Top 10 Inventions That Changed The World

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The world has come a long way over the centuries, heck even in the last 10 years!  I have always wondered if people from the past could see where we are today, what they would think.

Driving to work today along some farm land, I thought about people in the past and how they had to do almost everything themselves.  Now days with the advancement of technology and knowledge, it's a wonder we can even tie our own shoes...  We have everything at our finger tips and that is thanks to many inventions along the way.



From electronics to mechanics, here is my top 10 inventions of all time.

10. The Wheel (~3500 BC?)
Where would we be today without the wheel?!  From bikes to cars to toys and equipement, the wheel has had a tremendous impact to humanity.  It helps us get from point A to B.  It has even been used in the water wheel to grind grain.


9. The Clock (725 AD)
Time moves whether we want it to or not, so man came up with a way to track it.  From ancient sun dials to following the sun through the sky, there have been many methods, but it wasn't until the invention of the clock that man could really harness the power of time. The first mechanical clock was made by Yi Xing of China in 725 AD.

What would the world be like with out clocks?  Yikes!  Or maybe we would all be free from time???

Source: Wikimedia Commons

8. Printing Press (1450)
Even with all the electronic technology we have today, things are still printed.  We have come from the days of monks copying books by hand to the printing press and now to digital copies of the things we want to see and know.  This truly was a world changing invention. The press was the invention of Johannes Gutenberg from Germany.

Source: Wikipedia

7.  Combustion Engine (1859)
There have been many variations of engines over time, but it wasn't until the invention of the internal combustion engine created by Étienne Lenoir around 1859 that really changed the world. I can't imagine a world with no engines to power our cars, planes, trucks, ships, and trains, can you?

Source: Wikipedia

6.  The Battery (1800)
Although ancient "batteries" have been found made from jars, copper and iron, the modern battery as we know it was not invented till around the 1800s.  Italian physicist Alessandro Volta built and described the first electro-chemical battery, the voltaic pile, in 1800.  Today we have batteries in all shapes, sizes and types for any application imaginable.

Source Wikimedia Commons





5.  The Refrigerator (1834)
Imagine life with no cold sodas or ice or air conditioning for that matter!  Refrigeration has made the world a much better and comfortable place to live for sure! In 1834 Jacob Perkins built the first working vapor-compression refrigerator forever changing the world!

General Electric "Monitor-Top" refrigerator, introduced in 1927.
Source: Wikipedia

4. Steel (1850)
Metals have been around for centuries, but none have had the impact of steel.  Steel in some variations has been around for some time, even in ancient times, but not as we know it today. Henry Bessemer developed a process (The Bessemer Process) in 1855 using raw material called pig iron. He was able to produce large quantities more cheaply than ever before.  The refining process is now far superior and the steel of today is much stronger and pure.  It is also much cheaper to make on a large scale, so is widely used in just about everything.



3. The Light Bulb (1806, 1879)
What would we do with out light?!  The light bulb has revolutionized the earth.  We can now read in the dark without the risk of burning down your house.  The light bulb was first invented by Humphrey Davy in 1806, but never got much traction until 1878 when Thomas Edison further improved on the invention and by 1883 Macy's in NYC became the first store install Edison bulbs. 

Source: Wikipedia


Today they have evolved over from dull yellow to now bright white LEDs.  There is a bulb for any occasion. 


2. The Airplane (1903)
Leonardo da Vinci had envisioned the airplane long before it ever became a reality.  In his time of the early 1500s, it was only a dream.  It wasn't until 1903 when the Wright Brothers launched humans into the air.  From then on aircraft have only gotten bigger and faster.  Who knows what the future holds for human flight!



1. The Microprocessor (1971)
Ok, I saved the best for last!  What would we do in a world with no personal computers, cell phones and tablets?  The transistor was invented in 1947, but it wasn't until 1958 when Jack Kirby made the first working integrated circuit.  By 1971 Intel had the first commercially available microprocessor the 4004.  The world has forever changed as the microprocessor continues to shrink and get more powerful.  Without this invention, the world as we know it would not exist!

Source: Wikipedia

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