Great human inventions by country and chronological order
Inventions by country
Europe
Rest of the world
United Kingdom
Magazine
Refrigerator
Steam engine
Gas turbine
Light bulb
Locomotive
Railway
Lawn mower
Gas stove/cooker
Negative & colour photography
Metro/Subway
Radio waves
Loudspeaker
Jet engine
Video Games
France
Adding machine
Pressure cooker
Hot air balloon
Parachute
Submarine
Ambulance service
Photography
Airship
Animation
Cinema
Italy
Glasses
Viol and cello
Mechanical clock
Violin
Thermometer
Barometer
Piano
Telephone
Switerland
Comic strips
Wrist watch
Belgium
Newspaper
Saxophone
Netherlands
Microscope
Telescope
Pendulum clock
Mercury thermometer
Audio tape
Video tape
CD
CD-ROM
Germany
Newspaper
Clarinet
Pocket watch
Automated calculator
Light bulb
Microphone
TV
Petrol/gasoline & Diesel engines
Automobile (+engine, differential gear...)
Motorcycle
Jet engine
LCD screen
Walkman
Sweden
Astronomical lenses
Dynamite
Czech Republic
Soft contact lenses
Serbia
Remote control
Russia
Tube TV
Helicopter
USA
Steam boat
Submarine
Refrigerator
Telegraph
Tramway
Dishwasher
Regrigerator
Vacuum cleaner
Radio transmission
Phonograph
Cash register
Zipper
Electric stove/cooker
Electronic TV & TV Broadcast
Microwave oven
Atomic clock
Charge/credit card
Electronic calculator
Video games
Laserdisk
Photocopier
Air Conditioner
Tractor
Traffic lights
Parking meter
Canada
Quartz watch
Japan
CD-ROM
MD
Inventions by chronological order
Glasses (1280's, Italy)
Mechanical clock (1335, Italy)
Viol (viola da gamba) and Cello (late 15th and 16th century, Italy)
Pocket watch (1510, Germany)
Invented by Peter Henlein.
Violin (Early 16th century, Italy)
Thermometer (1593-1714)
1593 : Invented by Galileo (Italy)
1714 : Mercury thermometer invented by Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (Poland/Netherlands)
Invented by Galileo Galilei.
Microscope (1595, Netherlands)
Invented by Zacharias Janssen.
Telescope
late 11th century : astronomical lenses (Sweden)
13th century : experimental telescopes built by Francis Bacon (UK)
1595/1608 : refracting telescope (Netherlands)
1609 : improved by Galileo (Italy)
Newspaper (1605, Belgium/France/Germany)
The world's first printed newspapers were the Relation aller fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien published in Strasbourg (Germany at the time, now France), and the Nieuwe Tijdingen, published the same year in Antwerp (part of the Spanish Netherlands at the time, now Belgium).
Calculator (1623-1954)
1623 : automatic calculator invented by Wilhelm Schickard (Germany)
1642 : adding machine invented by Blaise Pascal (France)
1954 : electronic calculator invented by IBM (USA)
Barometer (1643, Italy)
Invented by Evangelista Torricelli.
Daily newspaper (1645, Germany)
The Einkommende Zeitungen in Lepizing.
Pendulum clock (1657, Netherlands)
Invented by Christiaan Huygens.
Pressure cooker (1679, France)
Invented by Denis Papin.
Clarinet (1690, Germany)
Invented by Johann Christoph Denner.
Steam engine (1698, UK)
Invented by Thomas Savery in 1698, and improved by James Watt in 1769.
Piano (early 1700's, Italy)
Invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori in Florence.
Magazine (England, 1731)
The Gentleman's Magazine was the world's first general-interest magazine.
Refrigerator (1748-1856, Scotland/USA)
first known method of artificial refrigeration was demonstrated by William Cullen (Scotland) in 1748.
first refrigerator invented in 1805 by Oliver Evans (USA).
first patent for a vapor-compression refrigeration system granted to Jacob Perkins (USA) in 1834.
first system for refrigerating water to produce ice developed by John Gorrie (Scotland-USA) in 1842.
first commercial vapor-compression refrigerator developed by Alexander Twining (USA) in 1848 and commercialised in 1856.
Hot air balloon (France, 1782-83)
Invented by the brothers Josef and Etienne Montgolfier.
Parachute (1785, France)
Invented by Jean Pierre Blanchard
Steam boat (1786, USA)
First built by John Fitch.
Engine (1791-1939)
1791 : Gas turbine patented by John Barber (England).
1826 : Reciprocating internal combustion engine patented by Samuel Morey (USA)
1867 : Petrol engine developed by Nikolaus Otto (Germany)
1892 : Diesel engine invented by Rudolph Diesel (Germany)
1924-57 : Rotary engine developed by Felix Wankel (Germany)
1936-39 : Jet engine developed simultaneously by Frank Whittle (England) and Hans von Ohain (Germany).
Submarine (1800, USA/France)
Invented by American Robert Fulton commissioned by Napoleon. First launched in France.
Ambulance service (early 1800's, France)
Modern method of army surgery, field hospitals and the system of army ambulance corps invented by Dominique Jean Larrey, surgeon-in-chief of the Napoleonic armies.
Locomotive (1804, UK)
Invented by Richard Trevithick. First Steam Locomotive invented by George Stephenson in 1814.
Railway (1820, UK)
The idea of the railway dates back to Roman times, 2000 years ago, when horse-drawn vehicles were set on cut-stone tracks. In 1802, the first modern horse-drawn train appeared in England, and the first steam powered train was however launched in 1820, also in England.
Comic strips (1820's, Switzerland)
Swiss Rodolphe Toepffer was probably the first modern cartoonist.
Photography (1825-1861)
First photograph => 1825, France
Silver photo => 1840, France
Negative => 1840, UK
Colour photography => 1861 by James Clerk Maxwell (Scotland)
Gas stove/cooker (1826, England)
First patented and manufactured by James Sharp.
Lawn mower (1827, England)
Invented by Edwin Beard Budding.
Tramway (1828-1880)
first horse-drawn carriage on rail in 1828 in Baltimore, USA.
first cable-car in 1868 in New York.
first steam-powered tram in 1873
first electric tram in 1880 in St. Petersburg, Russia, and in 1881 in Berlin, Germany.
Light bulb (1835, UK/Germany)
first Incandescent light bulb invented by James Bowman Lindsay (UK) in 1835.
first practical light bulb invented in 1854 by Heinrich Goebel (Germany).
Saxophone (1840's, Belgium)
Invented by Adolphe Sax.
Telegraph (1844, USA)
Invented by Samuel Morse
Telephone (1849, Italy)
The invention of the telephone has long been credited to the Scot Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. However, the Italian Antonio Meucci is now recognised to have invented the device as early as 1849.
Dishwasher (1850-1886, USA)
Steam-powered airship (1852, France)
Invented by Henri Giffard.
Metro/Subway (1863, Britain)
The London Underground was the first rapid transit network in the world.
Vacuum cleaner (1865, USA)
Dynamite (1866, Sweden)
Invented by Alfred Nobel.
Wrist watch (1868, Switzerland => Patek Philippe & Co.)
Radio (1874-96)
Radio waves => 1874, Scotland
Radio Transmission => 1893-96, USA
Loudspeaker (1876, Scotland)
Invented by Alexander Graham Bell.
Phonograph (1877, USA)
Invented by Thomas Alva Edison, although based on France-born Leon Scott's 1857 phonautograph.
Microphone (1877, Germany)
Invented by Emil Berliner.
Cash register (1879, USA)
Invented by James Ritty.
Television (1884-1927)
First TV => 1884, Germany
TV tube => 1907, Russia
Electronic TV & Broadcast => 1927, USA
Motorcycle (1885, Germany)
First designed and built by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach
Car/Automobile (1886, Germany)
Developed independently and simultaneously by Carl Benz in Mannheim, amd Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in Stuttgart.
Zipper (1891, USA)
Invented by Whitcomb L. Judson.
Animation (1892, France)
First animated film created by Emile Reynaud.
Tractor (1892, USA)
first practical gasoline-powered tractor built by John Froelich in 1892.
irst practical caterpillar tracks for use in tractors developed by Benjamin Holt in 1904.
Cinema (1894, France)
Cinematograph invented by the Lumiere brothers.
Electric stove/cooker (1896, USA)
First patented by William S. Hadaway.
Remote control (1898, Serbia)
First developed in 1893 by Nikola Tesla.
Air Conditioner (1902, USA)
Invented by Willis Carrier.
Traffic lights (1914, USA)
Parking meter (1935, USA)
Helicopter (1939, Russia)
Developed by Igor Sikorsky
Microwave oven (1947, USA)
Invented by Percy Spencer.
Atomic clock (1949, USA)
Charge/credit card (1950, USA => Diner's Club)
Video Games (1951-58, USA/UK)
Invention disputed between 3 people, 2 Americans and a Briton.
Laserdisk (1958, USA; commercialised by MCA and Philips in 1972)
Photocopier (1959, USA => Xerox)
Soft contact lenses (1961, Czech)
Invented by Otto Wichterle.
Cassette tape (1967, Netherlands => Philips)
LCD screen (1968, Germany)
Quartz watch (1969, Japan => Seiko)
Video tape (1972, Netherlands - Philips, later replaced by JVC's VHS)
Walkman (1977, Germany => commercialised by the Japanese Sony from 1979)
Compact Disk (1982, Netherlands/Germany - Philips)
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