The Most Important Inventions in the Last 100 Years That Shaped Our World

The past century has seen an explosion of innovation that has transformed our world in ways we never thought possible. The invention of the internet in the 1980s revolutionized global communication, enabling people to connect with each other instantly.

The microchip, invented in 1959, was a crucial precursor to the internet, allowing for the miniaturization of electronic devices and paving the way for the development of personal computers. Personal computers became widely available in the 1970s, making it possible for people to access information and communicate with others from the comfort of their own homes.

The first mobile phone call was made in 1973, marking the beginning of a new era in wireless communication. This invention has had a profound impact on our daily lives, allowing us to stay connected with others on the go.

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The early days of computing were a far cry from the sleek, user-friendly devices we know today. In 1974, the first personal computer, the Altair 8800, was introduced, and it had to be built from a kit, costing $439 USD.

The Altair 8800 had no monitor, no keyboard, and required programming one binary command at a time using switches on the front. A completed calculation would be displayed using red lights on the front panel.

The Altair's popularity was unexpected, with MITS selling over 5,000 units by August 1975, marking the beginning of the home computing age.

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Computers have revolutionized our lives, making space exploration possible, advancing medical science, and transforming the entertainment industry.

The first computers were created to perform basic mathematical equations, but the first to be patented were ENIAC, designed by Johan Mauchly and Presper Eckert in 1946.

ENIAC was a massive machine, the size of a huge room, and paved the way for the computers we use today.

Without ENIAC, we wouldn't have the games consoles, computer chips, calculators, laptops, or digital cameras that we take for granted.

The concept of Turing completeness, which allows a computer to perform general calculations, was a fundamental step in computing technology.

In 1941, German engineer Konrad Zuse built the first electronic computer to be fully Turing complete, called the Z3.

The Z3 was used during World War II to solve wing flutter problems in German military aircraft.

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The first hard drive was invented by IBM in 1956, a game-changer for computers that had previously relied on punch cards and paper printouts for data storage.

The IBM 350 Disk Storage Unit was massive, measuring 60″ wide, 68″ high, and 29″ deep.

It contained 50 disks, each 24″ in diameter, and was capable of storing 5 million six-bit characters, or approximately 3.75 megabytes.

This was a huge improvement over previous methods and marked the beginning of a new era in computer storage and access.

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Communication has come a long way in the last 100 years, and it's hard to imagine how we managed without some of these game-changing inventions.

The Internet took a major step toward public recognition soon after Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1990, making it easier for people to access and share information.

It actually took the Internet a good 30 years before people started to realize its potential, but once they did, it revolutionized the way we communicate.

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The internet has a fascinating history that spans several decades. In 1969, the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, or ARPANET, was built to serve as a network for Department of Defense computers.

ARPANET was a groundbreaking project that utilized packet-switching technology, which allowed multiple computers to occupy a single line and send electronic data in packets intended for a particular node on a network.

This technology was a fundamental part of building the modern internet, and without it, we'd still be in an age of dedicated one-to-one computer connections. The ARPANET network was the first to use packet-switching, and it paved the way for the development of the internet as we know it today.

In the 1970s, Vint Cerf and Robert E Kahn developed the Internet Protocol Suite, or TCP/IP, which became the standard networking protocol for ARPANET and the modern internet. This innovation enabled the internet to grow and expand beyond its original purpose as a Department of Defense network.

The internet we use today is the result of the work done by pioneers like Cerf and Kahn, who laid the foundation for the global network we rely on for communication.

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The telephone has revolutionized the way we communicate with each other.

Invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876, the telephone allowed people to communicate in real-time over long distances. This innovation changed the way businesses and individuals connected with each other.

The first telephones were connected to telegraph lines, making them a hybrid of two existing technologies. This early combination of technologies paved the way for the development of modern telecommunications.

The first public telephone service was launched in 1877 in Boston, Massachusetts. The first phone call was made by Alexander Graham Bell to his assistant, Thomas Watson, on March 10, 1876.

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The first electronic television was invented by Philo T. Farnsworth in 1927, when he was just 21 years old. This groundbreaking invention paved the way for modern television.

In the world of mobile phones, the first ever mobile phone was demonstrated by Motorola in 1973, but it wasn't available to purchase. It weighed a whopping 2kg and took six more years to hit the market.

The first true smartphone was the IBM Simon, which was released in 1992. It had features like sending and receiving faxes, emails, and cellular pages, as well as a calendar, calculator, and predictive keyboards.

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Ethernet was invented by PARC members including David Boggs and Metcalfe, who connected the Xerox Alto to the world's first laser printer in just one year.

Their invention was a crucial step in optimizing the functionality of the Internet, which was already connected through ARPANET, TCP/IP, and the World Wide Web.

The standardization efforts of Ethernet helped connect the world, playing a key role in the development of the Internet as we know it today.

The first mobile phone was demonstrated by Motorola in 1973, and it weighed a whopping 2kg.

In 1983, the Motorola DynaTAC 8000x was launched, becoming the first commercially available cellular telephone. It was a brick of a cell phone, 13″ tall and weighing nearly two pounds.

The first true smartphone was the IBM Simon Personal Communicator, released in 1992. It had a touchscreen, email, faxes, and apps like a calendar and address book.

The IBM Simon was a capable device, even by today's standards, with an LCD touchscreen and a price tag of $899 at launch. This is roughly equivalent to $1,500 today.

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It's hard to believe that just 15 years ago, many people were still learning how to use a basic mobile phone to send texts. Today, 90% of handsets sold are either Android or Apple.

The first smartphone actively marketed was manufactured in 1999 by Japanese company NTT Docomo, and by 2014, over a billion smartphones were in use.

The transistor radio revolutionized the way we listened to music on the go. It was invented in 1947 at Bell Laboratory, where the first semiconducting transistor was created by John Bardeen, William Shockley, and Walter Brattain.

The first transistor radio, the Regency TR-1, hit store shelves in 1954 and was a huge success, selling over 100,000 units despite its mediocre performance. This was just the beginning of the transistor radio craze.

Over the course of just a decade, between the 1960s and 1970s, billions of transistor radios were manufactured, making it the most widely used electronic communication device in human history.

The microwave oven was an accidental discovery by Percy Spencer in 1945, involving a bar of chocolate that started to melt in his pocket while he was working for Raytheon.

It would often take up to an hour to re-heat a meal before the microwave oven was invented. This was a major time-saver for people.

The first microwave appliances were 1.8m tall, weighed 340kg, and cost around £3,000, which is a staggering amount, especially considering the price of a house at that time.

The microwave oven was patented in 1947, and it was a game-changer for cooking and reheating food.

Flash drives revolutionized the way we store and transport information. In the 1980s and 1990s, floppy discs were the norm, but they had very limited storage capability.

Floppy discs often cluttered desks and drawers as people accumulated more files. This was a major inconvenience.

The invention of the Flash Drive by Toshiba engineer Fujio Masuoka in the early 1980s changed everything. He named it after the speed of a camera flash, which reminded him of how quickly information could be erased.

The first flash drive stick was invented and made available in 2000 with a storage capacity of 8 Megabytes, which was a significant improvement at the time.

The 3D printer has come a long way from its early days as a large and unreliable office machine. It was invented by Chuck Hull in 1986.

3D printing works by adding layers of a chosen textile, such as plastic, to produce a 3D item. This technology is revolutionizing various industries with its endless applications.

In medical environments, 3D printing is helping with reconstructive surgery and other situations. I can imagine how this technology could be a game-changer for medical professionals.

3D printing is also being used in architecture, with plans to build houses in Holland using this technology. This is a fascinating example of how 3D printing can be used to create complex structures.

The uses of 3D printing are growing at a rapid pace, with applications in clothing and even 3D food, like ravioli and chocolate. Who wouldn't want to try 3D-printed chocolate?

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The laser printer has a fascinating history. The original laser printer was developed at Xerox PARC between 1969 and 1971.

Xerox released the "9700 Electronic Printing System" in 1977, which was a major breakthrough in printer technology. It included features like page formatting, character generation, and laser scanning.

IBM was already working on its own laser printer, and in 1976, it installed the first industrial-grade laser printer in an accounting office. This printer could operate at 100 impressions-per-minute.

The HP DeskJet inkjet printer was a game-changer when it was released in 1988. It was manufactured at a relatively low cost, making it a viable home computer peripheral, although it came with a hefty price tag of $1,000.

The Kodak Carousel is a game-changer in the world of projectors. It was first introduced in 1961 and revolutionized the way slides were shown.

The Carousel was the first user-friendly projector, making it accessible to a wider audience. Prior to its invention, projectors relied heavily on mechanical parts.

The Carousel utilized a vertically mounted locking ring to hold the slides, which proved to be a more reliable system than the common horizontal-feed system. This design allowed for smooth and jam-free transitions between slides.

The Carousel's innovative design made it a hit, and it quickly became a staple in many homes and businesses.

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The Kodak Carousel was a game-changer in the world of projectors, introducing a user-friendly design in 1961 that relied on gravity to deliver slides in perfect sequence.

Prior to its invention, projectors used mechanical parts to move slides, which often jammed. The Carousel's vertically mounted locking ring eliminated this problem, making it a simpler yet more effective device.

Videocassette recorders, or VCRs, revolutionized home entertainment in the 1970s. The first VCR, the Philips N1500, was released in 1972, and by 1975, six major companies, including Sony and JVC, dominated the market.

The VCR's impact on the film industry was significant, with some critics, like Jack Valenti, calling it "savagery" for the industry. However, the Supreme Court eventually approved VCRs for home recording purposes in 1984.

Kodak's Instamatic camera made photography more accessible to the masses in the 1960s. Over 50 million Instamatics were sold between 1963 and 1970, making it a cultural phenomenon.

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The Instamatic's closed film cartridge made loading and unloading film easy, and its low price point made photography more affordable for the average person.

The first digital camera was developed in 1975 by Steven Sasson while working for Eastman Kodak. It was initially used in the scientific and military fields, but it wasn't until the 1990s that digital cameras became available to the public.

The development of smartphones with built-in digital cameras in the mid-2000s further democratized photography, making it possible for people to take and share high-quality photos instantly.

The cordless drill revolutionized the way we work with power tools. Black + Decker developed the first line of home power tools, including drills and accessories.

In 1961, Black + Decker released the first cordless power drill, powered by a rechargeable nickel-cadmium battery.

This innovation paved the way for other brands to enter the market, with Milwaukee, Bosch, and Makita introducing their own cordless power tools.

The use of lithium-ion batteries led to significant improvements in cordless power tools, including more voltage and user-friendly chuck designs.

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The microphone was developed in the 19th century for use in the telephone, but its true potential wasn't realized until the 1920s.

Microphones started to be used in recording studios and nightclubs, and by then, the design and electric circuitry had improved significantly.

This improvement made it possible for singers to sound louder and clearer, and it also enhanced the sound of musical instruments.

From 1926 to 1930, microphones underwent a rapid improvement phase, allowing people to enjoy better music than ever before.

The microphone's ability to amplify sound made a huge difference in how music was experienced, and it paved the way for new ways of enjoying music.

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The sewing machine has a fascinating history, and its evolution is closely tied to advancements in technology. A true portable sewing machine was first introduced at the 1933 World's Fair, which later moved to Chicago in 1993.

This portable machine, the Featherweight, was made by Singer Manufacturing Company and weighed a mere 11 pounds due to its small size and aluminum construction. It stayed in production for an impressive 35 years.

From 1933 to 1968, more than three million units of the Featherweight were sold, making it a highly sought-after and practical device for sewists everywhere.

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OLED technology has been around for a while, and it's interesting to note that Kodak was the first company to make and use an OLED-fitted device back in 1987.

The invention of OLED was a result of the work of two Kodak employees, Steven Van Slyke and Ching W. Tang.

One of the key advantages of OLED screens is that they can achieve higher contrast than LCD screens, which is often described as having an infinite contrast ratio in marketing pitches.

This means that OLED screens can display a wider range of colors and deeper blacks, making them a popular choice for devices that require high-quality visuals.

Color TV was a game-changer in the electronics world.

The first commercially viable color TV technology emerged in the 1940s.

RCA later invented the world's first fully electronic color system, which the FCC adopted in 1953.

Flickering was a serious problem with early color TV systems, including CBS' method, which involved using three primary color signals filtered through a spinning wheel.

Color broadcasts didn't become widespread until the 1960s.

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The self-winding mechanical watch is a marvel of engineering, and it all started with the Hardwood system, which unveiled the first known self-winding mechanical watch in 1923.

The mainspring of the Hardwood system could only make 180-degree movements, making it a bit cumbersome.

Rolex improved the idea in 1931 with a unidirectional rotor, but it was still not reliable.

The Eterna Watch, however, was the first reliable self-winding mechanical watch, thanks to the use of heftier rotors and jewel bearings.

The rotor of the Eterna Watch was different from the one suggested by Rolex, and it featured a small piece of engineering called the "ball bearing."

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TCP/IP is a method of packaging, addressing, transmitting, routing, and receiving data across networks.

It was invented in 1973 and would take until 1982 for the US military to adopt it as the standard for all of its computer networks.

The Internet Protocol Suite, commonly known as TCP/IP, was the first to use it, specifically on ARPANET.

TCP/IP allows more packets to move between more machines over a small number of dedicated lines, which was responsible for the rapid growth of ARPANET and the eventual growth of the modern internet.

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Speech recognition technology is now available for cheap, and it probably comes installed on your smartphone. Bell Labs was the first to utilize the technology in 1952, building a single-speaker recognition system by detecting speech sound spectrum frequency.

The capability of the first speech recognition system was limited to recognizing about 10 words.

Gunnar Fant built a speech-recognition model in 1960 that proved useful.

The Dragon Dictate became the first commercially successful speech-recognition device, selling at $9,000 per unit around 30 years later.

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Artificial hearts have come a long way since their first implantation in a dog in 1937. Dr. Vladimir Demikhov made the successful attempt, paving the way for future innovations.

Dr. Robert Jarvik is credited with inventing the permanent artificial heart that actually worked. The first surgical procedure to implant an artificial heart was performed by Dr. Willem Kollf in 1982 on a patient named Barney Clark.

The same Dr. Willem Kollf also invented the kidney dialysis machine, which was initially ineffective but was improved upon by Dr. Belding Scribner in 1960. Scribner's Teflon shunt allowed patients to undergo dialysis with a permanently implanted device, preventing blood clotting.

Penicillin, discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming in 1928, revolutionized the field of medicine by providing a cure for bacterial infections.

The first artificial heart was successfully implanted into an animal in 1937 by Vladimir Demikhov. He made a groundbreaking attempt at creating a prosthetic heart that could function in a living being.

Dr. Robert Jarvik is credited with inventing the permanent artificial heart that actually worked. Unfortunately, the first surgical procedure to implant an artificial heart into a human was not as straightforward.

Dr. Willem Kollf performed the first surgical procedure to implant an artificial heart into a human in 1982 on a patient named Barney Clark.

The BTE hearing aid has a rich history.

In the early 1950s, behind-the-ear hearing aids equipped with transistors came into existence.

These hearing aids were a significant improvement over their predecessors.

The patent for a transistor-equipped hearing aid actually came earlier than the patent for the transistor itself.

This shows just how innovative and forward-thinking the inventors were.

Beginning in 1923, hearing aids equipped with vacuum tubes were introduced.

This marked a major milestone in the development of hearing aids.

The transition to battery power was another significant update.

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Artificial fertilizer revolutionized agriculture in 1918 with the invention of the Haber method, which allows for the creation of ammonia from nitrogen in the air. This breakthrough was initially used for explosives and chemical weapons during World War I.

The Haber method became the main method of creating artificial fertilizer by the end of World War I. German chemist Fritz Haber was awarded a Nobel prize in 1918 for this invention.

Without the Haber method, the expansion of modern agriculture to support growing populations may not have been possible.

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In 1928, British chemist and biologist Sir Alexander Fleming made a groundbreaking discovery that would change the face of medicine forever. He accidentally discovered penicillin, a type of mold that kills bacteria.

Fleming found the mold, part of the penicillium family, had contaminated a culture of staphylococci bacteria, killing it. This chance discovery led to the development of antibiotics.

The discovery of penicillin sparked decades of research that has given us many of the cures we now take for granted.

The Breathalyzer has a fascinating history that dates back to 1874 when Francis E. Anstie discovered that small amounts of alcohol are excreted in the breath.

This discovery laid the groundwork for the development of the first practical device, the Drunkometer, invented by Rolla Neil Harger in 1931.

The Drunkometer contained an acidified potassium permanganate solution that would change color when exposed to alcohol-contaminated breath, marking a significant breakthrough in detecting alcohol levels.

The invention of the jet engine revolutionized transportation and energy. It was first proposed by Frank Whittle in 1928, and later became the engine behind the UK's Gloster Meteor aircraft.

In 1930, Hans von Ohain made the first actual jet engine, and his experimental Heinkel He 178 became the world's first aircraft to be solely propelled by jet engines in 1939. This marked a significant improvement in aviation technology.

The first jet engine flight took place on August 27, 1939, when Hans von Ohain's jet engine was mounted on a plane and made a successful flight.

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The jet engine revolutionized transportation by making it faster and more efficient. The first known jet engine was the Aeolipile, invented around 150 B.C.

It wasn't until the 20th century that the practical jet engine was developed. Hans von Ohain built the first jet engine mounted on a plane and made a successful flight on August 27, 1939.

Frank Whittle also played a crucial role in the development of the jet engine, patenting his turbo engine in 1930. However, he didn't perform a flight test until two years after Hans von Ohain's successful flight.

The first patent for a jet engine was submitted in 1930, marking a significant milestone in aviation technology.

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In 1935, modern radar technology was first developed by Scottish engineer Robert Watson-Watt, who used radio signals to detect aircraft.

His experiments led to the development of project Chain Home, a line of radar installations that warned the UK of incoming German aircraft. This marked a significant milestone in transportation safety.

Radar technology has since been used to track aircraft, helping to prevent accidents and ensure safe takeoffs and landings.

The modern farming combine was a game-changer in the 1930s. It was invented in 1938 by Massey-Harris, a company that revolutionized crop harvesting with their No. 20 self-propelled combine harvester.

This machine eliminated the need for horses or separate tractors, significantly speeding up harvesting times.

The No. 20 greatly increased the amount of grain available to people in less time, contributing to improved food security in countries like the US.

In 1941, German engineer Konrad Zuse built the first electronic computer to be fully Turing complete, known as the Z3. This was a fundamental step in computing technology.

The Z3 was used during World War II to solve wing flutter problems in German military aircraft. It played a crucial role in the war effort.

The Z3 was destroyed in an allied bombing raid in 1943, but a reproduction was made. This reproduction shows us what the original computer looked like.

Turing completeness was a key concept in computing, and it paved the way for the development of modern computers.

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The first transistor was invented in 1947 by John Bardeen, William Shockley, and Walter Brattain at Bell Labs. Their experiment with a germanium crystal and two gold crystals created a signal that amplified the input power.

This invention marked a significant leap in technology, as it replaced vacuum tubes that used more power and were vastly larger. I've seen old electronics in thrift stores that still use these bulky tubes - it's amazing how far we've come.

The transistor's impact was huge, and it paved the way for the development of smaller, more efficient electronics. The transistor radio was one of the first devices to benefit from this technology, becoming a popular alternative to vacuum-tube radios.

In just a decade, billions of transistor radios were manufactured, making it the most widely used electronic communication device in human history.

Packet-switching networks were built in 1969 to serve as a network for Department of Defense computers.

This technology allowed multiple computers to occupy a single line, enabling electronic data to be sent in packets intended for a particular node on a network.

Prior to packet switching, networked computers behaved much like two telephones involved in a phone call: They had a dedicated line that connected them electronically.

Packet switching was a fundamental part of building the modern internet, without which we'd still be in an age of dedicated one-to-one computer connections.

The ARPANET, a pioneering network, was the first to utilize packet-switching technology in 1969.

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In 1983, the world's first commercially available cellular telephone was launched: the Motorola DynaTAC.

This brick of a cell phone was 13″ tall and weighed nearly two pounds.

It stored 30 phone numbers and offered 30 minutes of talk time.

You'd have to wait 10 hours for it to fully charge.

The DynaTAC was expensive, costing $3,995 USD in 1983, or approximately $9,800 today.

The Motorola DynaTAC was a major milestone in the evolution of mobile phones.

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The first smartphone was actually released in 1994, and it was called the IBM Simon personal communicator. It was a touchscreen device that could receive email and faxes, and it had apps like a calendar, address book, and calculator.

The IBM Simon was a proto-smartphone that only sold for six months, but it paved the way for future smartphones. It was also quite pricey, with a price tag of $890 USD with a two-year contract, or $1,099 USD without a contract.

The IBM Simon was a significant innovation in mobile technology, and it's interesting to think about how far we've come since then. Just imagine being able to receive email and faxes on a device that fits in the palm of your hand!

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