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A relatively recent addition, smartphones put the power of computers in the palm of our hands. This has radically affected our culture, relationships, professional conduct and research methods, and our ability to sustain focus for long periods of …
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The mechanised clock, invented in the 15th century, made a huge difference to people’s lives. Essentially, the invention quantified time, meaning we no longer have to look at the sun and guess. Imagine how lame time travel movies would be without it.
Nuclear fission was a controversial process pioneered in 1939. It gave humans new power for destruction, and creation.
In the mid-20th century, Norman Borlaug pioneered the green revolution. This combined technologies like synthetic fertilisers and scientific plant breeding and greatly increased the world’s food output. Borlaug has been credited with saving more than a billion people from starvation.
Alphabetisation was believed to have been conceived sometime in the first millennium b.c. It made knowledge accessible and searchable, and may have contributed to the rise of phonetic letter usage over ideographic ones.
Galileo’s telescope was unveiled in 1609, with various others – notably Isaac Newton – improving on the design over the following centuries. Telescopes were invaluable for terrestial research and astronomy.
Gunpowder, invented in the 10th century, is one of history’s most influential inventions. It permanently altered the way humans wage war and brought an end to the Medieval Ages. Gunpowder outsourced killing to a machine. It also gave us cowboys and first-person shooters.
The internet debuted in the 1960s, though it was radically different to the porn hub it is today. It is the infrastructure of the digital age and vastly reshaped our culture and revolutionised business operations. The internet also makes Danger Dolan countdowns possible.
Optical lenses, developed sometime in the 13th century, changed the world thanks to their ability to refract light through glass. However, it took centuries for the invention of eyeglasses to assist with sight problems and raise the collective human IQ. The invention that keeps on giving: optical lenses also led to the eventual creation of the microscope and telescope.
Early societies used bronze, stone and iron, but steel fuelled the Industrial Revolution and was a pivotal part of the construction of our modern cities. The alloy was not mass-produced until the invention of the Bessemer Process in the 1850s. Steel then became one of the biggest industries on the planet, and was used to create everything from bridges and railroads to skyscrapers and engines.
