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Telescope
The first recorded telescope invented was created by Hans Lippershey, and patented in 1608. He was a Dutch eyeglass maker who was able to make a telescope that could magnify things three times. His technique was improved upon by the famous Galileo a few years later. This invention allows us to see across long distances that we cannot normally see with the naked eye, and is still being used and improved upon today. -
Micrometer
William Gascoigne invented the first known version of the micrometer. A micrometer is a gauge used for measuring the distance between small distances, or the thickness of an object placed between its' two faces. Certain variations of the micrometer are still used today to find precise measurements, especially in mechanical engineering. -
Seed Drill
The seed drill was invented by Jethro Tull to be able to plant seeds more efficiently. This is because scattering the seeds by hand wasted lots of seeds. Additionally, the machine had a plow in the front that created the rows and a harrow in the back that covered the seed with soil. Becoming the first agricultural machine with moving parts. -
Mercury Thermometer
Gabriel Fahrenheit invented the first mercury thermometer by devoting his life to the study of physics, and discovered many things about temperature. Such as the freezing and boiling points at which water can remain a liquid. This eventually lead to his creation of the alcohol and mercury thermometer. -
Methane Gas
Alessandro Volta first discovered the existence of methane gas in 1777. He found it burned rather easily, and is used for fuel to make heat and light today. It exists naturally in the atmosphere. It is created by the decomposition of natural materials and is also used today to manufacture organic chemicals. -
Cotton Gin
Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin to speed up the process of removing the seeds from cotton fibers. Not only that but to stop the pain from doing it from hand. This allowed plantation owners to farm more produce. -
Small Pox Vaccine
Edward Jenner discovered a vaccination when he noticed that milk maids had cowpox. He wanted to find a way to heal them and stop new cases; he did. Jenner took fluid from a cowpox blister and scratched it into the skin on the arm of a man without the disease. The man ended up with a place on his arm but did not have the disease. After, doctors in Europe adopted the method and had a decline in new cases of small pox. -
1st Electric Battery
Alessandro Volta invented the electric battery called Voltaic Pile to provide continuous electric currents to a circuit without interruption.It had a few flaws but was still more reliable than Leyden jars. -
Steel Plow
The steel plow was created by John Deere to improve the wooden plow. Since he saw that the wood plow would break while trying to break up the soil, he started working with steel and found that it was the perfect thing to replace the wood. Deere found ways to improve farm machinery ,even today in this year. -
Dynamite
Alfred Nobel was a Swedish chemist, engineer, and industrialist and has also founded the Nobel Prizes. Nobel has always been intrigued by explosives and learned aspects of engineering from his father from a very young age. Nobel was able to invent the practical detonator which was a simple metal container the nitroglycerin was held in. -
4-Wheeled Motor Vehicle
Gottlieb Daimler was a German mechanical engineer and built the world's first four-wheeled motor vehicle. Daimler. Both Daimler and Maybach patented the very first high-speed internal-combustion engines, they also created a carburetor that was fueled by gasoline. Eventually they tested their engines on bicycles and carriages, to conclude with the invention of the first four-wheeled carriage driven by a one-cylinder engine. -
Seatbelts
George Cayley first invented the seat belts to keep pilots inside their gliders. Then later, people started testing and improving seat belts to use in vehicles. Modern seat belts are what save the driver and passengers in car wrecks and crashes. -
Radio Receiver
Gugliemo Marconi experimented with electromagnetic waves, attempting to send signals. A telegraph wire was used to send messages through Morse code over long distances during this time, but Marconi discovered a way to send signals miles away using no wires Marconi was able to send the very first radio signal all the way across the Atlantic Ocean which a wireless receiver was awaiting the signal in Canada. -
Robot
The first robot built. A playwright by Karel Capek is the first recorded use of the word "Robot." Capek invented the word off the Czech word for "forced labor." The robots in the play were not mechanical or metal, rather they were shaped out of chemical batter and looked identical to humans. -
Radar
The first practical version of radar was invented in 1935 by Sir Robert Watson-Watt. It was especially useful in WW2, and helped soldiers detect approaching ships, airplanes, etc. This was a huge advancement since it worked as sort of an early-warning system, and gave the side using it an advantage--they could tell when something or someone was incoming faster than before. This contributed to the wins of many battles that might not have been won without radar during WW2. -
Atomic Bomb
In 1941 President Theodore Roosevelt agreed to allow European scientists Albert Einstein, and Enrico Fermi to design and build the Atomic bomb. Research was conducted all over the U.S. with many scientists and employed more than 120,000 Americans to help develop the worlds first atomic bomb. It caused a blinding flash reaching 200 miles away, a mushroom cloud reaching 40,000 feet, and shattering civilian windows for up to 100 miles within its radius. -
Ultrasound
The ultrasound was invented by Obstetrician Ian Donald and engineer Tom Brown primarily for clinical use to look inside the body with sonic waves but by the end of the 20th century, the ultrasound was used in maternity clinics. -
3-D Printer
The first 3-D printer was invented by Chuck Hall. With the 3-D printer, you could make anything from toys, tools, musical instruments and even body parts. This revolutionized the way we produced entire objects and parts in the last few years. -
Camera Phone
On June 11th, 1997 Philippe Kahn sat while his wife was in labor with his daughter. He was putting things together like wires and found a way to make the first camera phone. He ran up the stairs with the phone as soon as his daughter was being born. He then took his daughter in his arms and took a picture. -
Youtube
Jawed Karim, Steve Chen, and Chad Hurley created the video sharing platform called YouTube. This all started when one of them couldn't find the video of Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction at the Superbowl anywhere on the internet. They wanted to make a video sharing website. YouTube started out as a video dating website but advanced into a platform for anyone to share videos, help grow people's businesses, and let people express themselves.