Inventions Facts for Kids
Genius facts about great inventions
Leonardo da Vinci sketched a parachute design around 1485, more than 300 years before one was actually used. A modern engineer built da Vinci's design in 2000 and successfully jumped from a hot-air balloon with it.
Gunpowder was invented in China around 850 AD by alchemists who were trying to make a potion for immortality. The Chinese first used it for fireworks before it was used in weapons.
The telescope was invented around 1608 by Dutch spectacle-maker Hans Lippershey when he noticed that two lenses held together made distant objects appear closer. Galileo heard about the idea and built a much improved version within a year.
The car airbag was invented in 1952 by John Hetrick after a sudden stop in his car gave him the idea for a cushioned safety device. It took until the 1980s for airbags to become standard in most cars.
The barcode was patented in 1952 by Norman Woodland and Bernard Silver, inspired by Morse code. The first product ever scanned using a barcode at a supermarket checkout was a pack of Wrigley's chewing gum in 1974.
Aspirin is based on a compound found in willow bark, which ancient Egyptians used to treat pain around 1500 BC. The modern tablet form was developed by Bayer in Germany in 1899.
Bakelite, the first fully synthetic plastic, was invented by Leo Baekeland in 1907. It was used in everything from telephones to jewellery and is often called the material of a thousand uses.
Elias Howe invented the modern sewing machine in 1846, making it possible to produce clothing much faster than by hand. A sewing machine can stitch about 900 stitches per minute — far more than any person could manage.
The first electric refrigerator for home use was sold in 1913, but before that, people kept food cold using large blocks of ice cut from frozen lakes. An entire industry existed just to harvest and deliver natural ice.
Mechanical clocks were first built in Europe around the 13th century and were placed in church towers so entire towns could hear the bells. Early clocks had no minute hands — just an hour hand — because timekeeping was not yet precise enough.