Inventions

  • Edward Jenner — Smallpox Vaccination
    1796 BCE

    Edward Jenner — Smallpox Vaccination

    Date: 14 May 1796 (first vaccination of James Phipps) – method adopted widely by early 1800s
    Description: Introduced vaccination, leading to eventual eradication of smallpox.
    Visual: 💉
  • Wright Brothers — First Controlled, Powered Flight
    Dec 17, 1093

    Wright Brothers — First Controlled, Powered Flight

    Date: 17 December 1903 (first successful flight) – improved flights 1905 onward
    Description: Achieved the first sustained powered flight, founding modern aviation.
    Visual: ✈️
  • Johannes Gutenberg — Printing Press
    Jan 1, 1440

    Johannes Gutenberg — Printing Press

    Date: c. 1440 (invention) – spread rapidly across Europe by 1455
    Description: Invented movable type printing, revolutionizing the spread of knowledge.
    Visual: 🕮
  • Galileo Galilei — Telescope Observations

    Galileo Galilei — Telescope Observations

    Date: 1609 (first telescope use) – 1610 (published Sidereus Nuncius)
    Description: Observed Jupiter’s moons, phases of Venus, and surface of the Moon, changing astronomy.
    Visual: 🔭
  • Isaac Newton — Laws of Motion & Gravitation

    Isaac Newton — Laws of Motion & Gravitation

    Date: 5 July 1687 (Principia Mathematica published) – influence continues through 18th century
    Description: Unified celestial and terrestrial mechanics under mathematical laws.
    Visual: 🍎⚖️
  • Marie Skłodowska Curie — Radioactivity; Discovery of Radium & Polonium

    Marie Skłodowska Curie — Radioactivity; Discovery of Radium & Polonium

    Date: 1898 (elements discovered) – 1911 (second Nobel Prize)
    Description: Advanced the science of radioactivity, discovered radium and polonium, and applied them to medicine.
    Visual: ☢️
  • Albert Einstein – Theory of Relativity (1905–1915)

    Albert Einstein – Theory of Relativity (1905–1915)

    26 September 1905 (Special Relativity published in Annalen der Physik) Explained space, time, and energy with his relativity theories. Changed physics and cosmology forever.
    (🧠)
  • Alexander Fleming — Penicillin

    Alexander Fleming — Penicillin

    Date: 28 September 1928 (discovery) – 1940s (mass production and medical use)
    Description: Identified penicillin, the first true antibiotic, revolutionizing medicine.
    Visual: 🧫🍄
  • James Watson & Francis Crick – DNA Structure

    James Watson & Francis Crick – DNA Structure

    25 April 1953 (Nature article published) Discovered the double-helix structure of DNA. Opened the door to genetics and biotechnology.
    (Visual: 🧬)
  • Charles Darwin — Evolution by Natural Selection

    Charles Darwin — Evolution by Natural Selection

    Date: 24 November 1859 (On the Origin of Species published) – refined through 1870s
    Description: Proposed natural selection as the driver of evolution, transforming biology.
    Visual: 🌱➡️🦅