1.The Wheel
Photo: Think Glink
The wheel forever changed history and we still use them today. We wouldn’t be able to drive a car or ride a bike without them. They have become an important part of many peoples daily transportation needs. There is evidence that the wheel appeared in 4th millennium BCE around Mesopotamia. This invention has gone through many changes, but the same basic concept is still there.
2.The Telephone
Photo: History of Things
This invention is also still in use today. The telephone has come a very long way since it was first invented by Alexander Graham Bell. He received the patent in 1876 after working on harmonic telegraph experiments in the previous years. This invention paved the way for the cellphones that we currently use in our every day lives.
3.The Printing Press
Photo: Anywherering
The Printing Press was invented around the 1440’s by Johannes Gutenberg. This invention allowed people to begin mass-producing books instead of hand copying them. This allowed more books to be sold as they became less labor intensive than with the previous process. Without this invention, we wouldn’t have the accessibility to books that we do now.
4. The Lightbulb
Photo: Sew-Lexicon
Thomas Edison has been credited for inventing the light bulb. In 1878, he began doing research into incandescent lighting and finally applied for a patent in October 1878. He was later granted approval for patent and around 1880 lightbulb he began to commercially manufacture the item.
5. The Computer
Photo: Digital Trends
Devices like the abacus have been around for a long time, but it wasn’t until around the 1930’s that digital computers became something to develop. In 1938 the U.S. Navy had developed an electromechanical analog computer that was placed in submarines. It wasn’t until the 2000’s that portable computers became more accessible and now they’ve become household items for most.
6. The Internet
Photo: Linkedin
The internet has been a cumulative process with many contributions from many people. During the cold war, the internet began to develop as a weapon. Over the years this invention has developed dramatically; these days everyone with a smartphone has access to the internet with them at all times. Without this technology, we wouldn’t be able access an infinite amount of knowledge at any moment.
These are just a few of the biggest inventions to change our history entirely. Many of them have paved the way for much bigger inventions that we wouldn’t have today if these originals hadn’t existed.