Project: «Famous inrentions»

Many inventions are really progressive developments, with no one person fully responsible. In many cases it is hard to pin-point the exact date and person responsible for the invention. Often many people are involved, with some basic models being improved on and turned into workable models.

Aluminium Aluminium. (1880s) Aluminium is one of the most abundant metals. But, it was only in the 1880s that production processes were invented which enabled aluminium to be produced cheaply. Carl Wilhelm Siemens (US) developed a smelter to produce Aluminium from Bauxite ore in 1886. Aluminium is used extensively in building and aeroplane manufacture.

Air plane Air plane / aviation (1903) The first powered, heavier than air flight was undertaken by Orville Wright on December 17, 1903. The first aeroplane was made of wood. By 1909, they made a demonstration of flight around the Hudson River in New York. Aeroplane technology rapidly improved, and they were used for military means in the First World War.

Antiseptics Antiseptics (1850) Dr Semmelweis a Hungarian physician was the first prominent doctor to make a strong link between the use of antiseptics and improving survival rates from women giving birth. His work was taken up by others, such as Joseph Lister who became a pioneer of antiseptic surgery.

Atomic Bomb Atomic Bomb (1939-1945) Between this period a team of scientists developed the first atomic bomb as part of the Manhattan project. Chief of the project was Robert Oppenheimer. Albert Einstein’s letter in 1939 warning that the Nazi’s were developing a bomb, were important in creating impetus for the project

Ball point pen Ball point pen (1938) László Bíró, a Hungarian newspaper editor developed a more suitable ink and ball socket mechanism to prevent ink drying. He filed his first patent in 1938 for a ball point pen in Argentina. After the war, varieties of the ball point pen became commercially 

Bicycle Bicycle (1839) Kirkpatrick MacMillan, a Scottish blacksmith his said to have developed the first two wheeled pedal powered bicycle. In the 1860s, the Michaux or ‘boneshaker’ improved on this design and started in a boom in bicycle use.

Camera Camera (1839) Louis Daguerre a French innovator spent many years developing the process of photography. In 1839, he made the first camera which enable a permanent photograph to be taken. In 1889, George Eastman invented the flexible role of film which enabled photography to be much more practical.

Computer Computer (1940-45) Charles Babbage was considered the father of computers for his work on mechanical computation devices. But, it was only in the 1940s that the first electronic computers were produced. For example, Howard Aiken & Grace Hopper developed the Harvard Mark I computer in 1944.

Electricity Electricity (1832) Michael Faraday (England) and Joseph Henry (US) both built models of electricity generators. Nikola Tesla developed the first AC electricity generator in 1892

Email Email (1971) Ray Tomlinson (US) developed the first electronic communication message. The email was sent between two computers on the same network.

Internet  Internet (1982) The first internet protocol was established in 1982. In 1995, the internet was de commercialised. In 1990, Tim Berners- Leedeveloped the World Wide Web the first internet web browser.

Motor car Motor car (1886) Carl Benz (Germany) is credited with the first patent for the modern motor car with a petrol combustion engine. Many similar designs were developed around the same time.

Plastic Plastic (1862) Alexander Parkes (England) Parkes demonstrated a plastic which was made from heated cellulose and moulded into a shape. Other important developments include 1908 – Cellophane – Jacques E. Brandenberger

Refrigerators Refrigerators (1748) -William Cullen (Scotland) Cullen displayed the first successful refrigeration at the University of Glasgow. Fridges use rapid cooling of gases as the main source of their artificial cooling effect. In 1805 Oliver Evans (US) invented the first refrigerator machine.