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7 Major Inventions That Have Changed The World

Updated on June 14, 2012


There are new inventions and discoveries every day in our world. And with every invention and discovery, the way the world operates changes. However, there are some inventions such as the compass and the telephone that have completely changed the face of earth from time to time. Here is my list of 7 inventions that changed the world completely.

1. Telephone

Humans are social beings. As such, it becomes extremely necessary for us to keep in touch with our near and dear ones. But what would people do when it came to communicating with people over long distances? There definitely were other mediums of communication such as pigeons, letters, horsemen and so on. But what happens when the reliability of these goes down and it takes days and months for a message to reach another person? This was the time when Alexander Graham Bell's telephone came to the rescue enabling people to make instant calls. Today, as everyone knows, one can make an instant long distance call to any part of the world.

2. Telescope


Is sun the only star with planets or are there any other planets outside the solar system? This question would probably have never been answered if it wasn't for the invention of telescope. Though it is commonly agreed that Galileo was the first to use the telescope, there are various contentions about who the real inventor of telescope was. The inventors of telescope are known to be Hans Lippershey , Zacharias Janssen and Jacob Metius. Irrespective of who invented the telescope, the world definitely moved on from thinking that the earth was flat.

3. Compass


Sea voyages have taken place from time immemorial. Whether one believes in the Ark of Noah or not, ships were known to be built for thousands of years. But, the question that always comes to mind is about how voyagers traveled long distances without knowing where they were going. This, in fact was the problem, since there was no equipment to show which direction the sailors were headed. The introduction of compass completely changed the face of navigation. Though the magnetic compass was invented in China more than 2 thousands years ago, it was used for navigation purposes for the first time only in the 11 century AD. Since that day, there have been continuous improvements in navigational compasses to this day.

4. The Electric Lamp


Everyone has studied in high school that Thomas Alva Edison was the inventor or the electric lamp. However, very few people know that he just improved on the older idea of an electric lamp. There were quite a few people in the western world who were experimenting with the idea of an electric bulb. It is however true that Edison became extremely successful in commercializing the electric bulb. But why did an electric lamp become a revolution when people still used different forms of lamp? The answer was simple. The commercially successful electric bulbs were brighter and lasted for longer hours over the other sources of light.

5. Sony Walkman


One of the inventions that changed the world is the Walkman which was created by Sony corporation. Though not a truly earth shattering invention, it definitely changed the way people started listening to music. One of the basic necessities of today's children is to own an Apple iPod. However, it would not have been possible for Apple to come up with its gadget if Sony hadn't given birth to the idea of listening to music on the go. It completely replaced the heavy radio-tape recorders people used to carry around with a portable music player which you could carry while running.

6. The Electronic mail


Talk to an old timer about sending a mail to a person 1000 miles away from the comfort of your home with the click of a button, and he will probably laugh at you. Many of us were born in the era when we had to write a letter, take it to the post office and post it in the box and wait for it to reach the other person. But, with the advent of internet, world wide web (www) and email, things became lot more easy and convenient for people to communicate with people over long distances.

7. Gun powder


Inventions are not inherently good or bad. However, they can be used in both ways. Gun powder is such an invention. Gun powder is known to be accidentally invented by the Chinese and first used extensively by the Mongols during their conquests. It soon spread to Europe and became increasingly employed by the Europeans in their warfare due to its edge over traditional swords and lances.

These are my favorite 7 inventions that changed the world. There are other definitely few more inventions which I will try to include later. Do suggest me your favorite inventions as well.

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