A list of famous inventions and the person who invented them

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 currentCharles Proteus Steinmetz1895
Adhesive tapeRichard Drew - 3M1930
Aeroplane Wilbur and Orville Wright1903
AerosolsErik Rotheim1927
Air ConditioningWillis Haviland1902
AirshipHenri Giffard1852
AnemometerLeon Battista Alberti1450
Antibiotics - PenicillinAlexander Fleming1928
AqualungJacques Cousteau1943
ATMDon Wetzel1968
Ball Point penLadislao and Georg Biro1938
BalloonJacques & Joseph Montgolfier1783
Bar CodeJoseph Woodland and Bernard Silver1952
Barbie DollRuth Handler1959
BarometerEvangelista Torricelli1643
BatteryAlessandro Volta1799
BicycleKirkpatrick McMillan1839
Bicycle (with crank)Pierre and Ernest Michaux1861
Bunsen burnerRobert Wilhelm Bunsen1855
Calculator (pocket)Jack Kilby1967
CameraGeorge Eastmann1888
CarNicholas Cugnot1769
CinemaAuguste & Louis Lumiere1895
Coffee (instant)Nestle1937
Credit CardRalph Scheider1950
Diesel EngineRudolf Diesel1892
ElasticThomas Hancock1820
EscalatorJesse W Reno1892
Fax (photo-electric system)Dr Arthur Korn1902
Fax (concept)Edouard Belin1914
Fountain penLewis Edson Waterman1884
Hair dryer (electric)Alexandre Godefoy1890
HelicopterPaul Cornu1907
Hot-air BalloonMontgolfier brothers1783
HovercraftChristopher Cockerell1955
Ice-cream (dairy mass-produced)Jacob Fussell1851
Ice-cream coneItalo Marcioni1896
Internal combustion engineEtienne Lenoir1862
Iron (electric)Henry W Seely1882
JeansLevi Strauss1850
Kettle (electric)Arthur Leslie Large1922
LaserTheodore Maiman1960
LegoGodtfred Kirk Christiansen1955
Light Bulb (electric)Thomas Alva Edison1880
Matches (safety)Gustav Pasch1844
Microwave ovenPercy LeBaron Spencer1945
Morse codeSamuel Morse1838
MotorcycleGottleib Daimler1885
Oven (electric)Carpenter Electric Heating Man. Co.1891
PasteurisationLouis Pasteur1862
Penny FarthingJames Starley1870
PhotographJoseph Niepce1826
Photographic FilmGeorge Eastman1889
Piano (Hammerklavier)Bartolommeo Cristofori1709
Plastic (celluloid)John Wesley Hyatt1869
Potato chipsGeorge Crum1853
Printing press (wooden)Johannes Gutenburgcirca 1450
Railway (first passenger steam)George Stephenson1825
Refrigerator
(both inventors at the same time)
James Harrison (Australia)
Alexander Catlin Twining (US)
1850
Rubber (vulcanized)Charles Goodyear1839
Rubicks CubeErno Rubik1975
Safety belts (car seat belts)Volvo1949
Safety pinWalter Hunt1849
Sewing machineBarthelemy Thimonnier1830
Silicon ChipTexas Instruments1961
Spinning JennyJames Hargreaves1764
Steam locomotiveRichard Trevithick1801
Stainless SteelHenry Brearley1913
Sun tan lotionEugene Schueller1936
Table TennisJames Gibb1890
TelegraphW.F.Cooke and Charles Wheatstone1838
TelephoneAntonio Meucci1860
TelescopeHans Lippershey
Galileo Galilei made his own in 1609
1608
TelevisionJohn Logie Baird1926
Thermometer (medical)Thomas Allbutt1867
ToasterCharles Strite1927
Travel AgencyThomas Cook1841
TypewriterWilliam A Burt1829
Typewriter (electric)Dr Thaddeus Cahill1901
Toaster (electric)Crompton and Co (UK)1893
Tyre (pneumatic)John Dunlop1888
Vaccine - AnthraxLouis Pasteur1881
Vaccine - CholeraLouis Pasteur1880
Vaccine - RabiesLouis Pasteur1885
Vaccine - SmallpoxEdward Jenner1796
Vacuum Cleaner (electric)Hurbert Cecil Booth1901
VelcroGeorges de Mestral1948
Washing machine (electric)Alva Fisher1906
WatchPeter Henlein1509
X-raysWilhelm Rontgen1895
Zip fastenerWhitcombe L Judson1892

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