Encyclopædia Britannica's Great Inventions
From the
Encyclopædia Britannica Almanac
2003
INVENTION
|
YEAR
|
INVENTOR
|
COUNTRY
|
aerosol can
|
1926
|
Erik Rotheim
|
Norway
|
air conditioning
|
1902
|
Willis Haviland Carrier
|
US
|
airbag, automotive
|
1952
|
John Hetrick
|
US
|
airplane, engine-powered
|
1903
|
Wilbur & Orville Wright
|
US
|
airship
|
1852
|
Henri Giffard
|
France
|
alphabet
|
c. 1700–1500 BC
|
Semitic-speaking peoples
|
eastern coast of Mediterranean Sea
|
American Sign Language
|
1817
|
Thomas H. Gallaudet
|
US
|
animation, motion-picture
|
1906
|
J. Stuart Blackton
|
US
|
answering machine, telephone
|
1898
|
Valdemar Poulsen
|
Denmark
|
aspartame
|
1965
|
James Schlatter
|
US
|
aspirin
|
1897
|
Felix Hoffmann (Bayer)
|
Germany
|
assembly line
|
1913
|
Henry Ford
|
US
|
astrolabe
|
c. 2nd century
|
—
|
—
|
AstroTurf
|
1965
|
James M. Faria, Robert T. Wright
|
US
|
audiotape
|
1928
|
Fritz Pfleumer
|
Germany
|
automated teller machine (ATM)
|
1968
|
Don Wetzel
|
US
|
automobile
|
1889
|
Gottlieb Daimler
|
Germany
|
baby food, prepared
|
1927
|
Dorothy Gerber
|
US
|
bag, flat-bottomed paper
|
1870
|
Margaret Knight
|
US
|
Bakelite
|
1907
|
Leo Hendrik Baekeland
|
US
|
ball bearing
|
1794
|
Philip Vaughan
|
England
|
balloon, hot-air
|
1783
|
Joseph & Étienne Montgolfier
|
France
|
bandage, adhesive
|
1921
|
Earle Dickson
|
US
|
bar code
|
1952
|
Joseph Woodland
|
US
|
barbed wire
|
1874
|
Joseph Glidden
|
US
|
barometer
|
1643
|
Evangelista Torricelli
|
Italy
|
battery, electric storage
|
1800
|
Alessandro Volta
|
Italy
|
beer
|
before 6000 BC
|
Sumerians, Babylonians
|
Mesopotamia
|
bicycle
|
1818
|
Baron Karl de Drais de Sauerbrun
|
Germany
|
bifocal lens
|
1784
|
Benjamin Franklin
|
US
|
bikini
|
1946
|
Louis Réard
|
France
|
blood bank
|
late 1930s
|
Charles Richard Drew
|
US
|
blow-dryer
|
1920
|
Racine Universal Motor Co., Hamilton Beach Manufacturing Co.
|
US
|
bomb, atomic
|
1945
|
J. Robert Oppenheimer, et al.
|
US
|
bomb, thermonuclear (hydrogen)
|
1952
|
Edward Teller, et al.
|
US
|
boomerang
|
c. 15,000 years ago
|
Aboriginal peoples
|
Australia
|
Braille system
|
1824
|
Louis Braille
|
France
|
brassiere (bra)
|
1913
|
Mary Phelps Jacob
|
US
|
bread, sliced (bread-slicing machine)
|
1928
|
Otto Frederick Rohwedder
|
US
|
button
|
c. 700 BC
|
Greeks, Etruscans
|
Greece, Italy
|
buttonhole
|
13th century
|
—
|
Europe
|
calculator, electronic hand-held
|
1967
|
Jack S. Kilby
|
US
|
calculus
|
1680s
|
Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (invented separately)
|
England and Germany (respectively)
|
calendar, modern (Gregorian)
|
1582
|
Pope Gregory XIII
|
Italy
|
camcorder
|
1982
|
Sony Corp.
|
Japan
|
camera, motion picture
|
1891
|
Thomas Alva Edison, William K.L. Dickson
|
US
|
camera, portable photographic
|
1888
|
George Eastman
|
US
|
can, metal beverage
|
1933
|
American Can Co.
|
US
|
can opener
|
1858
|
Ezra J. Warner
|
US
|
candle
|
c. 3000 BC
|
—
|
Egypt, Crete
|
canning, food
|
1809
|
Nicolas Appert
|
France
|
carbon-14 dating
|
1946
|
Willard F. Libby
|
US
|
cardboard, corrugated
|
1871
|
Albert Jones
|
US
|
cards, playing
|
c. 10th century
|
—
|
China
|
cash register
|
1879
|
James Ritty
|
US
|
cat litter
|
1947
|
Edward Lowe
|
US
|
catalog, mail-order
|
1872
|
Aaron Montgomery Ward
|
US
|
cellophane
|
1911
|
Jacques E. Brandenberger
|
Switzerland
|
celluloid
|
1869
|
John Wesley Hyatt
|
US
|
cement, portland
|
1824
|
Joseph Aspdin
|
England
|
cereal flakes, breakfast
|
1894
|
John Harvey Kellogg
|
US
|
chewing gum (modern)
|
c. 1870
|
Thomas Adams
|
US
|
chocolate
|
c. 3rd–10th century
|
Maya, Aztecs
|
Central America, Mexico
|
chronometer
|
1762
|
John Harrison
|
England
|
clock, pendulum
|
1656
|
Christiaan Huygens
|
The Netherlands
|
clock, quartz
|
1927
|
Warren A. Marrison
|
Canada/US
|
cloning, animal
|
1970
|
John B. Gurdon
|
UK
|
coffee, drip
|
1908
|
Melitta Bentz
|
Germany
|
coffee, decaffeinated
|
1905
|
Ludwig Roselius
|
Germany
|
coins
|
c. 650 BC
|
Lydians
|
Turkey
|
compact disc (CD)
|
1980
|
Philips Electronics, Sony Corp.
|
The Netherlands, Japan
|
compass, magnetic
|
c. 12th century
|
—
|
China, Europe
|
computed tomography (CT scan, CAT scan)
|
1972
|
Godfrey Hounsfield, Allan Cormack
|
UK, US
|
computer, electronic digital
|
1939
|
John V. Atanasoff, Clifford E. Berry
|
US
|
computer, laptop
|
1983
|
Radio Shack Corp.
|
US
|
computer, personal
|
1974
|
MITS (Micro Instrumentation Telemetry Systems)
|
US
|
concrete, reinforced
|
1867
|
Joseph Monier
|
France
|
condom, latex
|
c. 1930
|
—
|
—
|
contact lenses
|
1887
|
Adolf Fick
|
Germany
|
contraceptives, oral
|
early 1950s
|
Gregory Pincus, John Rock, Min Chueh Chang
|
US
|
corn, hybrid
|
1917
|
Donald F. Jones
|
US
|
correction fluid, white
|
1951
|
Bette Nesmith
|
US
|
cotton gin
|
1793
|
Eli Whitney
|
US
|
coupon, grocery
|
1894
|
Asa Candler
|
US
|
crayons, children's wax
|
1903
|
Edwin Binney, C. Harold Smith
|
US
|
cream separator (dairy processing)
|
1878
|
Carl Gustaf Patrik de Laval
|
Sweden
|
credit card
|
1950
|
Frank McNamara, Ralph Schneider (Diners' Club)
|
US
|
crossword puzzles
|
1913
|
Arthur Wynne
|
US
|
DDT
|
1874
|
Othmar Zeidler
|
Germany
|
defibrillator
|
1952
|
Paul M. Zoll
|
US
|
dentures
|
c. 700 BC
|
Etruscans
|
Italy
|
detector, metal
|
late 1920s
|
Gerhard Fisher
|
Germany/US
|
detector, home smoke
|
1969
|
Randolph Smith, Kenneth House
|
US
|
diamond, artificial
|
1955
|
General Electric Co.
|
US
|
diapers, disposable
|
1950
|
Marion Donovan
|
US
|
digital videodisc (DVD)
|
1995
|
consortium of international electronics companies
|
Japan, US, The Netherlands
|
dishwasher
|
1886
|
Josephine Cochrane
|
US
|
DNA fingerprinting
|
1984
|
Alec Jeffreys
|
UK
|
doughnut, ring-shaped
|
1847
|
Hanson Crockett Gregory
|
US
|
door, revolving
|
1888
|
Theophilus von Kannel
|
US
|
drinking fountain
|
c. 1905–1912
|
Luther Haws, Halsey W. Taylor (invented separately)
|
US
|
dry cleaning
|
1855
|
Jean Baptiste Jolly
|
France
|
dynamite
|
1867
|
Alfred Nobel
|
Sweden
|
elastic, fabric
|
c. 1830
|
Thomas Hancock
|
UK
|
electric chair
|
1888
|
Harold P. Brown, Arthur E. Kennelly
|
US
|
electrocardiogram (ECG, EKG)
|
1903
|
Willem Einthoven
|
The Netherlands
|
electroencephalogram (EEG)
|
1929
|
Hans Berger
|
Germany
|
electronic mail (e-mail)
|
1971
|
Ray Tomlinson
|
US
|
elevator, passenger
|
1852
|
Elisha Graves Otis
|
US
|
encyclopedia
|
c. 4th century BC or 77 AD
|
Speusippus (compliation of Plato's teachings) or Pliny the Elder (comprehensive work)
|
Greece or Rome
|
engine, internal-combustion
|
1859
|
Étienne Lenoir
|
France
|
engine, jet
|
1930
|
Sir Frank Whittle
|
UK
|
engine, liquid-fueled rocket
|
1926
|
Robert H. Goddard
|
US
|
engine, steam
|
1698
|
Thomas Savery
|
England
|
escalator
|
1891
|
Jesse W. Reno
|
US
|
eyeglasses
|
1280s
|
Salvino degli Armati or Alessandro di Spina
|
Italy
|
facsimile (fax)
|
1842
|
Alexander Bain
|
Scotland
|
fiber optics
|
1955
|
Narinder S. Kapany
|
India
|
fiberglass
|
1938
|
Owens Corning (corp.)
|
US
|
film, photographic
|
1884
|
George Eastman
|
US
|
flashlight, battery-operated portable
|
1899
|
Conrad Hubert
|
Russia/US
|
flask, vacuum (Thermos)
|
1892
|
Sir James Dewar
|
Scotland
|
food processor
|
1971
|
Pierre Verdon
|
France
|
foods, freeze-dried
|
1946
|
Earl W. Flosdorf
|
US
|
foods, frozen
|
c. 1924
|
Clarence Birdseye
|
US
|
Fresnel lens
|
1820
|
Augustin-Jean Fresnel
|
France
|
fuel cell
|
1839
|
William R. Grove
|
UK
|
genetic engineering
|
1973
|
Stanley N. Cohen, Herbert W. Boyer
|
US
|
Geiger counter
|
1908
|
Hans Geiger
|
Germany
|
glass
|
c. 2500 BC
|
Egyptians or Phoenicians
|
Egypt or Lebanon
|
glass, safety
|
1909
|
Édouard Bénédictus
|
France
|
greeting card, Christmas
|
1843
|
John Callcott Horsley
|
England
|
guillotine
|
1792
|
Joseph-Ignace Guillotin
|
France
|
guitar, electric
|
1941
|
Les Paul
|
US
|
gunpowder
|
c. 10th century
|
—
|
China or Arabia
|
hanger, wire coat
|
1903
|
Albert J. Parkhouse
|
US
|
helicopter
|
1939
|
Igor Sikorsky
|
Russia/US
|
holography
|
1948
|
Dennis Gabor
|
Hungary
|
hypodermic syringe
|
1853
|
Charles Gabriel Pravaz
|
France
|
in vitro fertilization (IVF), human
|
1978
|
Patrick Steptoe, Robert Edwards
|
UK
|
ink
|
c. 2500 BC
|
—
|
Egypt, China
|
insulin, extraction and preparation of
|
1921
|
Sir Frederick Grant Banting, Charles H. Best
|
Canada
|
integrated circuit
|
1958
|
Jack S. Kilby
|
US
|
Internet
|
1969
|
Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) at the Dept. of Defense
|
US
|
iron, electric
|
1882
|
Henry W. Seely
|
US
|
irradiation, food
|
1905
|
—
|
US/UK
|
jeans
|
1873
|
Levi Strauss, Jacob Davis
|
US
|
JELL-O (gelatin dessert)
|
1897
|
Pearle B. Wait
|
US
|
jukebox
|
1889
|
Louis Glass
|
US
|
Kevlar
|
1965
|
Stephanie Kwolek
|
US
|
Kool-Aid (fruit drink mix)
|
1927
|
Edwin E. Perkins
|
US
|
laser
|
1958
|
Gordon Gould and Charles Hard Townes, Arthur L. Schawlow (invented separately)
|
US
|
laundromat
|
1934
|
J.F. Cantrell
|
US
|
lawn mower, gasoline-powered
|
c. 1940
|
Leonard Goodall
|
US
|
Lego
|
late 1940s
|
Ole Kirk Christiansen
|
Denmark
|
light bulb, incandescent
|
1879
|
Thomas Alva Edison
|
US
|
light bulb, fluorescent
|
1934
|
Arthur Compton
|
US
|
light-emitting diode (LED)
|
1962
|
Nick Holonyak, Jr.
|
US
|
linoleum
|
1860
|
Frederick Walton
|
UK
|
lipstick, tube
|
1915
|
Maurice Levy
|
US
|
liquid crystal display (LCD)
|
1963
|
George Heilmeier
|
US
|
lock and key
|
c. 2000 BC
|
Assyrians
|
Mesopotamia
|
locomotive
|
1829
|
George Stephenson
|
England
|
longbow
|
c. 1000
|
—
|
Wales
|
loudspeaker
|
1924
|
Chester W. Rice, Edward W. Kellogg
|
US
|
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
|
early 1970s
|
Raymond Damadian, Paul Lauterbur
|
US
|
margarine
|
1869
|
Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès
|
France
|
matches, friction
|
1827
|
John Walker
|
England
|
metric system of measurement
|
1795
|
French Academy of Sciences
|
France
|
microphone
|
1878
|
David E. Hughes
|
UK/US
|
microscope, compound optical
|
c. 1600
|
Hans & Zacharias Jansen
|
The Netherlands
|
microscope, electron
|
1933
|
Ernst Ruska
|
Germany
|
microwave oven
|
1945
|
Percy L. Spencer
|
US
|
miniature golf
|
c. 1930
|
Garnet Carter
|
US
|
mirror, glass
|
c. 1200
|
Venetians
|
Italy
|
missile, guided
|
1942
|
Wernher von Braun
|
Germany
|
mobile home
|
1919
|
Glenn H. Curtiss
|
US
|
money, paper
|
late 900s
|
—
|
China
|
Monopoly (board game)
|
1934
|
Charles B. Darrow
|
US
|
Morse code
|
1838
|
Samuel F.B. Morse
|
US
|
motor, electric
|
1834
|
Thomas Davenport
|
US
|
motor, outboard
|
1907
|
Ole Evinrude
|
Norway/US
|
motorcycle
|
1885
|
Gottlieb Daimler, Wilhelm Maybach
|
Germany
|
mouse, computer
|
1963–64
|
Douglas Engelbart
|
US
|
Muzak
|
1922
|
George Owen Squier
|
US
|
nail, construction
|
c. 3300 BC
|
Sumerians
|
Mesopotamia
|
necktie
|
17th century
|
—
|
Croatia
|
neon lighting
|
1910
|
Georges Claude
|
France
|
nuclear reactor
|
1942
|
Enrico Fermi
|
US
|
nylon
|
1937
|
Wallace H. Carothers
|
US
|
oil lamp
|
1784
|
Aimé Argand
|
Switzerland
|
oil well
|
1859
|
Edwin Laurentine Drake
|
US
|
pacemaker, cardiac
|
1952
|
Paul M. Zoll
|
US
|
paper
|
c. 105
|
Ts'ai Lun
|
China
|
paper clip
|
1899
|
Johan Vaaler
|
Norway
|
paper towel
|
1931
|
Arthur Scott
|
US
|
parachute, modern
|
1797
|
André-Jacques Garnerin
|
France
|
parking meter
|
1932
|
Carl C. Magee
|
US
|
particle accelerator
|
1929
|
Sir John Douglas Cockcroft, Ernest Thomas Sinton Walton
|
Ireland/UK
|
pasteurization
|
1864
|
Louis Pasteur
|
France
|
pen, ballpoint
|
1938
|
Lazlo Biro
|
Hungary
|
pencil
|
1565
|
Conrad Gesner
|
Switzerland
|
periodic table
|
1871
|
Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleyev
|
Russia
|
personal watercraft, motorized
|
1968
|
Bombardier, Inc.
|
Canada
|
petroleum jelly
|
1870s
|
Robert Chesebrough
|
US
|
phonograph
|
1877
|
Thomas Alva Edison
|
US
|
photocopying (xerography)
|
1937
|
Chester F. Carlson
|
US
|
photography
|
1837
|
Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre
|
France
|
photography, instant
|
1947
|
Edwin Herbert Land
|
US
|
Play-Doh
|
1956
|
Noah W. & Joseph S. McVicker
|
US
|
plow, steel
|
1836
|
John Deere
|
US
|
pocket watch
|
c. 1500
|
Peter Henlein
|
Germany
|
polyethylene
|
1935
|
Eric Fawcett, Reginald Gibson
|
UK
|
polygraph (lie detector)
|
1921
|
John A. Larson
|
US
|
polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
|
1872
|
Eugen Baumann
|
Germany
|
Post-it Notes
|
mid-1970s
|
Arthur Fry (3M)
|
US
|
potato chips
|
1853
|
George Crum
|
US
|
printing press, movable type
|
c. 1450
|
Johannes Gutenberg
|
Germany
|
Prozac
|
1972
|
Ray W. Fuller, Bryan B. Molloy, David T. Wong
|
US
|
radar
|
c. 1904
|
Christian Hülsmeyer
|
Germany
|
radio
|
1896
|
Guglielmo Marconi
|
Italy
|
radio, car
|
early 1920s
|
William P. Lear
|
US
|
rayon
|
1884
|
Louis-Marie-Hilaire Bernigaud, count of Chardonnet
|
France
|
razor, electric
|
1928
|
Jacob Schick
|
US
|
razor, safety
|
c. 1900
|
King Camp Gillette
|
US
|
reaper, mechanical
|
1831
|
Cyrus Hall McCormick
|
US
|
record, long-playing (LP)
|
1948
|
Peter Carl Goldmark
|
US
|
refrigerator
|
1842
|
John Gorrie
|
US
|
remote control, television
|
1950
|
Robert Adler
|
US
|
respirator
|
c. 1955
|
Forrest M. Bird
|
US
|
revolver
|
1835–36
|
Samuel Colt
|
US
|
Richter scale
|
1935
|
Charles Francis Richter, Beno Gutenberg
|
US
|
rifle, assault
|
1944
|
Hugo Schmeisser
|
Germany
|
roller coaster
|
1884
|
LeMarcus A. Thompson
|
US
|
rubber, vulcanized
|
1839
|
Charles Goodyear
|
US
|
rubber band
|
1845
|
Stephen Perry
|
UK
|
saccharin
|
1879
|
Ira Remsen, Constantin Fahlberg
|
US, Germany
|
saddle
|
c. 200 BC
|
—
|
China
|
safety pin
|
1849
|
Walter Hunt
|
US
|
satellite, successful artificial earth
|
1957
|
Sergey Korolyov, et al.
|
USSR
|
satellite, communications
|
1960
|
John Robinson Pierce
|
US
|
saxophone
|
1846
|
Antoine-Joseph Sax
|
Belgium
|
Scotch tape
|
1930
|
Richard Drew (3M)
|
US
|
scuba gear
|
1943
|
Jacques Cousteau, Émile Gagnan
|
France
|
seat belt, automotive shoulder
|
1959
|
Nils Bohlin (Volvo)
|
Sweden
|
sewing machine
|
1841
|
Barthélemy Thimonnier
|
France
|
shoelaces
|
1790
|
—
|
England
|
silicone
|
1904
|
Frederic Stanley Kipping
|
UK
|
skateboard
|
1958
|
Bill & Mark Richards
|
US
|
skates, ice
|
1000 BC
|
—
|
Scandinavia
|
skates, roller
|
1760s
|
Joseph Merlin
|
Belgium
|
ski, snow
|
c. 2000–3000 BC
|
—
|
Sweden, Finland, Norway
|
skyscraper, steel-frame
|
1884
|
William Le Baron Jenney
|
US
|
slot machine
|
1890s
|
Charles Fey
|
US
|
snowmobile
|
1922
|
Joseph-Armand Bombardier
|
Canada
|
soap
|
600 BC
|
Phoenicians
|
Lebanon
|
soft drinks, carbonated
|
1772
|
Joseph Priestley
|
UK
|
sonar
|
1915
|
Paul Langevin
|
France
|
stamps, postage
|
1840
|
Sir Rowland Hill
|
UK
|
stapler
|
1866
|
George W. McGill
|
US
|
steamboat, successful
|
1807
|
Robert Fulton
|
US
|
steel, mass-production
|
1856
|
Henry Bessemer
|
UK
|
steel, stainless
|
1914
|
Harry Brearley
|
UK
|
stereo, personal
|
1979
|
Sony Corp.
|
Japan
|
stereophonic sound recording
|
1931
|
Alan Dower Blumlein
|
UK
|
stethoscope
|
1819
|
René-Théophile-Hyacinthe Laënnec
|
France
|
stock ticker
|
1867
|
Edward A. Calahan
|
US
|
stove, electric
|
1896
|
William Hadaway
|
US
|
stove, gas
|
1826
|
James Sharp
|
UK
|
straw, drinking
|
1888
|
Marvin Stone
|
US
|
submarine
|
1620
|
Cornelis Drebbel
|
The Netherlands
|
sunglasses
|
1752
|
James Ayscough
|
UK
|
sunscreen
|
1944
|
Benjamin Green
|
US
|
supermarket
|
1930
|
Michael Cullen
|
US
|
synthesizer, music
|
1955
|
Harry Olson, Herbert Belar
|
US
|
synthetic skin
|
1981
|
Ioannis V. Yannas, John F. Burke
|
US
|
tampon, cotton
|
1931
|
Earle Cleveland Haas
|
US
|
tank, military
|
1915
|
Admiralty Landships Committee
|
UK
|
tea bag
|
early 1900s
|
Thomas Sullivan
|
US
|
teddy bear
|
1902
|
Morris Michtom
|
US
|
Teflon
|
1938
|
Roy Plunkett
|
US
|
telegraph
|
1832–35
|
Samuel F.B. Morse
|
US
|
telephone, wired-line
|
1876
|
Alexander Graham Bell
|
Scotland/US
|
telephone, mobile
|
1946
|
Bell Laboratories
|
US
|
telescope, optical
|
1608
|
Hans Lippershey
|
The Netherlands
|
television
|
1923, 1927
|
Vladimir Kosma Zworykin, Philo Taylor Farnsworth
|
Russia/US, US
|
thermometer
|
1592
|
Galileo
|
Italy
|
thermostat
|
1830
|
Andrew Ure
|
UK
|
threshing machine
|
1778
|
Andrew Meikle
|
Scotland
|
tire, pneumatic
|
1888
|
John Boyd Dunlop
|
UK
|
tissue, disposable facial
|
1924
|
Kimberly-Clark Co.
|
US
|
tissue, toilet
|
1857
|
Joseph Gayetty
|
US
|
toaster, electric
|
1893
|
Crompton Co.
|
UK
|
toilet, flush
|
c. 1591
|
Sir John Harington
|
England
|
toothbrush
|
1498
|
—
|
China
|
tractor
|
1892
|
John Froehlich
|
US
|
traffic lights, automatic
|
1923
|
Garrett A. Morgan
|
US
|
transistor
|
1947
|
John Bardeen, Walter H. Brattain, William B. Shockley
|
US
|
typewriter
|
1868
|
Christopher Latham Sholes
|
US
|
ultrasound imaging, obstetric
|
1958
|
Ian Donald
|
UK
|
vaccination
|
1796
|
Edward Jenner
|
England
|
vacuum cleaner, electric
|
1901
|
Herbert Cecil Booth
|
UK
|
Velcro
|
1948
|
George de Mestral
|
Switzerland
|
vending machine
|
c. 100–200 BC
|
—
|
Egypt
|
Viagra
|
1997
|
Pfizer Inc.
|
US
|
video games
|
1972
|
Nolan Bushnell
|
US
|
videocassette recorder
|
1969
|
Sony Corp.
|
Japan
|
videotape
|
1950s
|
Charles Ginsburg
|
US
|
virtual reality
|
1989
|
Jaron Lanier
|
US
|
vision correction, laser
|
1987
|
Stephen Trokel
|
US
|
washing machine, electric
|
1907
|
Alva J. Fisher
|
US
|
wheel
|
about 3500 BC
|
proto-Aryan people or Sumerians
|
Russia/Kazakhstan or Mesopotamia
|
wheelbarrow
|
1st century BC
|
—
|
China
|
wheelchair
|
1590s
|
—
|
Spain
|
windmill
|
644
|
—
|
Persia
|
wine
|
before 4000 BC
|
—
|
Middle East
|
World Wide Web
|
1989
|
Tim Berners-Lee
|
UK
|
wristwatch, digital
|
1970
|
John M. Bergey
|
US
|
X-ray imaging
|
1895
|
Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen
|
Germany
|
Zamboni (ice resurfacing machine)
|
1949
|
Frank J. Zamboni
|
US
|
zipper
|
1893
|
Whitcomb L. Judson
|
US
|
|