Inventors

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

• Nils Alwall, (1904-1986), Sweden - the dialysis machine

• Archimedes, (circa 287 BC-212 BC), Greece

• Manfred von Ardenne, (1907-1997), Germany

• William George Armstrong, (1810-1900), England - hydraulic crane

• Joseph Aspdin, (1788-1855), England - artificial cement

• John Vincent Atanasoff, (1903-1995), Bulgaria - modern computer

B

• Charles Babbage, (1791-1871), England - Analytical engine

• Leo Baekeland (1863-1944), Belgian-American - Velox photographic paper and Bakelite

• Ralph Baer, (1922-), German born American - the home video game console

• John Logie Baird, (1888-1946), Scotland - a working television

• John Bardeen, (1908-1991), USA - co-inventor of the transistor

• Trevor Baylis, (1937- ) - a wind-up radio

• Arnold O. Beckman, (1900-2004), USA - pH meter

• Alexander Graham Bell, (1847-1922), USA - telephone

• Karl Benz, (1844-1929), Germany - the petrol-powered automobile

• Emile Berliner, (1851-1929), Germany and USA - the disc record gramophone

• Tim Berners-Lee, (1955-), England - with Robert Cailliau, the World Wide Web

• Bi Sheng, (?-1052), China - primitive movable printing types

• Katherine Blodgett, (1898-1979), England - nonreflective glass

• Claudio Artemio Blotta, b. 1936 argentinian, cutting circle device for pastry.

• Nils Bohlin, (1920-2002), Sweden - the three-point seat belt

• Joseph-Armand Bombardier, (1907-1964), Canada - snowmobile

• Seth Boyden, (1788-1870), USA - invented a nail-making machine

• Walter Houser Brattain, (1902-1987), USA - co-inventor of the transistor

• Louis Braille, (1809-1852), France - the Braille writing system

• Karl Ferdinand Braun, (1850-1918), Germany - cathode-ray tube oscilloscope

• Edwin Beard Budding, (1795-1846) England - lawnmower

• Roger Bacon, (1214-1292) England - magnifying glass

C

• Ci Ln, (c. AD 50-121), China - paper

• Marvin Camras, (1916 - 1995), USA - magnetic recording

• Chester Carlson, (1906-1968) USA - electrophotography

• Wallace Carothers, (1896-1937), USA - Nylon

• Samuel Hunter Christie, (1784-1865), England - Wheatstone bridge

• Christopher Cockerell, (1910-1999), England - Hovercraft

• Jacques Cousteau, (1910-1997), France - co-inventor of the aqualung

• Holger Crafoord, (1908-1982), Sweden - inventor of the artificial kidney

• Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, (1725-1804), France - automobile

• Juan de la Cierva, (1895--1936), Spain - the autogyro

• Richard Cinque, (1960-Current), USA - Sock Clip, Plate Caddy

• William Cullen, (1710-1790), Scotland - first artificial refrigerator

D

• Gustaf Daln, (1869-1937), Sweden - invented the AGA Lighthouse

• Salvino D'Armate - credited for inventing eyeglasses in 1284

• Lee DeForest, (1873-1961), USA - triode, amongst others

• Sir James Dewar, (1842-1923), Scotland - Thermos flask

• William Kennedy Laurie Dickson, (1860-1935), Scotland - motion picture camera

• Rudolf Diesel, (1858-1913), Germany - Diesel engine

• Karl Drais, (1785-1851), Germany - bicycle (Draisine)

• Cornelius Drebbel, (1572-1633), The Netherlands - first navigable submarine

• Richard Drew, USA - Scotch (or cellophane) tape

E

• George Eastman, (1854-1932), USA - roll film

• Thomas Edison, (1847-1931), USA - phonograph, commercially practical light bulb, amongst others

• Willem Einthoven, (1860-1927), Netherlands - the electrocardiogram

• Douglas Engelbart, (1925-), USA - the computer mouse [1]

• Rune Elmqvist (1857-1924), Sweden - implantable pacemaker

• John Ericsson (1803-1889), Sweden - the two screw-propeller

• Lars Magnus Ericsson (1846-1926), Sweden - the handheld micro telephone

F

• Philo Farnsworth, (1906-1971), USA - vacuum tube television display

• James Fergason, (1934-), USA - improved liquid crystal display

• Reginald Fessenden, (1866-1932), Canada - two-way radio

• Adolf Eugen Fick, (1829-1901), Germany - contact lens

• Alexander Fleming (August 6, 1881 - March 11, 1955) England - penicillin

• John Ambrose Fleming, (1848-1945), England - vacuum diode

• Benjamin Franklin, (1706-1790), USA - the pointed lightning rod conductor, bifocals

• William Friese-Greene, (1855-1921), England - cinematography

• Buckminster Fuller, (1895-1983), USA - geodesic dome

G

• Robert Goddard, (1882-1945), USA - liquid fuel rocket

• Heinrich Gbel, (1818-1893), Germany - first functional incandescent lamp

• Gordon Gould, (1920-2005), USA - laser

• Richard Hall Gower, (1768-1833), United Kingdom - ship's hull and rigging

• Bette Nesmith Graham, (1924-1980), USA - Liquid Paper

• Chester Greenwood, (1858-1937), USA - thermal earmuffs

• James Gregory, (1638-1675), Scotland - reflecting telescope

• William Robert Grove, (1811-1896), Wales - fuel cell

• Otto von Guericke, (1602-1686), Germany - vacuum pump

• Johann Gutenberg, (circa 1390s-1468), Germany - modern movable type printing press

H

• John Hadley, (1682-1744) - the sextant

• James Hargreaves, (1720-1778) England - invented the spinning jenny

• John Harrison, (1693-1776) England - marine chronometer

• Victor Hasselblad, (1906-1978), Sweden - invented the 6 x 6 cm single-lens reflex camera

• Rudolf Hell, (1901-2002), Germany - the Hellschreiber

• Jozef Karol Hell, (1713-1789) Slovakia -the water pillar

• Joseph Henry, (1797-1898), USA - electromagnetic relay

• Erna Schneider Hoover, USA - computerized telephone switching system

• Frank Hornby, (1863-1936) England - invented Meccano

J

• Jan Jansk, (1873-1921), Czechoslovakia - discoverer of blood types

• Karl Jatho, (1873-1933), Germany - airplane

• Carl Edvard Johansson, (1864-1943), Sweden - gage block sets

• Johan Petter Johansson, (1853-1943), Sweden - the pipe wrench and the modern adjustable spanner

• Nancy Johnson - American version of the hand cranked ice cream machine in (1843)

K

• Charles F. Kettering (1876-1958) USA - invented automobile self-starter ignition, Freon ethyl gasoline and more

• Jack Kilby, (1923-2005) USA - patented the first integrated circuit

• Fritz Klatte, (1880-1934), Germany - vinyl chloride, forerunner to polyvinyl chloride

• Margaret Knight, (1838-1914), USA - machine that completely constructs box-bottom brown paper bags

• Ivan Knunyants - (1906-1990) Ukraine invented Nylon-6

• Gleb Kotelnikov, (1872-1944), Russia - knapsack parachute

• Stephanie Kwolek, (1923-), USA - Kevlar

L

• Hedy Lamarr, (1913-2000), Austria and USA - Spread spectrum

• Edwin H. Land, (1909-1991), USA - Polaroid polarizing filters and the Land Camera

• Hkan Lans, (1942-), Sweden - STDMA datalink (Self organising Time Division Multiple Access), colour computer graphics

• Irving Langmuir, (1851-1957), USA - gas filled incandescent lamp, hydrogen welding

• Lewis Latimer - worked with Thomas Edison and patented an improved lightbulb manufacturing process

• Gustav de Laval (1845-1913), Sweden - invented the milk separator and the milking machine

• Sergei Vasiljevich Lebedev, (1874-1934), Russia - synthetic rubber

• Tim Berners-Lee, ((June 8, 1955-)) England - world wide web

• Leonardo da Vinci, (1452-1519), Italy

• Justus von Liebig, (1803-1873), Germany - nitrogen-based fertilizer

• Frans Wilhelm Lindqvist, (1862-1931), Sweden - Kerosene stove operated by compressed air

• Ivan Lupis-Vukic', (1813-1875), Croatia - self-propelled torpedo

M

• Guglielmo Marconi, (1874-1937), Italy - radio

• Elijah McCoy, (1844-1929), USA - automatic lubricator for oiling steam engines

• Jeremy McGowan, (1971-?), USA - Wound Dressing Impervious To Chemical And Biological Warfare Agents

• Antonio Meucci, (1808-1896), Italy - the telephone

• Narcis Monturiol i Estarriol, (1819-1885), Spain - steam powered submarine

• Robert Moog, (1934-2005), USA - the Moog synthesizer

• Montgolfier brothers, (1740-1810) and (1745-1799), France - hot-air balloon

• Samuel Morey, (1762-1843), USA - internal combustion engine

• Garrett A. Morgan, (1877-1963), USA - inventor of the gas mask, and traffic signal.

• Samuel Morse, (1791-1872), USA - telegraph

• Jozef Murgas (1864-1929), Slovakia - inventor of the wireless telegraph (forerunner of the radio).

N

• Alfred Nobel, (1833-1896), Sweden - dynamite

• Isaac Newton,(1642-1727), England - reflecting telescope (which reduces chromatic aberration)

• Carl Rickard Nyberg, (1858-1939), Sweden - the blowtorch

O

• Theophil Wilgodt Odhner, (1845-1903), Sweden - the Odhner Arithmometer, a mechanical calculator

• Elisha Otis, (1811-1861), USA - passenger elevator and concommitant safety device

P

• Helge Palmcrantz, (1842-1880), Sweden - the multi-barrel, lever-actuated, machine gun

• Spede Pasanen, (1930-2001), Finland - The ski jumping sling

• Slavoljub Eduard Penkala, (1871-1922), Croatia - ball point pen

• Gustaf Erik Pasch, (1788-1862), Sweden - the safety match

• Henry Perky, (1843-1906), USA - Shredded wheat

• Peter Petroff, (1919-2004), Bulgaria - digital wrist watch, heart monitor, weather instruments

• Christopher Polhem, (1661-1751), Sweden - the modern padlock

• Olivia Poole, (1889-1975), USA, White Earth Indian Reserve - the Jolly Jumper baby harness

• Baltzar von Platen (1898-1984) Sweden - refrigerator

• Mihajlo Pupin (1858-1935) Serbia - pupinisation, tunable oscillator, Pupin coil

R

• Wilhelm Conrad Rntgen, (1845-1923), Germany - the x-ray machine

• Josef Ressel, (1793-1857) Czechoslovakia - ship propeller

S

• Augustus Siebe,(1788-1872) Saxony&England Inventor of the standard diving dress

• Alberto Santos-Dumont, (1873-1932), Brazil - non-rigid airship and airplane

• Adolphe Sax, (1814-1894), Belgium - saxophone

• August Schrader, USA - Schrader valve for Pneumatic tire

• David Schwarz, (1852-1897), Croatia, - rigid ship, later called Zeppelin

• William Bradford Shockley, (1910-1989), USA - co-inventor of transistor

• Werner von Siemens, (1816-1892), Germany - an electromechanical "dynamic"

• Sir William Siemens (1823-1883), Germany - regenerative furnace

• Igor Sikorsky, (1889-1972), Ukraine - helicopter

• Aurel Stodola, (1859-1942), Slovakia - gas turbines

• Elmer Ambrose Sperry (1860-1930), USA - gyroscope-guided automatic pilot

• Levi Strauss, (1829-1902), USA - blue jeans

• John Stringfellow, (1799-1883), England - airplane

• Simon Sunatori, (1959-), Canada - inventor of Sunatori Pen

• Joseph Swan, (1828-1914), England - inventor, physicist

T

• Nikola Tesla, (1856-1943), Serbian-Croatian-American - inventor of the induction motor, alternating current polyphase power distribution system, wireless communication, robotics, logic gates, the bladeless turbine, radio and VTOL aircraft (among others).

• Benjamin Chew Tilghman, (1821-), USA - sandblasting

• Leonardo Torres y Quevedo, (1852-1936), Spain

• Alfred Traeger, (1895-1980), Australia - the pedal radio

• Franc Trkman, (1903-1978), Slovenia - electrical switches, accessories for opening windows

• Alan Turing, (1912-1954), England - the Turing machine

U

• Lewis Urry, (1927-2004), Canada - long-lasting alkaline battery

V

• Alessandro Volta, (1745-1827), Italy - battery

• Faust Vranc(ic' (1551-1617), Croatia, parachute

W

• Erik Wallenberg, (1915-1999), Sweden - invented the Tetra Pak

• Barnes Wallis, (1887-1979), England - bouncing bomb

• Ghulam Sediq Wardak, (1942-), Afghanistan - 341 unpatented inventions

• Robert Watson-Watt, (1892-1973), Scotland - microwave radar

• Jonas Wenstrm, (1855-93), Sweden - the three-phase electrical system

• George Westinghouse, (1846-1914), USA - Air brake

• Charles Wheatstone, (1802-1875), England - concertina, stereoscope, microphone, Playfair cipher

• Eli Whitney, (1765-1825), USA - the cotton gin

• Frank Whittle, (1907-1996) - co-inventor of the jet engine

• Otto Wichterle, (1913-1989) Czechoslovakia - invented modern contact lenses

• Paul Winchell, (1922-2005) - the artificial heart

• Sven Wingquist, (1876-1953), Sweden - Self-aligning ball bearing

• A. Baldwin Wood, (1879-1956), US inventor & engineer

• Granville Woods, (1856-1910), USA - the Synchronous Multiplex Railway Telegraph

• The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (1871-1948) and Wilbur Wright, (1867-1912), USA - aeroplane

• Arthur Wynne, (1862 - 1945), England - crossword puzzle

Y

• Hidetsugu Yagi, (1886-1976), Japan - Yagi antenna

• Asen Yordanoff (1886-1967) Bulgaria - Douglas DC-3

• Arthur M. Young, (1905-1995), USA - the Bell Helicopter

Z

• Ferdinand von Zeppelin, (1838-1917), Germany - rigid airship

• Konrad Zuse, (1910-1995), Germany - first functional tape-stored-program-controlled computer

• Vladimir Zworykin, (1889-1982), Russia - the iconoscope and the kinescope