20th Century Invention Timeline 1900 to 1949

Technology, science, inventions, and re-inventions have progressed at an accelerated rate during the hundred years of the 20th century, arguably more so than any other century.

We began the 20th century with the infancy of airplanes, automobiles, and radio, which dazzled us with their novelty and wonder, and we ended the 20th century with spaceships, computers, cell phones, and the wireless Internet all being technologies we can take for granted.

From the first successful radio receiver and the atomic bomb to the microwave oven and cake mix, here are some transformative inventions dating back to every year from 1900 to 1949.

The Beginning of a Century of Innovation

The early 1900s were marked by a variety of factors that fueled innovation after an already impressive slate of inventions in the 1800s. Rapid industrialization spurred by the Second Industrial Revolution, with developments in steel, electricity, and mass production, provided the infrastructure and resources necessary for technological advancements. Additionally, urbanization (facilitated by a growing railroad system) and increased globalization created new demands and opportunities that set the stage for the progress seen throughout the century.

The early 1900s were also greatly impacted by intense global conflicts, particularly World War I and World War II. Historically, wars have acted as catalysts for technological innovation, as nations raced to develop new weapons, communication systems, and medical advancements, all while governments poured funds into military spending.

1900

• The Zeppelin was invented by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin.
• Charles Seeberger redesigned Jesse Reno's escalator and invented the modern escalator.

1901

• King Camp Gillette invents the double-edged safety razor.
• The first radio receiver successfully received a radio transmission.
• Hubert Booth invents a compact and modern vacuum cleaner.

1902

• Willis Carrier invents the air conditioner.
• The lie detector or polygraph machine is invented by James Mackenzie.
• The birth of the Teddy Bear.
• George Claude invented neon light.

1903

• Edward Binney and Harold Smith co-invent crayons.
• Bottle-making machinery was invented by Michael J. Owens.
• The Wright brothers invented the first gas-motored and manned airplane.
• William Coolidge invented the ductile tungsten used in lightbulbs.

1904

• Teabags were invented by Thomas Sullivan.
• Benjamin Holt invents a tractor.
• John A Fleming invents a vacuum diode or Fleming valve.

1905

• Albert Einstein published the Theory of Relativity and made famous the equation, E = mc².
• Mary Anderson receives a patent for windshield wipers.

1906

• William Kellogg invents Cornflakes.
• Lewis Nixon invents the first sonar-like device.
• Lee Deforest invents an electronic amplifying tube (triode).

1907

• Leo Baekeland invents the first synthetic plastic called Bakelite.
• Color photography was invented by Auguste and Louis Lumiere.
• The very first piloted helicopter was invented by Paul Cornu.

1908

• The gyrocompass was invented by Elmer A. Sperry.
• Cellophane was invented by Jacques E. Brandenberger.
• The Ford Model T was first sold.
• J W Geiger and W Müller invent the geiger counter.
• Fritz Haber invents the Haber Process for making artificial nitrates.

1909

• Instant coffee invented by G. Washington.

1910

• Thomas Edison demonstrated the first talking motion picture.
• Georges Claude displayed the first neon lamp to the public on December 11, 1910, in Paris.

1911

• Charles Franklin Kettering invents the first automobile electrical ignition system.

1912

• Motorized movie cameras were invented and replaced hand-cranked cameras.
• The first military tank was patented by Australian inventor De La Mole.
• Clarence Crane created Life Savers candy.

1913

• The crossword puzzle was invented by Arthur Wynne.
• The Merck Chemical Company patented, what is now known as, ecstasy.
• Mary Phelps Jacob invents the bra.

1914

• Garrett A. Morgan invents the Morgan gas mask.

1915

• Eugene Sullivan and William Taylor co-invented Pyrex in New York City.

1916

• Radio tuners were invented and received different stations.
• Stainless steel was invented by Henry Brearly.

1917

• Gideon Sundback patented the modern zipper (not the first zipper).

1918

• The superheterodyne radio circuit was invented by Edwin Howard Armstrong. Today, every radio or television set uses this invention.
• Charles Jung invented fortune cookies.

1919

• The pop-up toaster was invented by Charles Strite.
• The short-wave radio was invented.
• The flip-flop circuit was invented.
• The arc welder was invented.

1920

• The Tommy gun was patented by John T Thompson.
• The Band-Aid (pronounced 'ban-'dade) was invented by Earle Dickson.

1921

• Artificial life begins, with the first robot built.

1922

• Insulin was invented by Sir Frederick Grant Banting.
• The first 3-D movie (spectacles with one red and one green lens) is released.

1923

• Garrett A. Morgan invents a traffic signal.
• The television or iconoscope (cathode-ray tube) was invented by Vladimir Kosma Zworykin.
• John Harwood invented the self-winding watch.
• Clarence Birdseye invents frozen food.

1924

• The dynamic loudspeaker was invented by Rice and Kellogg.
• Notebooks with spiral bindings were invented.

1925

• The mechanical television a precursor to the modern television, invented by John Logie Baird.

1926

• Robert H. Goddard invents liquid-fueled rockets.

1927

• Eduard Haas III invents PEZ candy.
• JWA Morrison invents the first quartz crystal watch.
• Philo Taylor Farnsworth invents a complete electronic TV system.
• Technicolor was invented, which allowed the widespread creation of color movies.
• Erik Rotheim patents an aerosol can.
• Warren Marrison developed the first quartz clock.
• Philip Drinker invents the iron lung.

1928

• Scottish biologist Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin.
• Bubble gum invented by Walter E. Diemer.
• Jacob Schick patented the electric shaver.

1929

• American, Paul Galvin invents the car radio.
• Yo-Yo was re-invented as an American fad.

1930

• Scotch tape was patented by 3M engineer, Richard G. Drew.
• The frozen food process was patented by Clarence Birdseye.
• Wallace Carothers and DuPont Labs invent neoprene.
• The "differential analyzer", or analog computer invented by Vannevar Bush at MIT.
• Frank Whittle and Dr. Hans von Ohain both invent a jet engine.

1931

• Harold Edgerton invented stop-action photography.
• Germans Max Knott and Ernst Ruska co-invent the electron microscope.

1932

• Polaroid photography was invented by Edwin Herbert Land.
• The zoom lens and the light meter were invented.
• Carl C. Magee invents the first parking meter.
• Karl Jansky invents the radio telescope.

1933

• Frequency modulation (FM radio) was invented by Edwin Howard Armstrong.
• Stereo records were invented.
• Richard M. Hollingshead builds a prototype drive-in movie theater in his driveway.

1934

• Englishman Percy Shaw invents cat eyes, also known as road reflectors.
• Charles Darrow claims he invented the game Monopoly.
• Joseph Begun invents the first tape recorder for broadcasting, the first magnetic recording.

1935

• Wallace Carothers and DuPont Labs invented nylon (polymer 6.6.)
• The first canned beer made.
• Robert Watson-Watt patented radar.

1936

• Bell Labs invents the voice recognition machine.

1937

• Chester F. Carlson invents the photocopier.
• The first jet engine is built.

1938

• The ballpoint pen was invented by Ladislo Biro.
• Strobe lighting was invented.
• LSD was synthesized on November 16, 1938, by Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann of Sandoz Laboratories.
• Roy J. Plunkett invented tetrafluoroethylene polymers or Teflon.
• Nescafe or freeze-dried coffee was invented.

1939

• Igor Sikorsky invents the first successful helicopter.

1940

• Dr. William Reich invents the orgone accumulator.
• Peter Goldmark invents the modern color television system.
• Karl Pabst invents the jeep.

1941

• Konrad Zuse's Z3 became the first computer-controlled by software.
• Aerosol spray cans were invented by American inventors, Lyle David Goodloe and W.N. Sullivan.
• Enrico Fermi invents the neutronic reactor.

1942

• John Atanasoff and Clifford Berry built the first electronic digital computer.
• Mueller designs a turboprop engine.

1943

• Synthetic rubber was invented.
• Richard James invents the slinky.
• James Wright invents silly putty.
• Swiss chemist, Albert Hofmann discovered the hallucinogenic properties of LSD.
• Emile Gagnan and Jacques Cousteau invented the aqualung.

1944

• The kidney dialysis machine was invented by Willem Kolff.
• Synthetic cortisone was invented by Percy Lavon Julian.

1945

• Vannevar Bush proposes hypertext.
• The atomic bomb was invented.

1946

• The microwave oven invented by Percy Spencer.

1947

• British-Hungarian scientist Dennis Gabor developed the theory of holography.
• Mobile phones were first invented. Although cell phones were not sold commercially until 1983.
• Bardeen, Brattain, and Shockley invented the transistor.
• Earl Silas Tupper patented the Tupperware seal.

1948

• The Frisbee was invented by Walter Frederick Morrison and Warren Franscioni.
• Velcro was invented by George de Mestral.
• Robert Hope-Jones invented the Wurlitzer jukebox.

1949

• Cake mix was invented.

Inventions in the Late 1900s

Eager to discover when other life-changing inventions were first developed? Here's a list of inventions in the late 1900s—from credit cards and birth control pills to the World Wide Web.