Marc Brunel's first underwater tunnel (1826-1842)
Under the Thames
Karl Benz's internal-combustion automobile engine (1885)
cars go vroom
Gugliemo Marconi (1901) transatlantic radio message
From Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
Henry Bessemir's steel converter (1854)
Thomas Alva Edison's phonograph (1877)
This is a record player. Useful for music, instructions, etc.,
Michael Faraday (1831)'s discovery of electromagnetic currents
Made generators and electrical engines possible
Eli Whitney (1793)'s cotton gin
This separated the useful raw cotton from its seeds, making the cotton industry much more profitable. It had mixed effects — remember how a lot of cotton was farmed using slave labor.
Jethro Tull (1708)'s mechanical seed drill
Helped plant crops
Joseph Monier (1849)
Reinforced Concrete
For the World Exposition in Paris
Daguerre's daguerrotype (1838)
Early form of photography
Brooklyn Bridge opened (1883)
Large suspension bridge, "triumph of engineering."
Cathode rays discovered
1858
Thomas Newcomen (1712)'s steam engine
First commercially successful (though kind of clumsy) steam engine, used to pump water out of coal mines. Big deal, since we've just unlocked a new power source.
Gasoline refinement
First occurred in 1850. Gasoline is an important fuel source.
First transatlantic cable completed
1858
According to wikipedia:
Gugliemo Marconi (1896)'s wireless telegraph patent
Richard Arkwright's water frame (1769)
More efficient thread spinning
Thomas Edison (1879)
Hiram Maxim's machine gun (1884)
Mass slaughter is now possible, begins mechanization of warfare. Unfortunately, as some predicted, his machine gun did not prevent war — people still fought, despite these monsters being on the battlefield.
Charles Babbage (1834)'s analytic engine
First ancestor of the computer
Robert Fulton (1807)'s Clermont
The first successful steamboat. Like the locomotive, made trade so, so much better. For example, now the US could leverage its advantage in having the Mississippi river.
Alexander Graham Bell's telephone (1876)
Made communicating across long distances much easier, but such conversations still had to be done in public, etc.,
James Watt's efficient steam engine (1765)
Allowed for more sewing, including at-home
Crompton's "mule" + Spinning jenny and water frame fully automated weaving process. Yeah.
William Murdock's cool thing he did (1792)
Lit his home using coal gas. Also, he was James Watt's assistant.
Liverpool and Manchester Railway (1830)
Began the first regular commercial rail service
Alfred Nobel's dynamite (1867)
First high explosive that could be safely handled. Useful for mining and clearing areas for infrastructure.
