A list of famous inventors from Archimedes to Tim Berners-Lee.
Newton was
Archimedes (287 BCE – c. 212 BCE) Archimedes
of Syracuse was an ancient Greek mathematician, physicist,
engineer, inventor, and astronomer. Amongst other things he
calculated pi and developed the Archimedes screw for lifting up
water from mines or wells.
Cai Lun (50–121 CE), Chinese inventor of paper.
Cai Lun was a Chinese political administrator credited with inventing
modern paper and inventing the paper-making process. His
invention included the use of raw materials such as bark, hemp, silk
and fishing net. The sheets of fibre were suspended in water before
removing for drying.
Leonardo Da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian artist,
scientist and polymath. Da Vinci invented a huge range of machines
and drew models that proved workable 3-500 years later. These
included prototype parachutes, tanks, flying machines and single-
span bridges. More practical inventions included an optical lens
grinder and various hydraulic machines.
Galileo (1564–1642) Italian scientist. Galileo
developed a powerful telescope and confirmed revolutionary
theories about the nature of the world. Also developed an improved
compass.
Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1726) English scientist.
Newton invented the reflecting telescope. This greatly improved the
capacity of telescopes and reduced optical distortion.
also a great physicist and astronomer.
Thomas Savery (c. 1650–1715) English inventor.
Savery patented one of the first steam engines which was pioneered
for use in pumping water from mines. This original Savery steam
engine was basic, but it was used as a starting point in later
developments of the steam engine.
Thomas Newcomen (1664–1729) English
inventor who created the first practical steam engine for pumping
water from mines. He worked with Savery’s initial design, but
significantly improved it, using atmospheric pressure which was
safer and more effective for use in mines to remove water.
Jethro Tull (1674–1741) English agricultural
entrepreneur. Tull invented the seed drill and horse-drawn hoe. The
seed drill improved the efficiency of farming and led to increased
yields. It was an important invention in the agricultural revolution
which increased yields prior to the industrial revolution.
Abraham Darby (1678–1717) English Quaker,
inventor and businessman. Darby developed a process for producing
large quantities of pig iron from coke. Coke smelted iron was a
crucial raw material in the industrial revolution.
John Harrison (1693–1776) English carpenter
and clockmaker. He invented a device for measuring longitude at
sea. This was a crucial invention to improve the safety of navigating
the oceans.

Benjamin Franklin (1705–1790) American
polymath who discovered electricity and invented the Franklin
stove, the lightning rod and bifocals. Franklin was also an American
statesman and an influential figure in the development of modern
America.
William Cullen (1710–1790) Scottish physician
and chemist. He is credited with inventing the basis for the first
artificial refrigerator, although it took others to make his designs
suitable for practical use.
John Wilkinson (1728–1808) English
industrialist. John ‘Iron Mad’ Wilkinson developed the manufacture
and use of cast iron. These precision-made cast iron cylinders were
important in steam engines.
Sir Richard Arkwright (1732–1792) English
entrepreneur and ‘father of the industrial revolution.’ Arkwright was
a leading pioneer of the spinning industry. He invented the spinning
frame and was successful in using this in mass-scale factory
production.
James Watt (1736–1819) Scottish inventor of
the steam engine, which was suitable for use in trains. His invention
of a separate condensing chamber greatly improved the efficiency of
steam. It enabled the steam engine to be used for a greater range of
purpose than just pumping water.
Alessandro Volta (1745–1827), Italian physicist,
credited with inventing the battery. Volta invented the first
electrochemical battery cell. It used zinc, copper and an electrolyte,
such as sulphuric acid and water.
Sir Humphrey Davy (1778–1829) English
inventor of the Davy lamp. The lamp could be used by miners in
areas where methane gas existed because the design prevented a
flame escaping the fine gauze.
Charles Babbage (1791–1871) English
mathematician and inventor. Babbage created the first mechanical
computer, which proved to be the prototype for future computers.
Considered to be the ‘Father of Computers,’ despite not finishing a
working model.
Michael Faraday (1791–1867) English scientist
who helped convert electricity into a format that could be easily
used. Faraday discovered benzene and also invented an early form
of the Bunsen burner.
Samuel Morse (1791–1872) American inventor
Morse used principles of Jackson’s electromagnet to develop a
single telegraph wire. He also invented Morse code, a method of
communicating via telegraph.

William Henry Fox Talbot (1800–1877) British
Victorian pioneer of photography. He invented the first negative,
which could make several prints. He is known for inventing the
calotype process (using Silver Chloride) of taking photographs.
Louis Braille (1809–1852) French inventor. Louis
Braille was blinded in a childhood accident. He developed the Braille
system of reading for the blind. He also developed a musical Braille,
for reading music scores.
Kirkpatrick Macmillan (1812–1878) Scottish
inventor of the pedal bicycle. Kirkpatrick’s contribution was to make
a rear wheel driven bicycle through the use of a chain, giving the
basic design for the bicycle as we know it today.
James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879) Scottish
physicist and inventor. Maxwell invented the first process for
producing colour photography. Maxwell was also considered one of
the greatest physicists of the millennium.
Karl Benz (1844–1929), German inventor and
businessman. Benz developed the petrol-powered car. In 1879, Benz
received his first patent for a petrol-powered internal combustion
engine, which made an automobile car practical. Benz also became a
successful manufacturer.
Thomas Edison (1847–1931) American inventor
who filed over 1,000 patents. He developed and innovated a wide
range of products from the electric light bulb to the phonograph and
motion picture camera. One of the greatest inventors of all time.
Alexander Bell (1847–1922) Scottish scientist
credited with inventing the first practical telephone. Also worked on
optical telecommunications, aeronautics and hydrofoils.
Nikola Tesla (1856–1943) American Physicist
who invented fluorescent lighting, the Tesla coil, the induction
motor, 3-phase electricity and AC electricity.
Rudolf Diesel (1858–1913), German inventor of
the Diesel engine. Diesel sought to build an engine which had much
greater efficiency. This led him to develop a diesel-powered
combustion engine.
Édouard Michelin (1859–1940), French inventor
of a pneumatic tire. John Dunlop invented the first practical
pneumatic tyre in 1887. Michelin improved on this initial design to
develop his own version in 1889.
Marie Curie (1867–1934) Polish born French
chemist and physicist. Curie discovered Radium and helped make
use of radiation and X-rays.
 Turing machine, capable of automating processes. It could be
adapted to simulate the logic of any computer algorithm.

The Wright Brothers (1871–1948) American

inventors who successfully designed, built and flew the first
powered aircraft in 1903. Robert Noyce (1927–1990) American 20th-
century electrical engineer. Along with Jack Kilby, he invented the
microchip or integrated circuit. He filed for a patent in 1959. The
microchip fueled the computer revolution.

Alexander Fleming (1881–1955), Scottish

scientist. Fleming discovered the antibiotic penicillin by accident
from the mould Penicillium notatum in 1928.
James Dyson (1947– ) British entrepreneur. He
developed the bag-less vacuum cleaner using Dual Cyclone action.
His Dyson company has also invented revolutionary hand dryers.

John Logie Baird (1888–1946) Scottish inventor

who invented the television and the first recording device.

Tim Berners-Lee (1955– ) British computer

scientist. Tim Berners-Lee is credited with inventing the World Wide
Web, which enabled the internet to display websites viewable on
internet browsers. He developed the http:// protocol for the
internet and made the world wide web freely available.

Enrico Fermi (1901–1954) Italian scientist who

developed the nuclear reactor. Fermi made important discoveries in
induced radioactivity. He is considered the inventor of the nuclear
reactor.

Steve Jobs (1955–2011) American entrepreneur

and developer. Jobs helped revolutionise personal computer devices
with the iPod, iPad, Macbook and iPhone. He is credited with
inventing the new wave of hand-held personal computer devices.
J. Robert Oppenheimer (1904–1967), United
States – Atomic bomb. Oppenheimer was in charge of the Inventors and Entrepreneurs of the Industrial Revolution
Manhattan project which led to the creation of the first atomic
bomb, later dropped in Japan. He later campaigned against his own
invention.

Edmund Cartwright (1743-1823) – English

Alan Turing (1912–1954) English 20th century inventor, and member of the Anglican clergy. Cartwright invented
mathematician, pioneer of computer science. He developed the the power loom which significantly increased the efficiency of textile
production. He also developed a wool combing machine.
 Robert Owen (1771 – 1858) – Welsh social Sir Henry Bessemer (1813 – 1898) an English
reformer who attempted to build a utopian socialist and co- engineer, inventor, and businessman. Bessemer’s greatest
operative movement. Owen sought to consider the welfare of his contribution was to the mass production of steel, which was a key
workers, something usually overlooked in the industrial revolution. component of the second wave of the industrial revolution.

Social activists of the industrial revolution

Sir Humphrey Davy (1778 – 1829) – English

chemist and inventor. He invented the Davy lamp used by miners to
help detect gas and improve safety. He also discovered several
alkaline earth metals and discovered more about the chemical
properties of chlorine and iodine. Karl Marx (1818 – 1883) Marx saw the
industrial revolution as being a stage in the eventual struggle and
triumph of the Proletariat. Marx felt it was a historical inevitability
that the oppressed workers of industrial states would eventually
revolt against the capitalist class.

George Stephenson (1781 – 1848) Mechanical

engineer, who developed the steam engine for use in trains. He was
a key figure in building the 25 mile Stockton and Darlington railway.
Stephenson also built the first intercity railway between Liverpool
and Manchester – ushering in the ‘railway age’. Friedrich Engels (1820 – 1895) German social
scientist and political activist. His work, The Condition of the
Working Class in England (1844), explained the dire conditions of the
workers caught up in the industrial revolution. In 1848, he co-
authored the ‘Communist Manifesto’ with Karl Marx.

Joseph Locke (1805 – 1860) English civil

engineer. Locke was an important railway pioneer. He built the
Grand Junction Railway which connected the Liverpool railway to
Crewe and Birmingham. He developed new techniques for laying
rails and was considered better at finishing projects than Charles Dickens (1812 – 1870) English writer
Stephenson. and social critic. Dickens lived through the industrial revolution and
became a harsh critic of its worst excesses.

Political Groups

Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806 – 1859)

English engineer. Brunel was at the heart of many of the key building
projects of the British industrial revolution. He built the Great
Western Railway from Bristol to London and also developed
powerful steamships. He also built the first tunnel under a navigable
river. The Luddites were a group of 19th-century
English skilled workers who were concerned about losing their
skilled jobs in the textile industry. They saw power looms and
spinning frames as the death knell for their profession. They began
smashing machines in different factories in protest.

Tolpuddle Martyrs In 1834, a group of Dorset

agricultural labourers who were arrested for and convicted of
swearing a secret oath as members of the Friendly Society of
Agricultural Labourers. Their case attracted considerable sympathy,
and eventually, they were released. The event is considered an
important milestone in the trade union movement.

 Industrial Revolutionaries: The Making of the Modern World

1776-1914 at Amazon.com

 Industrial Revolutionaries: The Making of the Modern World

1776-1914 at Amazon.co.uk
Chartists – Chartists were a political reform
movement, active between 1838 and 1850. Their main aim was to
Related pages
achieve universal male suffrage. They gained mass petitions and
organised mass protests hoping to put pressure on politicians to
extend the franchise.

American industrial revolution

People of the Eighteenth-Century (1800-1899)

Famous leaders, statesmen, scientists, philosophers and authors.
Including; Louis XIV, Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, George
Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

Andrew Carnegie (1835 – 1919) Born in

Scotland to poor parents, Carnegie moved to America where he
became very wealthy through dominating the US steel industry.

People of the Nineteenth Century (1801 to

1900) Nineteenth Century saw the economic boom of the industrial
revolution and world-wide movements for political change.

John D. Rockefeller (1839 – 1937) Rockefeller

became one of the richest persons in the world through his
dominance of the oil and railroad industries. He became a generous
philanthropist giving money to his church, education, medical
Victorian age (1837 – 1901) The principle
science and public health.
figures of the Victorian age and the second half of the industrial
revolution.

Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan. “Famous people of the Industrial

Revolution”, Oxford, www.biographyonline.net, 12th Dec 2013

Industrial Revolutionaries: The Making of the Modern World 1776-

1914
 Famous Inventors – Famous inventors; including
many from the period of the industrial revolution.
Archimedes Screw (3rd Century BC).
Also: Invented by Archimedes of Syracuse, this innovative design enabled
water to be pulled uphill against gravity.
Famous Inventions

A list of famous inventions that helped change the world.

Note. Many inventions are often progressive developments, with no

one person fully responsible. In many cases it is hard to pin-point the
exact date and person responsible for the invention. Sometimes
many people are involved, with a basic model being improved on
and turned into workable models.

Atomic Bomb (1939-1945) Between

this period a team of scientists developed the first atomic bomb as
part of the Manhattan project. Chief of the project was Robert
Oppenheimer. Albert Einstein’s letter in 1939 warning that the Nazi’s
were developing a bomb, was important in creating an impetus for
the project.
Aluminium (1880s) Aluminium is one
of the most abundant metals. But, it was only in the 1880s that
production processes were invented which enabled aluminium to be
produced cheaply. Carl Wilhelm Siemens (US) developed a smelter
to produce Aluminium from Bauxite ore in 1886. Aluminium is used
extensively in building and aeroplane manufacture.

Ball point pen (1938) László Bíró, a

Hungarian newspaper editor developed a more suitable ink and ball
socket mechanism to prevent ink drying. He filed his first patent in
1938 for a ball point pen in Argentina. After the war, varieties of the
ball point pen became commercially successful.

Air plane / aviation (1903) The first

powered, heavier than air flight was undertaken by Orville Wright on
December 17, 1903. The first aeroplane was made of wood. By 1909,
they made a demonstration of flight around the Hudson River in
New York. Aeroplane technology rapidly improved, and they were
used for military means in the First World War.

Barbed wire (1867) The first patent

for barbed wire was awarded to Lucien B. Smith. Barbed wire
became a very cheap way of creating an effective barrier. Initially
used in agriculture to keep animals in certain areas. It became
widely used for military purposes.

Antiseptics (1850) Dr Semmelweis a

Hungarian physician was the first prominent doctor to make a strong
link between the use of antiseptics and improving survival rates of
women giving birth. His work was taken up by others, such as Joseph
Lister who became a pioneer of antiseptic surgery.
 enabled motorists to have better visibility when driving during the
night.

Battery (1800) Voltaic Pile.

Alessandro Volta an Italian physicist developed the first battery
which gave a steady current using alternative layers of copper and
zinc. Lew Urry developed the small alkaline battery in 1949.

Clocks (1656) Christian Huygens developed the pendulum which

made primitive clocks more accurate.

Bicycle (1839) Kirkpatrick MacMillan,

a Scottish blacksmith is said to have developed the first two wheeled
pedal powered bicycle. In the 1860s, the Michaux or ‘boneshaker’
improved on this design and started a boom in bicycle use.

Concrete (1824) English inventor,

Joseph Aspdin developed hydraulic cement, which used a mix of
limestone, clay and aggregate.

Camera (1839) Louis Daguerre a

French innovator spent many years developing the process of
photography. In 1839, he made the first camera which enable a
permanent photograph to be taken. In 1889, George Eastman
invented the flexible role of film which enabled photography to be
much more practical.
Electricity (1832) Michael
Faraday (England) and Joseph Henry (US) both built models of
electricity generators. Nikola Tesla developed the first AC electricity
generator in 1892.

Computer (1940-45) Charles

Babbage was considered the father of computers for his work on
mechanical computation devices. But it was only in the 1940s that
the first electronic computers were produced. For example, Howard
Aiken & Grace Hopper developed the Harvard Mark I computer in
1944.
Email (1971) Ray Tomlinson (US)
developed the first electronic communication message. The email
was sent between two computers on the same network.

Cat eyes (1934) Developed by Percy Shaw of Halifax, England.

Shaw’s design using a reflective lens embedded in the road; it Fiber Optics (1958) Modern fibre
optics using high purity SiO2 (rather than copper wire) was
developed by Sam DiVita (US) and Richard Sturzebecher (US). This
enabled much more efficient communication.

Paper (105) Tsai Lun – Lun was an

official in the Chinese civil service. He reported and developed its
use in recording the business of the Chinese state.

Film (1895) Frenchman Louis Lumiere

developed one of the first moving film recorders, which they called
Cinematographe.

Motor car (1886) Carl Benz

(Germany) is credited with the first patent for the modern motor car
with a petrol combustion engine. Many similar designs were
developed around the same time.

Guns (1718) The first gun prototypes

using gunpowder to launch missiles were developed in the Tenth-
Century by the Chinese. The first rifle ‘Puckle Gun’ was developed in
1718 and the first revolver ‘The Colt’ in 1836. The first machine gun
in 1884 by Sir Hiram Maxim.

Pasteurisation (1768) Invented by

Italian Lazzaro Spallanzani in 1768 – it is a process of killing bacteria
in food. Louis Pasteur (1864) developed a more modern form of
pasteurisation which helped make milk and wine safer to drink.

Internet (1982) The first internet

protocol was established in 1982. In 1985, the first dot com domain
was registered. In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee developed the World Wide
Web the first internet web browser.
Penicillin (1928) Discovered
by Alexander Fleming (Scotland) who found the growth of penicillin
on a jar of mould left overnight. Penicillin was later mass produced
by Howard Florey (Aus) and a team of scientists enabling it to be
used during the Second World War.

Matches (1826) John Walker (English)

developed the first friction match which could be lit by striking
sandpaper. The first safety match originated in 1844 created by a
Swede Gustaf Erik Pasch.

Petrol (1859) Edwin Drake (US) Modern drilling and refinement of oil
into petrol began around the middle of the Nineteenth Century. It
enabled petrol to be used as a fuel in the internal combustion
engine.
Morse Code (1836) Samuel Morse (US) – Morse developed a system
of dots and dashes to help send telegraphs over long distance wire
 Plastic (1862) Alexander Parkes
(England) Parkes demonstrated a plastic which was made from
heated cellulose and moulded into a shape. Other important
developments include 1908 – Cellophane – Jacques E.
Brandenberger.
Printing Press (1450) The first printing
press was designed by Johannes Guthenberg in Germany. The
printing press played a key role in the Protestant Reformation – as
pamphlets and books were mass produced for the first time, helping
to spread new ideas more quickly.
Radio (1895) G.Marconi (Italy) sent
and received the first radio waves in 1895. Nikola Tesla took out the
first patent for radio using his Tesla’s coil.
Railways (1830) The first railways
originated in England and they played a key role in the industrial
revolution – helping with the transfer of goods and people. For the
first time, people could travel across the country in less than a
day. George Stephenson built the first inter city railway between
Liverpool and Manchester in 1830
Refrigerators (1748) -William Cullen (Scotland) Cullen displayed the
first successful refrigeration at the University of Glasgow. Fridges
use rapid cooling of gases as the main source of their artificial
cooling effect. In 1805 Oliver Evans (US) invented the first
refrigerator machine.
Stamps (1837) Rowland Hill proposed
the first stamp as a way to offer cheap postal delivery. His proposals
led to a universal postage system and the introduction of the first
stamp – The Penny Black.
Steam Engines (1968) Thomas Savery
developed the first crude pressure cooker style steam engine.
Thomas Newcomen (1712) significantly developed this with an
atmospheric steam engine (pumping steam into cylinder) James
Watt (1765) improved this with a condenser that could cool while
the cylinder was hot. Watt’s steam engine became the dominant
design of the industrial revolution
Telegraph (1835) Samuel Morse (a
professor of arts and design at New York University) effectively
demonstrated that signals could be transmitted by wire using pulses
of current deflected by electro-magnet. The Telegraph enabled long
distance communication, including transatlantic signals.
 Water Wheel (4000 BC) The water wheel was one of the first human
inventions to capture mechanical energy and was used to help grind
corn. In modern times, the water wheel was improved to drive an
hydraulic turbine.

Telephone (1880s) Graham Alexander Bell (Scotland) Antonio

Meucci. (US) Both inventors have a claim for inventing the
telephone – enabling the ability to speak to someone at a significant
distance.
Wheel (4th millennium BC) The wheel
is perhaps the oldest invention, and no-one is exactly certain when it
was invented, but it emerged in different regions independently. It
enabled quicker transportation by chariots and pack drawn animal
carriages.

Television (1925) Many people contributed to the development of

the TV. But, John Logie Baird is credited with displaying one of the X-Rays (1903) The use of X-Rays were
first moving images on a TV screen. Logie made use of a Nipkow disc pioneered by William Coolidge who invented the Coolidge tube.
and a Cathode Ray tube. Marie Curie’s work on radiology enabled a big advance in X-ray
technology and it was used in the First World War.

Thermometer (17th Century) Galileo

Galilei (Italy) claimed the invention of a thermoscope which showed
changes in temperature as liquid expanded and contracted. Many
other scientists contributed to the development of the
thermometer. (G.Bianci and Robert Fludd)

Tyres (1890) The pneumatic tyre was

developed by John Boyd Dunlop in the 1880s. This helped to
revolutionise transport – especially for the bicycle and motor car.
The pneumatic tyre had an inner tube of air to help give a more
comfortable ride than the solid tyres.