Inventions That Changed the World

The Gun

Jan 15, 200460 min

There would be no guns without gunpowder, the volatile mixture of saltpetre (potassium nitrate), charcoal and sulphur that came to Europe in the 14th century. Chinese chemists were experimenting with early forms of gunpowder by the 9th cent

The Computer

Jan 22, 200460 min

In Victorian times 'computers' were people who added up rows of figures. Now they are mechanical wonders - without them we couldn't fly planes, drive cars or even run our dishwashers. We need them, but will they ever get smart enough to t

The Jet Engine

Jan 29, 200460 min

When Sir Frank Whittle was developing his revolutionary jet engines during the 1940s, he needed robust but lightweight airframes to attach them to. Aluminium was the answer. Modern aviation could not have developed without this versatile, l

The Telephone

Feb 6, 200460 min

At the time of Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson's first successful telephone transmission in 1875, the only wires strong enough to be strung over long distances were made of iron. Iron wires had been used for telegraph systems but th

The Television

Feb 12, 200460 min

Television would never have developed without the cathode ray tube (CRT). It was invented by a German, Karl Ferdinand Braun, in 1897. A CRT is a glass vacuum tube with a narrow neck that flares into a flat "screen" at one end. The inside su