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Modern inventions

Anesthetic, 1846 American dentist William Morton was the first person to use anesthetic succesfully during surgery. Telephone, 1876 Scotsman Alexander Graham Bell developed his telephone in Boston. The first person he spoke to with his invention was his assistant, Watson.

Factory, 1771 When Richard Arkwright opened his water-powered mill in Cromford, England, he became the first person to combine several stages of production under one roof.

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NORTH AMERICA

Air conditioning, 1902 American Willis Carrier created the modern air-cooling machine, which controlled both air temperature and humidity.

Lightbulb, 1879 Although bulbs had already been invented earlier, US inventor Thomas Edison developed a type of bulb that could safely glow for up to 50 hours, making it suitable for home use.

Steam locomotive, 1804 Invented by Briton Richard Trevithick, the first locomotive ran on the road. By 1804, Trevithick had built and run locomotives designed for railroad tracks.

Vaccine, 1796

English scientist Edward Jenner injected a vaccine (weakened or killed germs) into a patient’s body to encourage it to fight the disease smallpox. It led to the development of vaccinations for other diseases.

Movies, 1895 The cinématographe was invented by French brothers August and Louis Lumière. The device was a combined camera and film projector, and it played a moving picture for several minutes at a public screening in Paris.

EUROPE

Radio, 1895 Italian Guglielmo Marconi transmitted and received radio signals at a distance of 1.5 miles (2.4 km).

SOUTH AMERICA

Airplane, 1903 American brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright developed the first powered airplane, whose maiden flight lasted for 12 seconds and covered 120 ft (36 m).

Eraser, 1735

During an expedition to Ecuador, Frenchman Charles-Marie de la Condamine came across rubber.

The material became famous back in Europe, and in 1770, Englishman Joseph Priestley discovered that it could rub out pencil marks, thus inventing the eraser. Pasteurization, 1865 Frenchman Louis Pasteur discovered that liquid foods could be heated to destroy harmful bacteria without affecting their food value.

AFRICA

Piano, 1709 Italian Bartolomeo Cristofori developed the piano. Compared to earlier keyboard instruments, it allowed musicians much greater control of the loudness of notes, and it became a mainstay of Western music.

Pendulum clock, 1657

Dutchman Christiaan Huygens built the first pendulum clock, which vastly improved the accuracy of timekeeping.

“To invent, you need a good imagination

and a pile of junk.”

Thomas A. Edison, US inventor, 1847–1931

Electric train, 1879

Werner von Siemens exhibited the first electric train in Berlin, Germany. It carried 20–25 people and reached a speed of 4 mph (6 kph). ASIA

The Industrial Revolution

Between the late 1700s and 1850, Britain transformed itself into the world’s first industrial power. It gained a huge commercial and technological head start over the rest of the world. This achievement was helped by many inventions made in Britain, including the steam locomotive, the factory, the spinning jenny for spinning thread, the tin can for preserving food, and the subway. This period is known as the Industrial Revolution.

A colored engraving showing the inside of an English factory during the late 18th century.

Motor car, 1886 German engineer Karl Benz demonstrated the first car, the Motorwagen, which had three wheels and was powered by a small engine.

Modern 1500–1900 inventions

The modern period (1500–1900) was a time of great development in Europe and North America. The Industrial Revolution in Britain saw the birth of the factory, as well as many machines for manufacturing. There were also major advances in the fields of transportation, science, and medicine, with inventions that would eventually transform people’s lives throughout the world.

The 20th and 21st centuries

Into space The most recent chapter of Earth’s history hasn’t taken place entirely on our planet, as people explored space for the first time in the 20th century. Here, NASA astronauts (Greg Chamitoff, shown; and Mike Fincke, reflected in the visor) make a space walk to repair the International Space Station in 2011.

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