Top 10 Best Inventions of All Time

Inventions have changed the world and the way we live. In some cases, it has also changed the way we perceive things. From providing longevity to life to allowing us to explore the universe, inventions have made man realize his potential of thinking and creativity. Over the centuries, there have been hundreds of inventions, some of which were immensely revolutionary that without them the human civilization would have not taken a stride. Here are the top ten best inventions of all time:

10. Paper

According to the recorded history, pulp papermaking process was invented in China by the Han Dynasty in the 2nd century and the first thing made on these early forms of paper was a map. Paper was the central invention for the Chinese Golden Age. Paper making led way to books and enhanced scholarship.

9. Compass

The Chinese Han Dynasty invented the first magnetic compass for divination purpose in the 2ndcentury. The navigational ability that a compass granted allowed the world to be explored and mapped. It was the primary reason why colonialists were able to go far and beyond, even reach the New World.

8. Printing Press

The invention of a printing press is attributed to the German blacksmith and goldsmith from Mainz, Johannes Gutenberg, around 1439. However, there are earlier records of a printing press existing. A Renaissance printing press could produce 3,600 pages a day. Without this invention, the world certainly would not have seen the information and knowledge revolution which gave speed to progress.

7. Steam Engine

Steam engine was first invented by Thomas Newcomen from England in 1712, which was a commercially successful atmospheric engine. This invention gave birth to the railway industry, significantly improved the world’s commutation and allowed people to travel the world easier than possible before. It also proved as an impetus to the Industrial Revolution.

6. Telephone

It was invented in 1876 by the Scottish engineer, Alexander Graham Bell, but earlier scientific work toward making a telephone can also be found. The invention of telephone allowed the human voice to be converted into electrical signals and transmitted over the wires for a long distance communication. It was forerunner to the telecommunication revolution which we experience today.

5. Phonograph

Also known as the gramophone, this invention by Thomas Edison in 1877 paved the way for a record player and thus gave a platform to many talented singers’ voices. Earlier works on a voice recorder only recorded sounds, but could not reproduce them.

4. Light Bulb

A light bulb was first invented by Joseph Swan in 1860, but it could not glow for more than a couple of hours. In 1878, Thomas Edison invented a light bulb that could glow for a longer time and he was granted its U.S. patent in 1879.

3. Airplanes

The desire for humans to fly could be traced back to 400 BC in Greece. Like other inventions, airplanes also had many pioneers, with first attempts made by Abbas Ibn Firnas in the 9th century, but none of these could last. The first sustained flight was made by the Wright brothers in 1903 in North Carolina, United States. It gave way to the first modern fixed wing aircrafts.

2. Computer

The first digital computers were developed during the early 1940s in the United Kingdom and the United States for military purposes, with their size as large as a room and they consumed a lot of power to work. The first personal computer was invented in 1957 by IBM, which propelled the Information Age.

1. World Wide Web

The invention of the worldwide web in 1990 by an English engineer Sir Tim Berners-Lee started the internet revolution we are living in now. Worldwide web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents which are accessed through the internet. This means the websites and their billions of pages. Often people confuse it with the internet itself, which was invented for military purposes in the early 1960s.