Important Technological Innovations of History

Main

Bow and Arrow

17500 BC

http://www.clipartsfree.net/vector/small/6507-bow-with-arrow-clipart.png
-Enabled people to fight from range
-Brought people out of an age when only crude weapons were used
-Brought about a bigger gap in power between tribes that used bows and not only sticks and stones

Chisel

4000 BC

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Chisel.jpeg
-Enabled ornate and decorative buildings
-Probably helped in building the pyramids and Ziggurats in older civilizations
-Could have been used to make new tools and new inventions by early civilizations

The Wheel

3500 BC

http://echouser.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/stone-age-wheel.jpg
-The most generic best innovation ever. The wheel. Enabled people to transport medium weight loads much easier than previously possible
-The most basic wheel was invented in 3500, nothing like the ones that we see today
-The basic wheel not only was used on carts or cars, but the design was also implemented in water wheels, cogs, and gears

The Plow

2000 BCE

http://www.dunsehistorysociety.co.uk/smallsplough.jpg
-Enabled more effective farming
-Gave people a reason to domesticate animals
-Was not used in the Americas in the early years do to the lack of domesticated animals

Lateen Sail

100

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Rigging-lateen-sail.svg
-Allowed for faster travel along trade routes
-Also enabled people to explore more areas faster
-Not only this sail but any sail and boat before would be counted as a great invention, due to the facts that boats are prevalent even in our lives today and stemmed off of the first boats ever invented

The Stirrup

100

http://www.ontyte.com/_images/stirrups/OT-Stirrups_LightweightComposite-zoom.jpg
-Enabled the Mongols to conquer much of the known world at the time of their reign
-Provided flexibility and a range of motion unparalleled at the time by horse riders who did not use stirrups
-Use of paired stirrups is credited to the Jin Dynasty in China

Gunpowder

850

http://asiandesignrmit.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/gunpowder.jpg
-Made killing a lot more impersonal
-Empires or countries with access to gunpowder completely outclassed countries who didn't
-Discovered by the Chinese

The Shield

1400

http://pngimg.com/upload/shield_PNG1274.png
-Enabled people to fight back more effectively against both hand to hand and ranged combat
-Not invented by a single person, but many civs around the world made their own shields
-Irrelevant in today's society, obviously

Mail Service

1600

http://eofdreams.com/data_images/dreams/mail/mail-04.jpg
-The first definitive and well thought out mailing system was seen around the 1600s and 1700s
-enabled people to communicate in a way that wasn't possible before, was the main way of communication before the phone and internet were invented
-Everyone loves receiving a good letter right?

The Cotton Gin

1793

http://www.eliwhitney.org/sites/default/files/cottongin1s.jpg
-Discovered by Eli Whitney
-Enabled production of cotton at a much larger scale than previously available
-Made countries who focused on cotton production extremely rich

Electricity

1821

http://www.k12.hi.us/~kealaint/projects/Spring09Projects/period2/images/Electricity.jpg
-Probably the most important invention of all time
-Used in a majority of the worlds daily lives
-Many inventions were able to come about due to the invention of electricity

Vulcanized Rubber

1839

http://cool.conservation-us.org/jaic/img/jaic42-02-010-ch10fg12.jpg
-Invented by Charles Goodyear
-Used in tires, bouncy balls, hockey pucks, shoes
-Goodyear tires, Charles Goodyear, quite a connection there
-Used globally because of the wide use of tires and other rubber items by people rich and poor

The Lightbulb

1879

http://lonelyconservative.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/light-bulb.jpg
-Changed the most used light source from a candle to a lightbulb
-More reliable than a candle in most cases, due to a much longer lifespan
-Brought about a new product into the world market, stimulating economy
-Allows me to do my AP homework at night, what a great invention

Automobile

1885

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--NUm0X2zn--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18d3ly3dkxqzcjpg.jpg
-Invented by Karl Benz (Mercedes Benz)
-Enabled transportation that was much more flexible than the trains that were the main source of transportation of the time
-Prompted people in other countries to design similar machines, and brought about military power as well

Air Conditioning

1902

http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/175/cache/room-air-conditioner_17521_600x450.jpg
-Brought about a new sense of comfortableness in the home
-Helped out with overheating that could've been a prevalent problem in areas where it got extremely hot in the summer
-We wouldn't be so comfortable now if air conditioning was never invented
-Did not better the world as a whole, since many people do not have the bare necessities in life, let alone an air conditioner

Airplane

1903

http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/chronicle-of-flight1.jpg
-The Wright Brothers were the first people to invent the airplane, at least one that worked
-Enabled people to travel explore, as well as giving people crowning achievements such as flying around the world in a certain time
-provided military superiority to countries who perfected airplanes

The Assembly Line

1913

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Ford_assembly_line_-_1913.jpg
-Made for a faster production of many goods
-Textile Factories, Cotton Mills, and silk production were all sped up
-Many people were forced to work in assembly lines for much longer than was reasonable,sometimes in the US

Atomic Bomb

1945

http://images.tutorvista.com/cms/images/38/atomic-bomb.gif
-Invented via the Manhattan Project and other projects funded by the US
-The US wanted to gain first knowledge of the atom bomb to let it fall into German Hands
-Killed tens of thousands of people
-Albert Einstein was a key part in the creation of the nuke, e=mc²

The Internet

1960

http://www.specialeyes.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/effective-internet-marketing-980x523.jpg
-Enabled communication on a large scale
-Enabled the world to start developing into what it is today
-Made people more connected, but less connected face to face

iPhone

2007

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/IPhone_5.png
-Probably the best invention ever right?
-Enabled connectedness on an unprecedented scale
-Provided the basis for many apple products after that that made life easier for anyone who owned them