-
Revolver, Samuel Colt
Born in Connecticut, Samuel Colt was the inventor of the revolver, a gun that can be fired more than once without the need to reload. Revolver sales were very slow until the start of the Mexican-American War, when the U.S. Government ordered 1000 of the guns. Following the war, Colt opened up the worlds largest privately owned military weapons and equipment factory. Though Colt died in 1862, his company still exists today. -
Sewing Machine, Isaac Singer
Isaac Singer was born in Pittstown, New York. Singer invented the first practical sewing machine, and founded the first multinational company. His invention (the sewing machine) was directed at housewives. The sewing machine increased productivity, improving stitches per minute from 40 to 900. Early on, these sewing machines were expensive, but quickly became affordable as Singer began to mass-produce them. Sewing machines were a worldwide hit, and Singer died a wealthy man. -
Elevator (with brakes), Elisha Graves Otis
Elisha Graves Otis was an inventor/innovator from a young age. He had an interest in tools and preferred working with them to working on his father's farm in Halifax, Vermont. Otis invented the elevator, a hoist system used for getting people and object from one elevation to another. Variations of the elevator have existed since the time of the ancient Romans, but Otis made the first safe elevator. Otis's elevators became essential to the building of skyscrapers, a common sight in today's world. -
Manned Glider, George Cayley
Sir George Cayley was born in Yorkshire, England, and is considerde one of the most important people in aeronautics history. Cayley was one of the first people to understand the principles and forces of flight, built the first model of an aeroplane, and created (and flew) the first manned glider. Modern aeronautical designs are based off of Cayley's discoveries. Cayley also served as a member of Parliament for three years. -
Bessemer Process, Henry Bessemer
Henry Bessemer was born in Hertfordshire, England. He was an engineer, businessman, and an inventor. Bessemer is most well known for his Bessemer Process, used in manufacturing steel. No one was interested in using his method, so he got into the steel business and used it himself. Gradually, the profits became enormous and competition took notice of him and began to use his method. Bessemer had created this process in order to create steel for little cost, which worked out in his favor. -
Bicycle, Pierre Michaux
Pierre Michaux, the inventor of the first pedal driven bicycle, was born in France. Michaux's bicycle company was the first company to produce bikes on a large scale. Though many worked to invent the bicycle, Michaux is given the credit because he progressed the bike to a more modern form by adding the pedals seen on bikes in today's day and age. Bikes continued to become more efficient, lighter-weight, and safer. -
Transatlantic Telegraph completed, Cyrus West Field
"Cyrus West Field, To whose courage, energy and perseverance, the world owes the Atlantic telegraph." Reads Cyrus West Field's epitaph. He was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Field worked on the transatlantic telegraph for 12 years before it was perfected. He encountered many obstacles and upsets along the way, including many snapped cables out at sea. With Field's invention came the fastest communication seen between Europe and America up to that point. -
Dynamite, Alfred Nobel
Alfred Nobel was born in Stockholm, Sweden. His family moved to Russia when he was still a child, and there he got a first class education. At 17, he was sent abroad to train as a chemist. It is during this time that he developed a love for experimenting with the explosive liquid nitroglycerin. Nobel wanted to find a practical use for the liquid, which he later used to create dynamite. Dynamite tremendously reduced common construction costs of blasting, drilling, and clearing out plots of land. -
Barbed Wire, Joseph Glidden
Joseph Glidden was an Illinois farmer, born in New Hampshire. Glidden's invention of barbed wire allowed large-scale farming to occur and provided ranchers with a way to prevent the loss of cattle due to roaming. Barbed wire helped create the Wild West into the breadbasket of America. Glidden died at age 93, as one of the wealthiest people in the nation. -
Telephone, Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell was interested in the concept of “electrical speech”, leading to the invention of the microphone and the creation of the first telephone. The first telephone surprised society because the idea of transporting human voice over a wire was perceived as impossible until then. Bell was born in Scotland and went to school at the University of London. This invention had a significant impact on society because it allowed for oral communication without writing. -
Internal combustion engine, Nikolaus August Otto
Nikolaus Otto was born in western Germany, and grew up on his father's farm. He was a businessman before he worked on engines. Otto improved the internal combustion engine, which now consumed less than half the gas of his competitors design. Otto changed the engine from using natural gas to liquid gasoline, which was an economically smarter idea. -
Refrigerated Train Cars, Gustavus Swift
In 1878, Gustavus Swift hired Andrew Chase, an engineer, to design a refrigerated railroad car. The need for this invention was high since, it was extremely hard to deliver fresh, live, meat to butchers in the Eastern part of the country. The invention of this changed how food, especially meat, was transferred over the United States. Swift was born in Sagamore, Massachusetts and had very little academic motivation, quitting school at an early age, then starting a butchering buisness in 1870. -
Light Bulb and Direct Current, Thomas Edison
Born in Milan, Ohio, self-educated, Thomas Edison invented the Incandescent lightbulb and made discoveries about Direct Current. Direct Current led to the establishment of electric companies, like GE. The lightbulb was not a new idea, but this was the first real successful creation of one. It was very important because it allowed for longer working hours since people could see in the dark and it increased production efficency. Electricity increased all over the world and Edison died wealthy. -
Induction Electric Motor, Nikola Tesla
Born into the Austrian Empire (now Croatia) and partially educated at Austrian Polytechnic and the University of Prague, Nikola Tesla invented the Induction Electric Motor. This motor made unit drives for machines possible and created a high demand for AC (Alternating Electric Current) power transmission. The creation of AC power is very important becaues it powers many household appliances and is used all over the world in industry and maufacturing. -
Diesel Engine, Rudolf Diesel
Rudolf Diesel was born in Paris and educated at Munich Polytechnic and he invented the diesel engine in 1892. The Diesel Engine was one of many engines designed by Rudolf and he was almost killed by an explosion in the development of this engine. The diesel engines of today are improved versions of Rudolf Diesel's original concept. Diesel engines can still be seen in submarines, ships, locomotives, and large trucks and in electric generating plants. -
Alternating Current, George Westinghouse
George Westinghouse introduced AC (alternating current) power as an idea to provide light and power in 1893. He created Westinghouse Electric Company and in just 10 years he had over 50,000 men employed. Westinghouse used Tesla's idea to improve on the AC Power concept. AC Power was used to power many things, especially involving industry and businesses. Westinghouse was born in New York and briefly attended Union College, but lost intrest and dropped out after one term. -
Motion Picture, Lumiere Brothers
The first motion picture was seen after invention from Auguste and Louis Lumiere in 1895. Both of the Lumiere brothers were born in France and recieved an education from La Martiniere technical school. They invented and patented many ideas pertaining to this film camera, and then they began playing around with the projection of moving pictures, until they completed their first movie.This advancement of technology led to the creation of videocameras and more advanced movies. -
First Successful Airplane, Wright Brothers
Wilbur and Orville Wright had their first success in an airplane in 1903 in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. The brothers were born in Ohio and Indiana. Neither recieved a high school diploma because they dropped out too soon. After many years of construction and attempts, the boys finally were lifted into the air on the Wright Flyer 1, a glider. Though many at the time were doubtful of the legitamacy of this invention, it increased curiosity of aeronautics in people around the world. -
Model T, Henry Ford
While Henry Ford did not invent the automobile, he can take credits for it’s major decrease in cost and the efficiency in production because of his 1908 Model T car. These cars were produced on an assembly line and soon after, they became a necessity for Americans of the time. This impacted the world because the high demand of the car since the cost was much lower than what was previously seen. Ford was born in Michiagain and was educated through the Detroit Buisness Institute.
