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Every entry. Flip the order by name or by time.
30 entries.
iPhone
A combination of Apple engineers and designers, led by Steve Jobs, Jony Ive, Tony Fadell, and Scott Forstall c
Straightforward OriginAir Fryer
Dutch engineer Fred van der Weij invented the modern air fryer in 2006 to cook crispy food using circulating h
No-Single-InventorSmartphone
Entrepreneur Randy Eisenman and Sony Ericsson established the first smartphone with an on-device downloadable
Straightforward OriginRobotic Vacuum
A team of engineers at Electrolux led by Anders Haegermarck invented the first commercial robotic vacuum clean
SimultaneousWi-Fi
An Australian engineering team led by radio astronomer John O'Sullivan invented the core technology, with radi
Straightforward OriginTetris
Soviet software engineer Alexey Pajitnov invented Tetris in Moscow in 1984.
SimultaneousPool Noodle
Canadian entrepreneurs Steve Hartman and Richard Koster independently invented the pool noodle in Ontario duri
Straightforward OriginBicycle Helmet
Cyclists in the late nineteenth century pioneered the concept of protective headgear for cycling, but it wasn'
Straightforward OriginTrolley Suitcase
Bernard Sadow invented the rolling suitcase in 1970, while Robert Plath created the modern vertical upright tr
Straightforward OriginLava Lamp
British accountant and inventor Edward Craven Walker created the original motion lamp in Dorset, England, in 1
Underrated True StoryEnergy Drinks
Japanese pharmaceutical executive Shokichi Uehara and his development team at Taisho Pharmaceutical invented t
AccidentalGlowstick
Chemist Edwin A. Chandross invented the chemical foundation of the glowstick by accident in 1962 at Bell Labs.
Underrated True StoryShipping Container
American trucking entrepreneur Malcom McLean, alongside mechanical engineer Keith Tantlinger, invented the mod
AccidentalSuper Glue
American chemist Harry Coover invented super glue after accidentally discovering the extraordinary adhesive pr
AccidentalVelcro
Swiss engineer George de Mestral invented Velcro, the hook-and-loop fastener, after a 1941 walk in the Alps in
AccidentalExpandable Foam
Otto Bayer was trying to invent synthetic thread to challenge DuPont's Nylon -- his own colleagues told him to
Straightforward OriginGreenscreen
American engineer Petro Vlahos invented the modern color-difference traveling matte system that established el
Underrated True StoryModern Bra
Mary Phelps Jacob's Brassiere wasn't the first bra-like design to be patented, but timing and fashion helped i
Straightforward OriginMSG (monosodium glutamate)
Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda invented monosodium glutamate in 1908 after isolating the savory compound from
Underrated True StoryDisco Ball
Though the concept predates it, Louis B. Woeste created the Myriad Reflector which we accept as the modern sta
MisattributionZipper
Whitcomb Judson patented it - but the man who actually made it work spent a decade fixing his mistake, and nei
MisattributionPaperclip
Norwegian inventor Johan Vaaler is often credited with the paperclip, but the gem style clip know now as the p
Straightforward OriginToaster
Crompton & Company built the first electric toaster, but it took several complementary breakthroughs across Br
MisattributionPeriodic Table
Dmitri Mendeleev created the laws and function of an atomic table as a research instrument in the mid-to-late
Underrated True StoryPaternoster Elevator
The paternoster elevator was invented by Peter Ellis, an architect from Liverpool, England, who devised the fi
Straightforward OriginPeristaltic Pump
In 1855, American inventor Rufus Porter and his partner J. D. Bradley patented the first mechanical peristalti
CommissionedWristwatch
Abraham-Louis Breguet invented the first wristwatch for Caroline Murat in Paris in 1810.
SimultaneousMegaphone
English inventor and diplomat Sir Samuel Morland invented the speaking trumpet, the earliest functional megaph
RepurposedPot Still
Zosimos of Panopolis documented the earliest known ancestor of the pot still in Roman Egypt during the late th
No-Single-InventorDildo
No single inventor can claim the dildo, which appears instead as a recurring human idea from Ice Age Europe to