Showing 26 - 50 of 66 results
Joseph Lechleider
DSL - Digital Subscriber Line
Although inventors such as Alexander Graham Bell and Samuel Morse had speculated that data other than voice information could be transmitted over…
Joshua Lionel Cowen
Toy Train
Joshua Lionel Cowen invented model railroads in the early 20th century.
Born in New York City, Cowen attended the Cooper Union and Columbia College…
Robert Wentorf, Jr.
Diamond Synthesis
Robert Wentorf, along with Tracy Hall, Francis Bundy, and Herbert Strong, synthesized diamonds as part of Project Superpressure, as announced by the…
William Nebergall
Stannous Fluoride Toothpaste
Dentist and biochemist Joseph Muhler and inorganic chemist William Nebergall developed a cavity-preventing product using stannous fluoride, building…
J. Paul Hogan
High-Density Polyethylene and Polypropylene Plastics
Paul Hogan was working with Robert Banks at Phillips Petroleum in 1951 when they invented crystalline polypropylene and a breakthrough process for…
Francis P. Bundy
Diamond Synthesis
Francis Bundy, along with Tracy Hall, Robert Wentorf, and Herbert Strong, synthesized diamonds as part of Project Superpressure, as announced by the…
Gordon Gould
Optically Pumped Laser Amplifiers
Gordon Gould coined the word laser and patented optically pumped and discharge excited laser amplifiers now used in industrial, commercial, and…
Andrea Goldsmith
Adaptive Beamforming for Multi-Antenna Wi-Fi
Andrea Goldsmith created technical innovations including adaptive beamforming for multi-antenna Wi-Fi. Her work has shaped the performance of…
Frank Whittle
Jet Engine
By 1929, Frank Whittle had conceptualized the turbojet engine. The 1930s, however, proved challenging as he sought financial support and interest…
Frederic Eugene Ives
Color Photography
Frederic Ives was a pioneer of color and stereoscopic photography, and demonstrated a system of natural color photography at the 1885 Novelties…
Joseph-Armand Bombardier
Snowmobile
Joseph-Armand Bombardier invented the Ski-Doo® snowmobile in 1959. It was the first mass-produced snow machine, and it launched snowmobiling as a…
John Roebling
Suspension Bridge
In 1841, John Roebling invented a wire rope in order to improve upon the bulkier and weaker hemp fiber rope being used to haul canal boats along the…
Dawon Kahng
MOSFET
Dawon Kahng was an inventor of the first practical field-effect transistor, a device that controls electronic signals by switching them on or off or…
Iver Anderson
Lead-Free Solder
Iver Anderson invented lead-free solder, a revolutionary tin, silver, and copper alternative to traditional tin and lead solder. Anderson's solder…
Aran Safir
Iris Recognition System
Aran Safir and Leonard Flom worked together in the 1980s on their concept for an iris identification system. They based their work on the fact that…
Charles Proteus Steinmetz
Alternating Current
Without Charles Steinmetz's theories of alternating current, the expansion of the electric power industry in the United States in the early 20th…
Stanley N. Cohen
Genetic Engineering
In 1973, Stan Cohen and Herb Boyer worked together to understand how genes work and ended up proving that DNA cloning was feasible. Their experiments…
Jacob Rabinow
Optical Character Reading
Jacob Rabinow invented machines that could recognize text, making it possible to automate vast amounts of routine work formerly done by hand.
A…
Percy Lavon Julian
Preparation of Cortisone
Percy Lavon Julian synthesized physostigmine for treatment of glaucoma and cortisone for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. He is also noted for…
Helen Blanchard
Zig-Zag Sewing Machine
Helen Blanchard's improvements to the sewing machine allowed for the industrial growth of sewing machines. Twenty-two of Blanchard's twenty-eight…
Felix Hoffmann
Aspirin
Felix Hoffmann first made acetylsalicylic acid, better known today as aspirin, to ease his father's arthritis. However, aspirin's history begins long…
Patsy O. Sherman
Scotchgard™ Textile Protector
Chemist Patsy Sherman and colleague Sam Smith were working at 3M Company when they created Scotchgard™. Scotchgard went on to become one of the most…
Thomas Blanchard
Pattern Lathe
Thomas Blanchard devised a machine that transformed gun manufacturing and made the production of many other products faster and less expensive.…
Donald B. Keck
Optical Fiber
Donald B. Keck worked with Robert Maurer and Peter Schultz at Corning Laboratories to create the first successful optical fiber in 1970. In the 1880s…
Zenobe Theophile Gramme
Direct-Current Dynamo
Zenobe Theophile Gramme invented the first successful direct-current (DC) dynamo. His dynamo, or generator, produced much higher voltages than…