Roll Film & Roll Film CameraKodak’s original camera contained plates. Later versions contained one-hundred exposures; customers would take their pictures, mail in their camera, and the company mailed back developed pictures and a refilled camera. Roll film changed all that, vastly lowering the cost and complexity of photography and eventually enabling the creation of movie film. Ordinary people could purchase … Continue reading "Roll Film & Roll Film Camera"
Charge-Coupled Device (CCD)1969 William BoyleGeorge Smith “We are the ones who started this profusion of little cameras all over the world.” William Boyle Charged Coupled Devices (CCD’s) are a special type of chip that reacts to light. They are inexpensive and especially useful in imagining, enabling digital photography and video. William Boyle and George Smith worked for … Continue reading "Charge-Coupled Device (CCD)"
High Fidelity Sound Recording & PlaybackBackground German engineer Eduard Schüller created and patented the Magnetophon, a high-fidelity audio recording and playback machine. Working for German company AEG, he patented the invention in December 1933. AEG was a leading electrical company that had evolved from the Deutsche Edison Gesellschaft, the German Edison Company. Schüller perfected an earlier tape-recording device invented by … Continue reading "High Fidelity Sound Recording & Playback"
Cathode-ray Tube (CRT)Cathode ray tubes are a vacuum tube with an electron gun at the back. The gun shoots electrons through the vacuum onto a screen which creates images. Thick screens that predate flat-screen televisions and computer monitors are cathode ray technology. Background German scientists Julius Plücker and Johan Hittorf discovered cathode-ray tubes. Hittorf noticed a negative … Continue reading "Cathode-ray Tube (CRT)"
BarbieIn 1945, Harold “Matt” Matson and Elliot Handler created a garage-based manufacturing business. They named it by combining their first names, Mattel. First, they manufactured picture frames. Using the leftover pieces of wood, Elliot built dollhouses that sold well. Soon, Matson dropped out of the business leaving it solely owned by Handler and his wife, … Continue reading "Barbie"
JukeboxThe Jukebox is an automated coin-operated music player which plays individual songs. The differentiating factor of the Jukebox from a simple coin-operated record player is the ability of an automated machine to replace live music in a restaurant or bar. Background Louis Glass and William Arnold modified Edison’s record players to operate by coins. These … Continue reading "Jukebox"
Central BanksBackground The first central bank was Swedish Riksbank. The Swedish government chartered it to act as a clearinghouse for commerce. In 1694, the Bank of England was founded. It’s primary purpose was to purchase government debt. Napoleon chartered the Banque de France to stabilize currency after the French Revolution. Early central banks, and their modern … Continue reading "Central Banks"
Nuclear WeaponsCaltech professor Robert Oppenheimer lead a team of researchers at Los Alamos to invent the atomic bomb. Along with some of the most noteworthy physicists in the world, he oversaw the development of the nuclear bomb. The Manhattan Project, like the code-breaking at Bletchley Park, was intensely secretive. Los Alamos, in New Mexico, was built … Continue reading "Nuclear Weapons"
MotorcycleAfter engineering a buggy that runs on four wheels it didn’t take long to realize a motorized bicycle would work well. Motorcycles are more efficient than cars: they use less fuel and take less space. However, they’re more dangerous than cars, offering far less protection in the event of a crash. They’re also fun. In … Continue reading "Motorcycle"
RocketsIn 1914, Goddard patented the first rocket and, in 1926, Goddard fired the first liquid-fueled rocket. Goddard predicted rockets would one day enable space flight, a prediction widely ridiculed as science fiction. Eventually, in 1929, Oberth fired his modern liquid-fueled rocket. Oberth eventually taught Wernher von Braun, who perfect modern rocketry. In time, both Oberth … Continue reading "Rockets"
Voice Over IP (VOIP)Voice Over IP (VOIP) transmits voice calls over the internet, allowing people to speak to one another. Invented in 1995, VOIP came about after countless seemingly more complex inventions including web-based video. Interestingly, the likely reason for the late invention date is incentives. Businesses believed that the internet would work well for broadcasting, displacing other … Continue reading "Voice Over IP (VOIP)"
Steam Engine (Newcomen)The Newcomen steam engine removed water from mines. It worked but was extremely inefficient. Steam was not recycled (re-condensed) so the Newcomen engine required an enormous amount of coal to continually boil water. When used at a coal mine, where scrap coal was essentially free, this cost less than having workers remove water by the … Continue reading "Steam Engine (Newcomen)"
Automation Armageddon: a Legitimate Worry?Right now, we have 122 major innovations that involve some type of automation. Click here to see the list. Putting it mildly, many of them were not met with enthusiasm. For example, Frenchman Barthélemy Thimonnier invented the sewing machine only to see his factory burnt down by worried tailors. The “American Manufacturing Method” using standardized … Continue reading "Automation Armageddon: a Legitimate Worry?"
Catalytic ConverterCatalytic converters prevent knocking in engines without leaded fuel. Houdry was a Frenchman working on high-octane fuels. His initial focus were race cars. Sun Oil sponsored the early work, in the 1930’s, moving Houdry to the US. The fuel work was a success but could not be use in mass production because the catalysts that … Continue reading "Catalytic Converter"
Long-Term MortgagesMortgages are loans to purchase a property. The word derives from the French “mort” and meant death pledge with the obligation ending when the loan was paid off or the property repossessed. Background The Dutch have the earliest mortgages. Originally in the Netherlands, people saved money and purchased their house for cash. However, starting in … Continue reading "Long-Term Mortgages"