| Transportation
and Energy |
| Invention |
Date |
Inventor |
Nationality |
| Steam
pump |
1698 |
Thomas
Savery |
English |
| Steam
engine, reciprocating |
1705 |
Thomas
Newcomen |
English |
| Diving
bell |
1717 |
Edmund
Halley |
English |
| Steam
Engine |
1765 |
James
Watt |
Scottish |
| Motorized
carriage |
1769 |
Nicolas
Cugnot |
French |
| Balloon
|
1783 |
Montgolfier
brothers |
French |
| Steamboat
|
1787 |
John
Fitch |
American |
| Screw
propeller |
1804 |
John Stevens |
American |
| Steam
locomotive |
1804 |
Richard
Trevithick |
English |
| Railway
locomotive |
1814 |
George
Stephenson |
English |
| Bicycle
|
1816 |
Karl
D. Sauerbronn |
German |
| Electric
streetcar |
1834 |
Thomas
Davenport |
American |
| Regenerative
steam engine |
1847 |
William
Siemens |
British |
| Hydraulic
turbine |
1849 |
James
B. Francis |
American |
| Elevator
|
1852 |
Elisha
G. Otis |
American |
| Nonrigid
airship |
1852 |
H.
Giffard |
French |
| Sleeping
car |
1857 |
George
M. Pullman |
American |
| Gas
engine |
1860 |
Etienne
Lenoir |
French |
| Streamlined
train |
1865 |
Samuel
Calthrop |
American |
| Railway
air brakes |
1868 |
G.
Westinghouse |
American |
| Car
coupler |
1873 |
Eli
H. Janney |
American |
| Internal
combustion engine |
1875 |
Siegfried
Marcus |
Austrian |
| Gas
engine |
1876 |
Nikolaus
A. Otto |
German |
| Glider
|
1877 |
Otto
Lilienthal |
German |
| Steam
turbine |
1884 |
C.A.
Parsons |
English |
| Gasoline-powered
automobile * |
1885 |
Karl
Benz |
German |
| Air-inflated
rubber tire |
1887 |
J.B.
Dunlop |
Scottish |
"Robert
William Thomson (1822 - 1873) Invented the vulcanised
rubber pneumatic tyre.
He patented his invention in 1845, which was successfully
tested in London, however it was abandoned because it
was thought too expensive for common use. The tyre was
re-invented by John Dunlop in 1888. Thomson's invention
is commemorated by a plaque in his native Stonehaven.
He also patented the fountain pen (1849) and a steam traction
engine (1867).
Source: Great
Scots! -- Recommended by Richard Stephen, Manchester
UK (email communication, August 2, 1997) |
| Steam
turbine |
1889 |
C.G.
de Laval |
Swedish |
| Tesla
Coil * |
1891 |
Nikola
Tesla (1856 - 1943) |
Born: Belgrade, Yugoslavia; Naturalized American Citizen |
| Diesel
engine * |
1892 |
Rudolph
Diesel |
German |
| Self-powered
model airplane |
1896 |
S.P.
Langley |
American |
| Airplane
* |
1903 |
Wright
brothers |
American |
| Gyrocompass
|
1911 |
Elmer
A. Sperry |
American |
| Automobile
self-starter |
1911 |
C.F.
Kettering |
American |
| Hydroplane
|
1911 |
Glenn
Curtis |
American |
| Ethyl
gasoline |
1922 |
T.
Midgley, Jr. |
American |
| Traffic
Signal |
1923 |
Garrett
A. Morgan |
American |
| Jet
propulsion |
1937 |
Frank
Whittle |
English |
| Helicopter
*
|
1939 |
Igor
Sikorsky |
Naturalized American citizen |
| Electricity-producing
breeder reactor |
1951 |
Atomic
Energy Commission |
American |
| Solar
cell |
1954 |
D.M.
Chaplin
C.S. Fuller
G.L. Pearson |
American
American
American |
| Wankel
engine |
1956 |
Felix
Wankel |
German |
| Hovercraft
|
1956 |
Christopher
Cockerell |
English |
