Inventions Facts for Kids
Genius facts about great inventions
Automotive airbags were first patented in 1951 by German Walter Linderer after he witnessed a car accident. The first commercially available airbag was offered by Ford in 1971 on a small experimental fleet. Modern airbags deploy in about 30 milliseconds — faster than the blink of an eye — and can prevent thousands of deaths per year in automobile accidents.
Wi-Fi technology traces part of its origins to a patent filed in 1942 by Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil for a radio guidance system for torpedoes that used frequency hopping to prevent jamming. Though not directly applied during the war, the concept of spread-spectrum communication became a foundational principle in modern Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS technology. Lamarr received no royalties during her lifetime.
The first bicycle-like device, the draisine, was invented by Karl von Drais in 1817 and had no pedals — riders pushed it along with their feet like a scooter. Pedals were not added until 1865, when French mechanic Pierre Lallement attached cranks directly to the front wheel. The chain-and-sprocket mechanism that makes modern bicycles efficient wasn't developed until 1885.
The integrated circuit (microchip) was independently invented in 1958-1959 by Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments and Robert Noyce at Fairchild Semiconductor. The first chips contained just a handful of transistors; today's chips contain over 100 billion. Moore's Law, which observed that the number of transistors on a chip doubles roughly every two years, accurately predicted the pace of computing advancement for over 50 years.
Before Charles Goodyear discovered vulcanization in 1839, natural rubber became brittle in cold and sticky in heat, making it nearly useless. The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company was named in his honor (though not founded by him) and went on to become the world's largest tire manufacturer. Today, nearly 3 billion tires are produced globally each year.
Commercial sunscreen was first developed in 1938 by Swiss chemist Franz Greiter, who got badly sunburned while mountain climbing. His original SPF (sun protection factor) formula had an SPF of just 2. The concept of SPF measurement — which he also invented — was eventually standardized worldwide and remains the universal measure of sun protection on all sunscreen products today.
3D printing (stereolithography) was invented in 1984 by Charles 'Chuck' Hull, who developed a process using ultraviolet light to cure layers of resin into solid objects. He co-founded the company 3D Systems to commercialize the technology. Today, 3D printing is used to make everything from prosthetic limbs and aircraft parts to food, jewelry, and even human tissue for medical research.
André-Jacques Garnerin made the world's first parachute jump from a hydrogen balloon over Paris in 1797 — over 100 years before the first airplane flight. He dropped from 3,200 feet and landed safely, though the basket swung violently. The modern stable parachute design with a small hole in the top to allow air to escape was developed later to prevent this dangerous oscillation.
The spirit level (bubble level) was invented around 1661 by French scientist Melchisédech Thévenot. The simple device uses a curved glass vial filled with liquid and a bubble of air that centers itself between two marks when perfectly level. Despite being over 350 years old, the spirit level design is so perfect that it remains essentially unchanged and is still used by builders and engineers worldwide.
The essential concept for electronic television was invented in 1921 by Philo Farnsworth, who was just 14 years old when he sketched the idea while plowing a field in Idaho. He presented the idea to his high school chemistry teacher and spent years developing it into reality. He transmitted the first electronic television image in 1927 at the age of 21 — a straight horizontal line.