Inventors
Inventions
I Use That Every Day!
Named After the Inventor
Ways to Get Around
100
In the late 1800s-early 1900s, this scientist discovered two new elements, radium and polonium and also coined the term “radioactivity.”
Who was Marie Curie?
Note: She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person to win a Nobel Prize twice, and the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two scientific fields.
100
Invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 as a way to talk over long distances.
What is the telephone?
100
A way (besides buttons) for our clothes to stay on or closed, invented by Whitcomb Judson in 1893.
What is the zipper?
100
The centerpiece for the 1889 World's Fair in Paris and (at the time) the tallest human-made structure in the world.
What is the Eiffel Tower? (Named for Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower)
100
A vehicle that everyone from children to adults can use, using only the power of your legs. It was invented by Kirkpatrick Macmillan in 1839.
What is a bicycle?
200
The inventor of the electric light bulb, the motion picture camera, and the phonograph in the 1800s.
Who was Thomas Alva Edison?
200
Invented by Johannes Gutenburg in 1438, this helped make books more available to everyone.
What was the moveable-type printing press?
200
Something we write with besides pencil that is easier to use and more portable than older versions, invented by Laszlo Biro in 1940.
What is a ballpoint pen?
200
A written language designed for those who are blind or have trouble seeing.
What is Braille? (Invented by 15-year-old Louis Braille in 1824)
200
The most popular way to get from place to place in America, invented by Karl Benz in 1885.
What is a gas-powered car?
300
An inventor of cosmetics and hair care products for Black women in the late 1800s-early 1900s, she was the first self-made woman millionaire in the U.S.
Who was Madam C.J. Walker?
300
Invented by Galileo Galilei in 1593, this is still used today in doctor's offices, hospitals, and homes around the world to detect fevers.
What is the thermometer?
300
In the 1940s, actress Hedy Lamarr invented a frequency-hopping technology that led to the invention of GPS, Bluetooth, and this, the way that we now connect to the internet.
What is Wi-Fi?
300
A popular lunch food that can be made many different ways, but the first one was made with roast beef.
What is a sandwich? (Invented by John Montagu, Fourth Earl of Sandwich in the 1700s)
Note: Other cultures have eaten wraps or sandwich-like foods since as far back as the 1st century BCE, but most didn't have official names.
300
The quickest way to travel long distances, invented by brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright in 1903.
What is an airplane?
400
A chemist, pharmacist, and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization in the 1800s.
Who was Louis Pasteur?
400
This early explosive was invented by Alfred Nobel in 1866.
What is dynamite?
400
Invented by Willis Carrier in 1902 and Alice Parker in 1919, these inventions keep us comfortable indoors no matter the weather.
What is air conditioning and heating?
400
An amusement park ride found at fairs and carnivals that was designed as an attraction to rival the Eiffel Tower from the 1889 World's Fair.
What is a Ferris Wheel? (Invented by George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr. as a landmark for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago).
Note: Versions of Ferris Wheels have existed since the 17th century, but they were much smaller. In 1892, William Somers created larger versions but the technology he used was different from Ferris's.
400
The first version of this vehicle was invented in 1804 by Richard Trevithick and powered by steam.
What is a train?
500
The inventor of hundred of food products (including peanut butter) and agricultural techniques such as crop rotation methods in the late 1800s-early 1900s.
Who is George Washington Carver?
500
Invented by Guglielmo Marconi in 1895 and originally used to send Morse Code, this invention transmits signals over long distances using electromagnetic waves. Today it is used for audio instead of Morse Code.
What is the radio?
500
Invented by Charles Babbage in the 1800s and referred to an an "analytical engine," versions of this are now found in phones, cars, and video game consoles.
What is a computer?
500
A system of communicating through telegraph, sound, or light using dots and dashes.
What is Morse Code? (Invented by Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail in 1838)
500
One of the oldest ways to transport goods and people, dating back to 4000 BCE (although smaller versions are much older) and so old that no one inventor can be identified.
What is a ship?