Inventor's Challenge

  • Jan 23, 1440

    Johannes Gutenburg

    Johannes Gutenburg invented the printing press in 1440.
  • Ben Franklin

    Ben Franklin invented many things, but one of his first inventions was the electrical tube, made in 1747.
  • Robert Fulton

    Robert Fulton invented the steamboat in 1765.
  • James Watt

    James Watt invented an improved steam engine called the Watt steam engine in 1781.
  • Eli Whitney

    Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1794.
  • Dr. Edward Jenner

    Dr. Edward Jenner invented the first vaccine. It was a vaccine for smallpox and it was created in 1796.
  • Joseph-Nicephore Niepce

    Joseph-Nicephore Niepce took the first photograph and invented photography in 1827.
  • Samuel F. B. Morse

    Samuel Morse invented the telegraph in 1844.
  • L.E Waterman

    L.E Waterman invented the capillary feed fountain pen in 1844.
  • Isaac Singer

    Isaac singer invented the sewing machine in 1850.
  • Elisha Otis

    Elisha Otis invented the Elevator in 1853.
  • Ezra J. Warner

    Ezra J. Warner invented the first can opener in 1858
  • Étienne Lenoir

    Étienne Lenoir invented the first commercially successful internal combustion engine back in 1858.
  • Christopher Latham Soles

    Christopher Latham Soles invented the typewriter in 1868.
  • Elijah McCoy

    Elijah McCoy invented a lubricator for oiling steam engines in 1872.
  • Levi Strauss

    Levi Strauss invented the blue jeans in 1873.
  • Alexander Graham Bell

    Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876.
  • Thomas Edison

    Thomas Edison invented the light bulb in 1879.
  • Whitcomb Judson

    Whitcomb Judson invented the zipper in 1890.
  • W.H Carrier

    W.H Carrier invented air conditioning in 1902.
  • Edwin Binney and Harold Smith

    Edwin Binney and Harold Smith invented the Crayola crayon in 1902.
  • Orville & Wilbur Wright

    Orville & Wilbur Wright invented the first successful airplane in 1903.
  • Richard Drew

    Richard Drew invented masking tape and scotch tape in 1925 and 1930.
  • Alexander Fleming

    Alexander Fleming revolutionized medicine because he discovered Penicillin in 1928.
  • Dr. Charles Drew

    Dr. Charles Drew invented techniques for blood storage which lead to his creation of the first blood banks in 1938.
  • James Wright

    James Wright invented Silly Putty in 1943.
  • Richard James

    Richard James invented the slinky in 1943.
  • Percy L. Spencer

    Percy L. Spencer invented the microwave oven in 1946.
  • Bette Nesmith Graham

    Bette Nesmith Graham invented Liquid Paper in 1956.
  • Arthur Granjean

    Arthur Granjean invented the Etch a Sketch in 1959.
  • Ann Moore

    Ann Moore invented the Snugli in 1968.
  • Spencer Silver

    Spencer Silver invented Post-It notes in 1970.