#e <t>inv<d>1733<n>achromatic lens<c>Essex<info>The achromatic lens, which uses compound layers of different materials to cancel or minimise dispersive effects, was invented by Chester Moor Hall.
#e <t>inv<t>phys<d>1746<n>Leyden Jar<c>Leiden<info>The earliest form of capacitor was the Leyden jar. It is named for the University of Leyden (Leiden). The earliest Leyden jar was a glass vial, partially filled with water and stoppered with a cork that was pierced with a wire or nail that dipped into the water. Later ones were essentially a glass jar with inside and outside layers of metal foil. Modern capacitors are less cumbersome, but work by the same principle.<ref>Grolier
#e <t>design<d>1908<n>Model T introduced<au>Henry Ford<info>By 1912 there were 7,000 Ford dealers across the U.S. The Model T line closed in 1927, by which time 15 million had been made. The Model A was introduced in 1927.
#p <nat>American<o>inventor<n>Thomas Edison<b>1847 Feb 11<d>1931
#p <nat>American<o>inventor<n>Alexander Graham Bell<b>1847 Mar 3<d>1922
#e <t>inv<d>1823<n>waterproof fabric<c>Scotland<info>Charles Macintosh devised a practical method of waterproofing fabric with rubber.
#e <t>inv<d>1825<n>limelight<c>Britain<info>Thomas Drummond invented a lamp in which a burning jet of hydrogen and oxygen is directed toward a small ball of lime. The flame becomes incandescent. This innovation, which was developed for lighthouses but also found use on the stage, became known as limelight.
#e <t>inv<d>1845<n>pneumatic tire<c>Scotland<info>The pneumatic tire was invented by Robert Thomson for horse-drawn carriages.
#e <t>inv<d>1848<c>France<n>aneroid barometer
#e <t>inv<d>1849<n>electrolysis of water<c>Belgium<info>
The production of hydrogen and oxygen gasses by electrolysis of water was discovered by Floris Nollet.
#e <t>constr<d>1863<n>London underground<c>London
#e <t>inv<d>1871<n>arc light<c>Belgium<info>
The carbon arc light, which produces light with an electric arc between two carbon electrodes, was invented by Zénobe Gramme.
#e <t>inv<d>1888<n>ballpoint pen<c>U.S.<info>by John Loud
#e <t>inv<d>1890<n>Hollerith machine<c>U.S.<info>Herman Hollerith develops an electrically driven census machine that reads punch cards. Six years later, he founded the company that eventually became IBM.
#e <t>inv<d>1898<n>dirigible torpedo<au>Tesla<info>Tesla designed a remote-control torpedo. Previous steerable torpedoes had used cables. Tesla said, "War will cease to be possible when all the world knows that tomorrow the most feeble of the nations can supply itself immediately with a weapon which will render its coast secure and its ports impregnable to the assaults of the united armadas of the world."<ref>Sci Am 1998 Nov pg. 14
#e <t>inv<d>1898<n>magnetic recording<c>Denmark<info>Valdemar Poulsen invented a device that recorded a human voice magnetically on steel wires or ribbons. The invention was intended to be used as a telephone answering machine
#e <t>electronics<d>1899 Mar<n>cross-Channel radio<c>English Channel<au>Marconi<info>The first wireless telegraph message across the English Channel was sent by Marconi in March 1899.
// 20th century
#e <t>electronics<d>1901 Dec 12<n>transatlantic radio<c>Cornwall<mov>1901 Dec 12<c>Saint John's<au>Marconi<info>Marconi made the first transatlantic radio communication on December 12, 1901, from Cornwall, England, to Saint John's, Newfoundland, where Marconi had set up receiving equipment.
#e <t>electronics<d>1904<e>1905<n>vacuum tube<c>London<info>The first diode was developed by Sir J. Ambrose Fleming in 1905, but the basic principle of a current passing in only one direction through such a device was first observed by Thomas Edison in 1883.
#e <t>inv<t>phys<d>1908<n>Geiger counter<c>Germany<info>Also known as a Geiger-Muller counter, the device takes its name from the German physicists Hans Geiger and Wilhelm Muller. It is an instrument used to detect and measure the intensity of radiation, such as beta particles and cosmic rays, by making an audible tick when detecting a particle.
#e <t>construction<d>1914<n>Panama canal<c>Panama<info>The Panama canal opened to commercial traffic in 1914. Built and leased by the U.S., it returns to Panamanian sovereignty in 2000.
#e <t>electronics<d>1918<n>superheterodyne circuit<c>New York<info>developed by Edwin Armstrong.
#e <t>inv<d>1927<n>scotch tape
#e <t>electronics<d>1927 Sep 7<n>electronic image transmission<c>San Francisco<info>Philo Farnsworth conceived of the idea of electronic picture transmission in 1921, at age 15, and made the first working experimental model in 1927.
#e <t>inv<d>1929<n>van de Graaff generator<c>U.S.
#e <t>building<d>1931<n>Empire State Building<c>New York City
#e <t>electronics<d>1933<n>FM broadcasting<c>New York<info>Frequency modulation was developed by Edwin Armstrong between 1925 and 1933.
#e <t>inv<t>phys<n>cyclotron<d>1934<info>The cyclotron was invented by Ernest O. Lawrence and M. S. Livingston. Lawrence conceived of it in 1929.
#e <t>electronics<d>1939<n>pulse-code modulation<info>Pulse-code modulation converts analog information into a digital signal.
#e <t>collapse<n>Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapses<d>1940 Nov 7<c>Tacoma Narrows
#e <t>inv<d>1941<n>aerosol can<c>U.S.<info>Invented by Lyle Goodhue and William Sullivan.
#e <t>constr<n>Grand Coulee Dam becomes operational<c>Grand Coulee Dam<d>1941 Mar 22
#e <t>inv<d>1942<n>bubble wrap
#e <t>discovery<d>1945<n>microwave cooking<c>U.S.<info>Microwave cooking was discovered by Raytheon technician Percy Spencer when a microwave signal melted a candy bar in his pocket.
#e <t>electronics<n>transistor<d>1947 Dec<c>U.S.<info>The transistor was invented at Bell Laboratories by John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Schockley.
#e <t>inv<d>1947<n>radiocarbon dating<c>U.S.<info>Radiocarbon dating was invented by U.S. chemist Willard Libby.
#e <t>inv<d>1952<n>Mylar recording tape
#e <t>electronics<d>1953<n>NTSC<c>U.S.<info>After World War II, television developed rapidly throughout the world, most of Europe choosing a 625-line system that was incompatible with the U.S. 525-line standard. The U.S. standard, however, is used in most of the Western Hemisphere and the Far East. Over the objections of much of the television industry, the FCC in 1950 approved a color television system developed by CBS that was incompatible with the millions of black-and-white sets then in use. This 441-line system never came into widespread use, and a second NTS Committee was convened to develop a compatible color system. The 525-line NTSC color system, compatible with its black-and-white system, gained FCC approval in 1953, but it was ten years before the public responded and bought color sets in any significant numbers. In Europe, two different 625-line color systems were introduced.<ref>Grolier
#e <t>inv<d>1956<n>hydrogen bomb<c>Bikini Atoll<info>The U.S. explodes a hydrogen bomb in the South Pacific.
#e <t>electronics<n>integrated cicuit<d>1959<c>U.S.<info>by Noyce & Moore
#e <t>electronics<d>1960<n>touch tone dialing<c>U.S.<info>AT&T introduces touch tone dialing.
#e <t>design<d>1963<n>compact audiocassette<c>Netherlands<info>The compact audiocassette was introduced by Philips.
#e <t>use<d>1978<n>laser videodiscs<c>Netherlands<info>The Philips Company developed LaserVision, an optical disc in which video and audio signals are encoded in the form of microscopic pits beneath the surface of a reflective disc measuring approximately 30.5 cm in diameter. Laser videodiscs first appeared on the market in 1978.
#e <t>electronics<d>1979<n>cellular phones<c>Sweden<info>Ericsson introduces its first cellular phone.
#e <t>design<d>1982<n>audio CD
// Flight
#e <t>flight<d>1903 Dec 17<n>Wright brothers' first flight<c>Kitty Hawk<info>This was the first manned, powered flight of a heavier-than-air craft. Orville Wright flew the Wright Flyer 120 feet in 12 seconds.
#e <t>flight<d>1939<n>jet aircraft<c>Germany<info>The first flight by a jet aircraft was in 1939. It was built by German Ernst Heinkel.
#e <t>flight<d>1947<n>sound barrier broken<c>U.S.<info>U.S.A.F. test pilot Chuck Yeager travels faster than Mach 1.0.
#e <t>flight<d>1970 Nov 4<n>Concorde exceeds Mach 2<c>Europe<info>The Concorde entered service in 1976.
#e <t>flight<d>1998 Aug 20<e>1998 Aug 21<n>unmanned trans-Atlantic flight<c>Newfoundland<dep>1998 Aug 20<arr>1998 Aug 21<c>Outer Hebrides<info>The first trans-Atlantic crossing by an unmanned airplane is accomplished.
#e <t>financial<d>1999 Jan 4<n>Euro begins trading<c>Europe<info>After its official introduction on January 1, 1999, Europe's new united currency begins trading on Monday the 4th.
