Greatest inventions

[Quiet Storm]

Link

Germans not only invented the car, bicycle, x-ray imaging, printing press and the automatic rifle, but also PVC, radar, the metal detector, contact lens and pocket watch.

 

[Ken C.]

Gadgets & Gear.

 

[Dijos]

Canning, food-1809
Can opener 1858

That could have been planned out better.

 

[Quiet Storm]

Dijos,
that's priceless!

Gadgets & Gear.

I thought that this is more of a historic subject than "gear discussion".

 

[Danzz]

Canning, food-1809
Can opener 1858

That could have been planned out better.

The inventor of the can opener removed all the hilarity of watching someone attempt to open a can with a hammer and chisel, or small axe. Or give up and stab it with a dagger over and over again until the contents leaked out in small pieces through diamond-shaped holes in the side. An advancement for mankind, a detriment to physical comedy and "America's Funniest Home Videos". If that had been around at the time.

No seriously, Germany has always had its share of great scientists, academics, and engineers, so its no surprise that they have their share of great modern inventions to their credit.

 

[mycroftt]

Airplane, engine powered. Gustave Whitehead (Gustav Weisskopf) August 1901 (nearly two and a half years before the Wright Brothers) in Bridgeport/Fairfield Connecticut.

The Wright Brothers consulted with him before their own first flight using the innovative flexible wings to control the aircraft.

So, who claims the prize, the US for its Yankee ingenuity or Germany since Weisskopf was born there?

 

[A.W.U.K.]

This list shows the locomotive as being invented by George Stevenson in 1829. In fact, the Rocket of 1829 was designed by his son Robert. George designed the "Locomotion" of 1825 but the first known locomotive was designed and built by Richard Trevithick in 1804. The Middleton Railway in Leeds was 100% steam hauled by 1812. The Middleton Railway holds three firsts. It is the oldest railway in the world, established by act of parliament in 1758; It was the first railway in the world to be 100% steam operated; it was the first standard gauge railway in the world to be taken over and operated by volunteers. (The first preserved railway was the 2' gauge Talallyn Railway.)

Andy.

 

[Wasz]

I know this is weak and petty, but if I dont say it it will eat me up. The automatic rifle was invented by John Moses Browning. B.A.R. Browing Automatic Rifle. The assualt rifle was an invetion of the germans, but there is a difference. I know it doesnt matter, but I feel better. Otherwise neat link.

 

[Quiet Storm]

Good point, not petty at all. Inaccurate terminology on my part.

 

[enkidu]

Small correction: Gutenberg did invent moveable type but he wasn't the first. China had clay moveable type around 1000AD and Korea established a national moveable+metal type foundry in the first half of the 13th century. This page succinctly sums up the facts.

 

[dniice87]

so who invented the knife??

 

[mwerner]

Oog, circa 300,000 BC. Nice chap, somewhat hairy.

 

[cmc]

It seems to me that in terms of the ratio of population to significant inventions, this contest is won quite handily by Scotland:

The steam engine
The pneumatic tyre
The pedal bicycle
The locomotive
The telegraph
The telephone
Television
The fax machine
The photocopier
Video
Radar
The hypodermic syringe
Anaesthesia
Morphine
Antiseptics
Insulin
Penicillin
Interferon
The thermometer
Logarithms

 

[Senator]

Two words - air conditioning. :thumbup:

http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa081797.htm

 

[bmrzmr]

Internet

 

[fulloflead]

Al Gore. Internet

http://www.snopes.com/quotes/internet.asp

.

 

[fulloflead]

Those hearing protectors with microphones that allow you to carry on a conversation while on the shooting range with hearing protection on, yet they still muffle loud sounds. :thumbup:

 

[Bronco]

So, who claims the prize, the US for its Yankee ingenuity or Germany since Weisskopf was born there?

I believe toilet paper gives us the win in a tiebreaker.

 

[Gollnick]

Notice, please, that France invented both the Hot Air Balloon and the Blimp. When it comes to bags of hot air floating around as the wind blows, the French the unchallenged leaders.

 

[Gollnick]

button c. 700 BC Greeks, Etruscans
buttonhole 13th century — Europe


Apparently, between 700BC and 1400AD, everyone's fly was open.



Imagine the first guy looking at the buttons on his coat and thinking: if there was just a slot cut in the fabric on the other side, I could button my coat and keep the cold out. Why did this take 2100 years?