20th Century Inventions 1926 - 1950
1926 - 1950>1951 - 1975>1976 - 1999>2000+

Konrad Zuse's Z1 Computer
 
1926
1927
1928
1929
  • American, Paul Galvin invents the car radio.
  • Yo-Yo re-invented as an American fad.
1930
  • Scotch tape patented by 3M engineer, Richard G. Drew.
  • The frozen food process patented by Clarence Birdseye.
  • Wallace Carothers and DuPont Labs invents neoprene.
  • The "differential analyzer", or analog computer invented by Vannevar Bush at MIT in Boston.
  • Frank Whittle and Dr Hans von Ohain both invent a jet engine.
1931
1932
  • Polaroid photography invented by Edwin Herbert Land.
  • The zoom lens and the light meter invented.
  • Carl C. Magee invents the first parking meter.
  • Karl Jansky invents the radio telescope.
1933
1934
  • Englishmen, Percy Shaw invents cat eyes or roads reflectors.
  • Charles Darrow claims he invented the game Monopoly.
  • Joseph Begun invents the first tape recorder for broadcasting - first magnetic recording.
1935
  • Wallace Carothers and DuPont Labs invents nylon ( polymer 6.6.)
  • The first canned beer made.
  • Robert Watson-Watt patented radar.
1936
  • Bell Labs invents the voice recognition machine.
  • Samuel Colt patents the Colt revolver.
1937
1938
1939
1940
1941
  • Konrad Zuse's Z3, the first computer controlled by software.
  • Aerosol spray cans invented by American inventors, Lyle David Goodloe and W.N. Sullivan.
  • Enrico Fermi invents the neutronic reactor
1942
  • John Atanasoff and Clifford Berry built the first electronic digital computer.
  • Max Mueller designs a turboprop engine.
1943
  • Synthetic rubber invented.
  • Richard James invents the slinky.
  • James Wright invent silly putty.
  • Swiss chemist, Albert Hofmann discovered the hallucinogenic properties of LSD.
  • Emile Gagnan and Jacques Cousteau invent the aqualung.
1944
1945
1946
1947
  • British/Hungarian scientist, Dennis Gabor, developed the theory of holography.
  • Mobile phones first invented. Although cell phones were not sold commercially until 1983, AT&T came up with the idea way back.
  • Bardeen, Brattain, and Shockley invent the transistor.
  • Earl Silas Tupper patented the Tupperware seal.
1948
1949
  • Cake mix invented.
1950
  • The first credit card (Diners) invented by Ralph Schneider.