Gugliemo Marconi (1896)'s wireless telegraph patent
Useful for, like, ship distress calls. Say, for example, the one the Titanic sent out.
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.
Henry Bessemir's steel converter (1854)
James Watt's efficient steam engine (1765)
Like fifty years later, they finally came out with a steam engine with a condensing chamber, making it more efficient. Also a pretty big deal.
Gugliemo Marconi (1901) transatlantic radio message
From Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
1858
Cartwright's power loom (1787)
Daguerre's daguerrotype (1838)
Early form of photography
Richard Arkwright's water frame (1769)
More efficient thread spinning
Thomas Alva Edison's phonograph (1877)
This is a record player. Useful for music, instructions, etc.,
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.
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.
Michael Faraday (1831)'s discovery of electromagnetic currents
1883
James Hargreaves (1765)'s spinning jenny
Automated thread spinning
John Kay (1733)'s flying shuttle
Tremendously helped with making weaving easier, used in the putting-out industry at first.
Joseph Monier (1849)
Allowed for barges to carry coal from Worsely to Manchester
Liverpool and Manchester Railway (1830)
Thomas Edison (1879)
Eiffel Tower (1889)
For the World Exposition in Paris
Cathode rays discovered
Jethro Tull (1708)'s mechanical seed drill
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.
First steam-powered mill (1779)
Singer's first practical sewing machine (1851)
Allowed for more sewing, including at-home
Karl Benz's internal-combustion automobile engine (1885)
First ancestor of the computer
Alfred Nobel's dynamite (1867)
Brooklyn Bridge opened (1883)
Large suspension bridge, "triumph of engineering."
