerd Karl Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer
- 1982: Insulated gate bipolar transistor: Hans Becke and Carl Wheatley RCA
- 1982: ACE inhibitor John R. Vane
- 1983: Camcorder: Sony
- 1984: Lithotripsy: Claude Dornier
- 1985: Polymerase chain reaction: Kary Mullis
- 1985: DNA fingerprinting: Alec Jeffreys
- 1986: Breadmaker
- 1987: Statin: Carl Hoffman
- 1990: World Wide Web: Tim Berners-Lee
- 1993: Global Positioning System: United States Department of Defense
- 1993: Blue LED: Shuji Nakamura
- 1997: Non-mechanical Digital Audio Player: SaeHan Information Systems
- 1997: Wi-Fi: Alex Hills
- 1998: Viagra: Nicholas Terret, Peter Dunn and Albert Wood
- 2001: Digital satellite radio
- 2001: Self-contained Artificial heart
- 2002: Scramjet: University of Queensland
See also
- History of technology
- Innovation
- List of inventors
- List of inventions named after people
- List of technology timelines
- List of technologies
References
- Asimov, Isaac, "Asimov's Chronology of Science and Discovery", Harper & Row, 1989. ISBN 0-06-015612-0
- De Bono, Edward, "Eureka! An Illustrated History of Inventions from the Wheel to the Computer", Thames & Hudson, 1974.
- Gowlett, John, "Ascent to Civilization", McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1992. ISBN 0-07-544312-0
- Platt, Richard, "Eureka!: Great Inventions and How They Happened", 2003.