Inventions that changed the world Top ten inventions that changed our lives

Who invented? That’s a tough question to answer! An invention can change things but no invention is created in vacuum. Every invention was built on previous inventions made years, decades or centuries ago. It usually isn't the original inventor who gets all the credit, but rather the inventor who made the one crucial improvement that made it easier to use.

The printing press Johannes Gutenberg, a German goldsmith invented the Gutenberg press, an innovative printing machine, in the 1430s Knowledge spread quickly

The steam engine Powered the factories, trains, and ships that helped in the growth of industries Thomas Savery, an English military engineer and inventor who in 1698, patented the first crude steam engine. Thomas Newcomen invented the atmospheric steam engine in James Watt improved Newcomen's design and invented what is considered the first modern steam engine in 1765.

The automobile Transformed daily life, our culture, and our landscape In 1885, Karl Benz designed and built the world's first practical automobile to be powered by an internal-combustion engine.

The light bulb In 1809, Humphry Davy, an English chemist, invented the first electric light. In 1878, Sir Joseph Wilson Swan, an English physicist, was the first person to invent a practical and longer-lasting electic lightbulb (13.5 hours) with a carbon fiber filament. In 1879, Thomas Alva Edison invented a carbon filament that burned for forty hours. It lit up our lives !

The camera Changed journalism, art, culture, and how we see ourselves In 1814, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce created the first photographic image with a camera. However, the image required eight hours of light exposure and later faded. Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre is considered the inventor of the first practical process of photography in 1837.

The sewing machine The first functional sewing machine was invented by the French tailor, Barthelemy Thimonnier, in In 1834, Walter Hunt built America's first (somewhat) successful sewing machine. Elias Howe patented the first lockstitch sewing machine in Isaac Singer invented the up-and- down motion mechanism. A stitch in time saved nine!

Telephone 1875, Alexander Graham Bell built the first telephone that transmitted electrically the human voice. Our voices travelled…….

The Airplane The first plane was invented by Wilbur and Orville Wright in Transformed travel, warfare, and our view of the world

The Radio Nikola Tesla invented the first radio, but it wasn't promoted until Guglielmo Marconi did so in Their work enabled the first radio transmission to occur on December 12, 1901 Ideas spread and cultures were brought together by electronic mass media

Television Brought the world into people’s homes John Logie Baird is remembered as the inventor of mechanical television in the early twentieth century

Discuss how each of these inventions changed the lives of people! Think of other inventions that changed the world. Can you name some inventions that might have harmed us?

Earlier inventions There were many earlier inventions like : The wheel The plough Paper The compass Discuss how each of these might have changed people’s lives significantly If you had the chance what would you have liked to invent and why?

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