5 Inventions That Have Changed History

Throughout our existence, particular inventions came along that changed the course of human history as we know it. Without these, our lives wouldn’t be close to how we know them now. Let’s look at what can be described as the most significant inventions in human history.

The Wheel

The one invention that everyone thinks of when considering what changed our history the most is the wheel. It is believed by Historians that the wheel was invented in the 4th millennium and that it originates from Mesopotamia, what we know as Iraq today. It was the Sumerians that inserted axles into solid circles of wood. It took another two thousand years for those wheels to be hollowed out to make them lighter and more maneuverable. The wheel is an important invention as it allows for easy transport of heavy objects, making it easier to build, trade, and travel. Since then, wheels have been used in all sorts of products, from pizza cutters to windmills – even roulette wheels and when you’re playing its virtual counterpart american roulette online.

The Papyrus

After the wheel, the next major invention in human history people think of is papyrus. The earliest form of what we would consider paper, papyrus, is thought to have been invented in Ancient Egypt, with the earliest known papyrus dating back to 2900 BC.

 Having a material that could be easily written upon was a huge breakthrough for civilizations that, up until that point, had either relied on oral history or hieroglyphics painted onto buildings. Being able to write on something that was transportable allowed for the spread of cultural stories, as well as records of sale and the collection of civic records.

The Electric Bulb

There is much dispute over who actually had the idea for the light bulb, with many people giving the accolade to American inventor Thomas Edison. Edison’s light bulb was created in 1879 using a carbon filament. However, at the start of the century, English chemist Humphrey Davy showed light could be made by running an electrical current through wires, and Warren de La Rue created a similar lightbulb in the 1840s using platinum filaments. However, Edison’s was the most cost-effective and could be mass-produced, giving the average person a safer way to fully illuminate their homes in the dark. It also allowed people to work later into the night, establish social order at night, and travel safely in the dark.

Penicillin

While most people talk of penicillin as an invention, it’s better categorized as a discovery. British doctor Alexander Fleming accidentally discovered this antibiotic when he found that mold had developed on a container of staphylococcus. When he studied the mold, he found that it had stopped the growth of staphylococci. After further experimentation, he found it was effective against all types of bacteria. This revolutionized medicine as diseases that were causing the deaths of hundreds or even thousands of people became easily treatable. This included diseases such as pneumonia, strep throat, syphilis, meningitis, and gonorrhea.

The Internet

Finally, we come to the invention that allowed you to read this article – the internet. While it’s hard to credit the invention of a large-scale computer network to one person, there are significant events that led to the internet we know today.

It started with ARPANET in the early 1960s as a large-scale network of military computers was created to communicate instantly around the world. Tim Berners-Lee is credited for the invention of the world wide web (the three Ws in www.) as we know it today, first proposing the system in 1989. The internet was a revolutionary invention as it gave widespread access to information and has become a key driver of social evolution.

Conclusion

We are constantly striving to improve the lives of ourselves and others through revolutionary inventions such as the ones on this list. You could fill a book with inventions that have significantly changed the course of human history, as we didn’t even mention the telephone, the printing press, or the automobile!