An Illustrated Timeline of inventions
Who invented what, and when did they do it? From the ancient Egyptians to Thomas Edison, from the telephone to the space shuttle, this book-length timeline is packed with inventions and inventors. Pick a point and start exploring!
and
Spengler
An Illustrated Timeline of
An Illustrated Timeline of
S N O I T N E V N I S R O T N E V N I and
and
inventors
Reinforced Library Binding
by Kremena T. Spengler illustrated by Rick Morgan
f o e lin e im T d te a tr s u Ill An
by Kremena T. Spengler illustrated by Rick Morgan
and
Special thanks to our adviser, Terry Flaherty, PhD, Professor of English, Minnesota State University, Mankato, for his expertise. Editor: Jill Kalz Designer: Tracy Davies Art Director: Nathan Gassman Production Specialist: Sarah Bennett The illustrations in this book were created with pencil and digital color. Photo Credits: Shutterstock: Andrea Danti, Diana Rich
Since earliest times, humans have tried to
Picture Window Books 151 Good Counsel Drive P.O. Box 669 Mankato, MN 56002-0669 877-845-8392 www.capstonepub.com
understand and change their surroundings.
Copyright © 2012 by Picture Window Books, a Capstone imprint. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. The publisher takes no responsibility for the use of any of the materials or methods described in this book, nor for the products thereof. All books published by Picture Window Books are manufactured with paper containing at least 10 percent post-consumer waste. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Spengler, Kremena. An illustrated timeline of inventions and inventors / by Kremena T. Spengler ; illustrated by Rick Morgan. p. cm. — (Visual timelines in history) Includes index. ISBN 978-1-4048-6662-1 (library binding) ISBN 978-1-4048-7017-8 (paperback) 1. Inventions—History—Chronology—Juvenile literature. 2. Inventors—Biography—Juvenile literature. I. Morgan, Rick, 1954– ill. II. Title. T48.S68 2012 602’.02—dc22 2011010463
Printed in the United States of America in North Mankato, Minnesota. 032011 006110CGF11
They have designed all sorts of tools to better their lives—from simple stone weapons to complex computers. Millions of inventions exist. This book gives you a taste of some of the most interesting ones. Written as a timeline, it lists facts in the order in which they happened. Read the book from start to finish, or dip in and out! Discover at a glance who invented what. And see how one invention often led to another.
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In the Beginning
ca. 25,000 BC
ca. 10,000 BC
People use needles and thread to make clothes.
The first clay pots are made.
ca. 1 million BC Early humans learn to control fire. They use it to keep warm, cook food, and protect themselves against wild animals.
ca. 5500 BC
Mesopotamians invent the plow. It helps farmers plant crops more easily.
ca. 6500 BC
ca. 70,000 BC
ca. 8700 BC
Stone Age humans learn to sharpen stones to make weapons.
People in Mesopotamia make the first metal objects from copper.
ca. 15,000 BC People invent the lunar calendar. They begin to record time based on the cycles, or phases, of the moon.
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The invention of weaving improves clothes making.
ca. 3500 BC Mesopotamians invent the wheel. Countless future inventions will rely on it.
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ancient S N O I AT Z I L I V I C
ca. 2000 BC The Minoans on the island of Crete create channels to deliver water over large distances. These channels are called aqueducts.
ca. 1000 BC
ca. 200 BC
Mesopotamians invent the first calculator, called an abacus.
People in China and Persia build windmills to make use of wind power.
ca. 2500 BC The ancient Egyptians develop glass.
ca. 230 BC
Greek inventor Archimedes creates the compound pulley. A pulley makes it easier to lift heavy objects.
ca. 2000 BC The first phonetic alphabet is developed in Egypt. Each symbol stands for a sound in the Egyptian language.
ca. 400 BC ca. 1500 BC
The Chinese make the earliest compass.
Egyptians invent the sundial. A sundial uses the light of the sun to tell time.
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7
r e p a p e h T Trail
ca. 806
ca. 1608
The Chinese begin using paper money.
ca. 1300
AD 105
The Chinese invent the musket, an early rifle.
The Chinese invent paper.
ca. 1202
ca. 800 The Chinese invent gunpowder.
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Italian mathematician Leonardo Pisano, known as Fibonacci, brings Arabic numerals to Europe. These numbers replace Roman numerals.
Dutch eyeglass maker Hans Lippershey invents the telescope. It helps people discover objects in the sky not seen with the naked eye.
ca. 1450 Johannes Gutenberg of Germany invents the printing press. With its movable type, the press makes large numbers of books easier and cheaper than before.
ca. 1590 Dutch craftsmen Hans and Zacharias Janssen invent an early microscope.
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Heating things up
1776 American David Bushnell builds the Turtle, an early submarine.
1799
1793 American Eli Whitney creates the cotton gin. It separates the seeds from the cotton fiber, saving time and energy.
1714
Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, a German physicist, invents the mercury thermometer. It provides a standard way to measure temperature.
Italian physicist Alessandro Volta invents the battery. It’s the first device to make its own electricity.
1783
French scientist Louis-Sebastien Lenormand invents the first working parachute.
1742
1765 Scottish engineer James Watt improves the steam engine, making it much more useful. Steam engines later power factories, train locomotives, and steamboats.
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American inventor Benjamin Franklin creates the Franklin Stove. It heats buildings in a safer, more efficient way than traditional fireplaces.
1791
1783 On June 4, French brothers Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier fly the first hot air balloon.
The French Academy of Sciences designs the metric system. The simple decimal system of measurement will be used around the world.
1796 English doctor Edward Jenner creates the first vaccine. It’s a shot to prevent a serious illness called smallpox.
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Building Steam 1804 English engineer Richard Trevithick builds the first steam locomotive.
1804
George Cayley, an Englishman, flies the first model glider. He is later thought to be the first person to truly understand the basics of flight.
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1816 French physician Rene Laennec invents the stethoscope. With it, doctors can hear people’s hearts and lungs better.
1818 George Manby, an Englishman, invents the fire extinguisher.
1826 Frenchman Joseph Nicephore Niepce produces the first photograph.
1807
American Robert Fulton improves the steamboat. Called the Clermont, his version opens the way for commercial steamboat travel.
1821 English physicist Michael Faraday invents the electric motor.
1826
English chemist John Walker invents the friction match. The match makes fire possible with one strike.
ca. 1810
1824
English merchant Peter Durand develops the idea of canning, or sealing food in airtight containers. Canning keeps food from spoiling.
Frenchman Louis Braille develops Braille. The system of raised dots helps blind people read and write.
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SAVING TIME
1838
1834 English mathematician Charles Babbage begins designing the Analytical Engine. The ideas behind the math machine will one day lead to the invention of the computer.
1830
American Samuel Morse makes improvements to the telegraph. His version, along with his communication code (Morse code), becomes the world telegraph standard.
Barthelemy Thimonnier of France invents the first usable sewing machine.
1852 Frenchman Henri Giffard builds the world’s first steerable passenger airship. It’s called a dirigible.
1843
1830
American Nancy Johnson invents a hand-cranked ice-cream maker. Its basic parts are still used to make ice cream today.
English engineer Edwin Beard Budding invents the first manual lawn mower.
1859
1831 American Cyrus McCormick invents the horse-drawn reaper. The machine speeds up grain collection. Before now, grains were cut and bundled by hand.
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1852 American mechanic Elisha Otis invents the passenger elevator.
Belgian engineer Etienne Lenoir creates the first internal combustion engine. Gas-powered engines like his will soon replace steam engines.
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d n a s t h g si sounds
1867 English physician Joseph Lister uses carbolic acid on wounds. The acid kills germs and reduces infections during surgery.
1864 Louis Pasteur, a French chemist, develops a process now called pasteurization. It uses heat to kill bacteria in foods and liquids.
1873
1879
The first practical typewriter is made. Designed by American inventor Christopher Sholes, it has the same letter layout as today’s computer keyboards.
Thomas Alva Edison invents an incandescent electric light bulb.
1874
American farmer Joseph Glidden invents barbed wire. It protects ranchers’ property in an effective, cheap way.
1861
James Clerk Maxwell, a British physicist, creates the first color photograph.
1865 American scientist Thaddeus Lowe invents the ice-making machine. Food can now be stored for much longer periods of time without spoiling.
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1866 Alfred Nobel, a Swedish chemist, creates dynamite.
1876 American Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone.
1877 American Thomas Alva Edison invents the phonograph. It’s the first device to record and replay sound.
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things seen n e e s n u d n a
1896
1891 Nikola Tesla, a Serbian-American, invents the Tesla coil. This device will be key to the invention of modern radio.
1884 American architect William Le Baron Jenney invents a way to build skyscrapers.
1895 Auguste and Louis Lumiere, French brothers, create the first practical movie camera/projector.
1886
American Josephine Cochrane invents a dishwasher similar to those used today.
1888
American John J. Loud invents the ballpoint pen.
1886 German engineer Karl Benz builds the first useful, gasoline-powered car. It has three wheels.
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American inventor George Washington Carver starts developing uses for peanuts. He will invent more than 300, including soaps, dyes, and paints.
1893
American engineer George Ferris invents the Ferris wheel.
1895 German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen discovers X-ray photography. X-rays give doctors an easy way to see inside a body.
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, Y K S THE N I ON THE ROAD
1922
1913 American automaker Henry Ford starts the first moving assembly line. Cars can now be made more quickly and for less money.
Herbert Kalmus and his team at the Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation invent color movies.
1903 1902
American inventor Willis Carrier designs the first air conditioner.
Brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright fly the first airplane at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17. The Age of Flight begins.
1908
1922
American engineer Alva Fisher invents the washing machine.
Swedish scientists Baltzar von Platen and Carl Munters invent the refrigerator.
1908 1903 American inventor Mary Anderson invents the windshield wiper.
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The Ford Motor Company rolls out the first Model T on October 1. The car opens the way for affordable personal transportation.
1913 Swedish-born inventor Gideon Sundback invents the zipper.
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s r e v a s e lif
1927 American inventor Philo Farnsworth invents the first all-electronic, black-and-white TV.
1923 American inventor Garrett Morgan designs the traffic signal.
1939
1928
Russian-American inventor Igor Sikorsky creates the first practical helicopter. All future helicopters will be modeled on it.
Scottish biologist Sir Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin. It is the first drug widely used to kill bacteria.
1935
Robert Watson-Watt, a Scottish physicist, invents radar.
1923
1938
American Lee De Forest brings sound to movies.
American engineer Alfred J. Gross invents the walkie-talkie.
1926 German inventor Edmund Germer invents the fluorescent light bulb. It’s cooler and cheaper to use than incandescent lights.
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1930 Ruth Graves Wakefield, an American innkeeper, bakes the first chocolate-chip cookies.
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IN LIVING COLOR
1946 American Marion Donovan creates the disposable diaper. The “Boater” appears in stores in 1949.
1940 Peter Goldmark, a Hungarian-American, invents the first color TV. The first sets aren’t available to the public until 1951.
1947
1956 Thomas Chang, a Canadian researcher, invents artificial blood.
American scientists John Bardeen, William Shockley, and Walter Brattain invent the transistor. It’s the key to future computer technology.
1952
1945
Jonas Salk, an American doctor, develops a vaccine against a crippling illness called polio. It will be approved for public use in 1955.
American engineer Percy Spencer invents the microwave oven.
1958
1950 1945 A group of scientists from the U.S. Manhattan Project builds the world’s first atomic bomb.
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1949
Danish carpenter Ole Kirk Christensen invents LEGO blocks.
American Frank McNamara creates the first credit card. Called Diners Club, it’s accepted at only 14 restaurants in New York City to start.
British engineer R.E. Bishop and his team develop the first jet airliner. The de Havilland Comet takes off on July 27.
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GETTING L CA I TECHN 1960 American researcher Theodore Maiman invents a laser. The device directs energy with pinpoint accuracy.
1965 American chemist Stephanie Kwolek invents Kevlar. The strong material is used to make bulletproof vests.
Amos Joel, an American engineer, invents the first cell phone technology.
U.S. computer company Apple makes the first popular, mass-produced personal computer: the Apple II.
German-American inventor Ralph H. Baer develops the first video game box. Called the “Brown Box,” it hooks up to a TV.
1973
1969 The Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA) develops the first, early form of the Internet in the United States.
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1977
1968
1962 On July 10, AT&T launches Telstar 1, a communications satellite. It sends the first TV signal through space.
1970
Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen, American scientists, discover how to clone DNA in bacteria. The discovery is the start of genetic engineering.
1975 American engineer Steve Sasson invents the digital camera. It saves photos electronically, rather than on film.
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, W W W , O MM CD, ND O Y E B AND , DVD 1979
On July 1, Sony
introduces the Walkman. It’s a personal portable audiocassette player.
On August 17, the first music compact disc (CD) is produced in Germany.
1981
1989 Sir Timothy Berners-Lee, a British computer scientist, creates the world’s first web site and starts the World Wide Web (WWW).
On April 12, NASA launches the space shuttle Columbia. It’s the world’s first reusable spacecraft.
1987
The first massively multiplayer online (MMO) game with graphics debuts. “Air Warrior” was developed by American designers Kelton Flinn and John Taylor.
1979 George Hitchings and Gertrude Elion, American scientists, develop the first antiviral drugs. These drugs will help fight malaria, AIDS, and other diseases.
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1982
2010 On April 3, U.S. computer company Apple releases the iPad. This tablet allows users to surf the web, play games, and view digital books and magazines.
1989
Scientists from the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany design MP3 technology. Songs and other audio can now be stored as very small digital files.
1995 A group of 10 companies creates a light, durable disk called a DVD. The disk is used to store high-quality digital video and sound.
2007 American scientists create a bionic eye that helps blind people see shapes. It’s called the Argus II.
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Glossary
Build Your Own Timeline
ca.—the abbreviation for the word circa, which means “about” or “around”
Think about objects in your home that you and your family use every day—for example, a washing machine, a microwave, or a lawn mower. Pick one and make your own timeline for it.
clone—to copy communication—the sharing of information DNA—the bits of material that give living things their special features; the letters stand for Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid
Start with the date the object was invented and end with present day. Keep in mind that an object may have many parts that were invented at different times. A timeline for a car, for example, may start with the invention of the wheel. Search online for dates, using search terms such as “_____ history” or “history of _____.” Ask your librarian to help you find more information.
???
engineer—a person who uses science to design and make things, such as machines or bridges genetic engineering—the study of how inherited traits can be changed
More Books to Read Murphy, Glenn. Inventions. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2009. Oxlade, Chris. The Top Ten Inventions That Changed the World. Top Ten. New York : PowerKids Press, 2010. Sechrist, Darren. Inventions and Inventors. Graphic America. New York: Crabtree Pub., 2008.
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locomotive—an engine that moves on its own power Mesopotamia—an area of southwestern Asia between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers that includes much of present-day Iraq phonetic—having to do with speech sounds practical—having to do with real life satellite—an object that orbits a planet or other space object
To Learn More
? ?
incandescent—glowing with a hot, bright light
TODAY
Solway, Andrew. Inventions and Investigations. Sci-Hi: Physical Science. Chicago: Raintree, 2010.
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INDEX abacuses, 7 Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA), 26 air conditioners, 20 airplanes, 20, 25 alphabets, 6 Analytical Engine, 14 Anderson, Mary, 20 Apple, 27, 29 aqueducts, 6 Archimedes, 7 assembly lines, 21 atomic bombs, 24 AT&T, 26 Babbage, Charles, 14 Baer, Ralph H., 26 ballpoint pens, 18 barbed wire, 17 Bardeen, John, 25 batteries, 11 Bell, Alexander Graham, 17 Benz, Karl, 18 Berners-Lee, Sir Timothy, 29 Bishop, R. E., 25 blood, artificial, 25 Boyer, Herbert, 27 Braille, 13 Braille, Louis, 13 Brattain, Walter, 25 Budding, Edwin Beard, 14 Bushnell, David, 10 calendars, 4 cameras, 19, 27 canning, 12 carbolic acid, 16 Carrier, Willis, 20 cars, 18, 20, 21 Carver, George Washington, 19 Cayley, George, 12 Chang, Thomas, 25 chocolate-chip cookies, 23 Christensen, Ole Kirk, 25 clay pots, 5
clothes making, 4, 5, 14 Cochrane, Josephine, 18 Cohen, Stanley, 27 compact discs (CDs), 28 compasses, 7 computers, 3, 14, 17, 25, 26, 27, 29 cotton gins, 11 credit cards, 25 De Forest, Lee, 22 diapers, 24 dirigibles, 15 dishwashers, 18 DNA, 27 Donovan, Marion, 24 drugs, antiviral, 28 Durand, Peter, 12 DVDs, 29 dynamite, 16 Edison, Thomas Alva, 17 elevators, 15 Elion, Gertrude, 28 engines, internal combustion, 15 engines, steam, 10, 15 eyes, bionic, 29 Fahrenheit, Daniel Gabriel, 10 Faraday, Michael, 13 farming, 5, 14, 17 Farnsworth, Philo, 22 Ferris, George, 19 Ferris wheels, 19 Fibonacci, 8 fire, 4, 13 fire extinguishers, 13 Fisher, Alva, 20 Fleming, Sir Alexander, 23 Flinn, Kelton, 28 Ford, Henry, 21 Ford Motor Company, 20 Franklin, Benjamin, 10 Franklin stove, 10 Fraunhofer Institute, 28 French Academy of Sciences, 11 Fulton, Robert, 12 genetics, 27 Germer, Edmund, 22 Giffard, Henri, 15
glass, 6 Glidden, Joseph, 17 gliders, 12 Goldmark, Peter, 24 Gross, Alfred J., 23 gunpowder, 8 guns, 9 Gutenberg, Johannes, 9 helicopters, 23 Hitchings, George, 28 hot air balloons, 10 ice-cream makers, 14 ice-making machines, 16 Internet, 26, 29 iPads, 29 Janssen Brothers, 9 Jenner, Edward, 11 Jenney, William Le Baron, 18 Joel, Amos, 27 Johnson, Nancy, 14 Kalmus, Herbert, 21 Kevlar, 26 Kwolek, Stephanie, 26 Laennec, Rene, 12 lasers, 26 lawn mowers, 14 LEGO blocks, 25 Lenoir, Etienne, 15 Lenormand, Louis-Sebastien, 11 light bulbs, 17, 22 Lippershey, Hans, 9 Lister, Joseph, 16 locomotives, 10, 12 Loud, John J., 18 Lowe, Thaddeus, 16 Lumiere Brothers, 19 Maiman, Theodore, 26 Manby, George, 13 massively multiplayer online (MMO), 28 matches, 13 Maxwell, James Clerk, 16 McCormick, Cyrus, 14 McNamara, Frank, 25 metal, 5 metric system, 11 microscopes, 9 microwave ovens, 24
money, 8 Montgolfier Brothers, 10 Morgan, Garrett, 22 Morse, Samuel, 15 motors, electric, 13 movies, 19, 21, 22 MP3, 28 Munters, Carl, 21 NASA, 28 Niepce, Joseph Nicephore, 13 Nobel, Alfred, 16 numbers, 8 Otis, Elisha, 15 paper, 8 parachutes, 11 Pasteur, Louis, 16 pasteurization, 16 peanut products, 19 penicillin, 23 phonographs, 17 photographs, 13, 16, 19, 27 Pisano, Leonardo. See Fibonacci plows, 5 printing press, 9 pulleys, 7 radar, 23 radios, 18 reapers, 14 refrigerators, 21 Roentgen, Wilhem, 19 Salk, Jonas, 25 Sasson, Steve, 27 satellites, 26 sewing machines, 14 Shockley, William, 25 Sholes, Christopher, 17 Sikorsky, Igor, 23 skyscrapers, 18 Sony, 28 spacecraft, 28 Spencer, Percy, 24 steamboats, 10, 12 stethoscopes, 12 Stone Age, 4 stone weapons, 3, 4 submarines, 10 Sundback, Gideon, 21 sundials, 6
Taylor, John, 28 Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation, 21 telegraphs, 15 telephones, 17, 27 telescopes, 9 Tesla, Nikola, 18 Tesla coils, 18 thermometers, 10 Thimonnier, Barthelemy, 14 traffic signals, 22 transistors, 25 Trevithick, Richard, 12 TVs, 22, 24, 26 typewriters, 17 U.S. Manhattan Project, 24 vaccines, 11, 25 video games, 26, 28 Volta, Alessandro, 11 von Platen, Baltzar, 21 Wakefield, Ruth Graves, 23 Walker, John, 13 walkie-talkies, 23 Walkman, 28 washing machines, 20 Watson-Watt, Robert, 23 Watt, James, 10 weaving, 5 web sites, 29 wheel, invention of the, 5 Whitney, Eli, 11 windmills, 7 windshield wipers, 20 World Wide Web (WWW), 29 Wright Brothers, 20 X-rays, 19 zippers, 21
Look for all the books in the series: An Illustrated Timeline of Inventions and Inventors An Illustrated Timeline of Space Exploration
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An Illustrated Timeline of Transportation An Illustrated Timeline of U.S. States