Inventions
A list detailing well known inventions and discoveries in common use, and the creative thinking inventor responsible for inventing such important devices. The year each invention was invented is also listed which is either the year in which the item was patented or was publicly displayed without a patent.
| Invention | Inventor | Invented |
|---|---|---|
| A/C current | Charles Proteus Steinmetz | 1895 |
| Adhesive tape | Richard Drew - 3M | 1930 |
| Aeroplane | Wilbur and Orville Wright | 1903 |
| Aerosols | Erik Rotheim | 1927 |
| Air Conditioning | Willis Haviland | 1902 |
| Airship | Henri Giffard | 1852 |
| Anemometer | Leon Battista Alberti | 1450 |
| Antibiotics - Penicillin | Alexander Fleming | 1928 |
| Aqualung | Jacques Cousteau | 1943 |
| ATM | Don Wetzel | 1968 |
| Ball Point pen | Ladislao and Georg Biro | 1938 |
| Balloon | Jacques & Joseph Montgolfier | 1783 |
| Bar Code | Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver | 1952 |
| Barbie Doll | Ruth Handler | 1959 |
| Barometer | Evangelista Torricelli | 1643 |
| Battery | Alessandro Volta | 1799 |
| Bicycle | Kirkpatrick McMillan | 1839 |
| Bicycle (with crank) | Pierre and Ernest Michaux | 1861 |
| Bunsen burner | Robert Wilhelm Bunsen | 1855 |
| Calculator (pocket) | Jack Kilby | 1967 |
| Camera | George Eastmann | 1888 |
| Car | Nicholas Cugnot | 1769 |
| Cinema | Auguste & Louis Lumiere | 1895 |
| Coffee (instant) | Nestle | 1937 |
| Credit Card | Ralph Scheider | 1950 |
| Diesel Engine | Rudolf Diesel | 1892 |
| Elastic | Thomas Hancock | 1820 |
| Escalator | Jesse W Reno | 1892 |
| Fax (photo-electric system) | Dr Arthur Korn | 1902 |
| Fax (concept) | Edouard Belin | 1914 |
| Fountain pen | Lewis Edson Waterman | 1884 |
| Hair dryer (electric) | Alexandre Godefoy | 1890 |
| Helicopter | Paul Cornu | 1907 |
| Hot-air Balloon | Montgolfier brothers | 1783 |
| Hovercraft | Christopher Cockerell | 1955 |
| Ice-cream (dairy mass-produced) | Jacob Fussell | 1851 |
| Ice-cream cone | Italo Marcioni | 1896 |
| Internal combustion engine | Etienne Lenoir | 1862 |
| Iron (electric) | Henry W Seely | 1882 |
| Jeans | Levi Strauss | 1850 |
| Kettle (electric) | Arthur Leslie Large | 1922 |
| Laser | Theodore Maiman | 1960 |
| Lego | Godtfred Kirk Christiansen | 1955 |
| Light Bulb (electric) | Thomas Alva Edison | 1880 |
| Matches (safety) | Gustav Pasch | 1844 |
| Microwave oven | Percy LeBaron Spencer | 1945 |
| Morse code | Samuel Morse | 1838 |
| Motorcycle | Gottleib Daimler | 1885 |
| Oven (electric) | Carpenter Electric Heating Man. Co. | 1891 |
| Pasteurisation | Louis Pasteur | 1862 |
| Penny Farthing | James Starley | 1870 |
| Photograph | Joseph Niepce | 1826 |
| Photographic Film | George Eastman | 1889 |
| Piano (Hammerklavier) | Bartolommeo Cristofori | 1709 |
| Plastic (celluloid) | John Wesley Hyatt | 1869 |
| Potato chips | George Crum | 1853 |
| Printing press (wooden) | Johannes Gutenburg | circa 1450 |
| Railway (first passenger steam) | George Stephenson | 1825 |
| Refrigerator (both inventors at the same time) | James Harrison (Australia) Alexander Catlin Twining (US) | 1850 |
| Rubber (vulcanized) | Charles Goodyear | 1839 |
| Rubicks Cube | Erno Rubik | 1975 |
| Safety belts (car seat belts) | Volvo | 1949 |
| Safety pin | Walter Hunt | 1849 |
| Sewing machine | Barthelemy Thimonnier | 1830 |
| Silicon Chip | Texas Instruments | 1961 |
| Spinning Jenny | James Hargreaves | 1764 |
| Steam locomotive | Richard Trevithick | 1801 |
| Stainless Steel | Henry Brearley | 1913 |
| Sun tan lotion | Eugene Schueller | 1936 |
| Table Tennis | James Gibb | 1890 |
| Telegraph | W.F.Cooke and Charles Wheatstone | 1838 |
| Telephone | Antonio Meucci | 1860 |
| Telescope | Hans Lippershey Galileo Galilei made his own in 1609 | 1608 |
| Television | John Logie Baird | 1926 |
| Thermometer (medical) | Thomas Allbutt | 1867 |
| Toaster | Charles Strite | 1927 |
| Travel Agency | Thomas Cook | 1841 |
| Typewriter | William A Burt | 1829 |
| Typewriter (electric) | Dr Thaddeus Cahill | 1901 |
| Toaster (electric) | Crompton and Co (UK) | 1893 |
| Tyre (pneumatic) | John Dunlop | 1888 |
| Vaccine - Anthrax | Louis Pasteur | 1881 |
| Vaccine - Cholera | Louis Pasteur | 1880 |
| Vaccine - Rabies | Louis Pasteur | 1885 |
| Vaccine - Smallpox | Edward Jenner | 1796 |
| Vacuum Cleaner (electric) | Hurbert Cecil Booth | 1901 |
| Velcro | Georges de Mestral | 1948 |
| Washing machine (electric) | Alva Fisher | 1906 |
| Watch | Peter Henlein | 1509 |
| X-rays | Wilhelm Rontgen | 1895 |
| Zip fastener | Whitcombe L Judson | 1892 |