Best Invention of the 20th Century

[jjsjr]

the lightbulb?
the vaccine?
the battery?

 

[Catchoftheday]

the lightbulb?
the vaccine?
the battery?

We've had light bulbs in England since the 19th Century :biggrin1:

 

[deleted136887]

Plastic milk crates
Velcro
Cable ties
Refrigriration

 

[davey2k4eva]

How about plastic? Created in 1907

 

[vince]

Radio
Television
the Zipper

 

[MalakingTiti]

I am torn between the microwave oven and the fax machine.

 

[flame boy]

The shoulder pad, surely? :wink:

 

[speshk]

Electron microscope. Whatever that is.

 

[ZOS23xy]

Automatic transmission

the micro chip/ transistors

the Altair computer

word processors (like electric typewriters)

And the idear that all advances in communication are simply better ways to distribute pornography.

 

[B_Stronzo]

Trans-Atlantic passenger commercial air transportation.

 

[nudeyorker]

Well I would still say medical advances whether they were discovered by accident or developed are the most important. I would however have to agree with whoever said the transistor because without that no advances would have ever been made in electronics. If we can add our favorite silly thing for me it is Japanese hair relaxing!

 

[mitchymo]

Too many to choose....i got headache thinking about it now...anyone said ibruprofen?

 

[Principessa]

Best invention of the 20th century?

The Wright brothers plane - Although there are a remarkable number of little known short uncontrolled powered flights that precede the Wright Brothers, and a few longer ones. Sustainable, controllable, powered flight begins at Kill Devil Hill in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on December 17, 1903.

Ford Model T While there is proof of steam powered automobiles as far back as the 1760's. The first mass produced automobile was the Ford Model T; and that changed the world. :yup:
chemotherapy
television
the rabbit
birth control pill

What do you think is the best invention of the 20th century?

...I'm torn between the computer and the Hubble space telescope

I agree with the computer but not the Hubble Space Telescope. It's way cool and a marvel of engineering but it hasn't done a darn thing for me or mankind in general.

bubble hash

What the heck is that?

Trans-Atlantic passenger commercial air transportation.

AGREED! I was thinking of planes.

I am torn between the microwave oven and the fax machine.

As much as I love the microwave, because it has saved me hundreds of hours in the kitchen; I could possibly learn to live without it. Ditto the fax machine.

How about plastic? Created in 1907

Actually, Alexander Parkes created Parkesine, the first man-made plastic in 1856. Thereby manking it a 19th century invention.

• In 1856 he developed Parkesine - the first thermoplastic - a celluloid based on nitrocellulose with ethanol solvent. This material, exhibited at the 1862 London International Exhibition, anticipated many of the modern aesthetic and utility uses of plastics.

• In 1866 he set up The Parkesine Company at Hackney Wick, London, for bulk low-cost production. It was not, however, a commercial success as Parkesine was expensive to produce, prone to cracking and highly flammable. The business closed in 1868.

• Parkes' material was developed later in improved form as Xylonite by his associate Daniel Spill, who brought a patent infringement lawsuit — ultimately unsuccessful — against John Wesley Hyatt, developer of celluloid in the U.S. In 1870, however, the judge ruled that it was in fact Parkes who was the true inventor due to his original experiments.

 

[lucky8]

I agree with the computer but not the Hubble Space Telescope. It's way cool and a marvel of engineering but it hasn't done a darn thing for me or mankind in general.

experiments.

Well to me it's a huge step in the evolution of exploration. Besides...it's given us this image: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcBV-cXVWFw

pretty humbling in my opinion

 

[hud01]

that is a discovery, not an invention :smile:

No. Regardless of how it happened it was an invention.

 

[B_ballablang]

what ever its semantics, ill still stick with internet

 

[jjsjr]

the electrical cord/copper wiring?

the birth-control pill?

liposuction?

 

[2322]

Antibiotics. They've saved more lives than anything else.

Doing genealogy is a sobering experience because you constantly come across entries similar to:

George Washington Sanford b. 1809 - d. 1881
m. December 3, 1826, Helen Grace VanDuzer b. 1807 - d. 1840

Issue:

i. George Washington Sanford 1827 - 1909
ii. Thomas Wheeler Sanford 1829 - 1830
iii. Grace VanDuzer Sanford 1831
iv. Tusten Wheeler Sanford 1833 - 1918
v. Hanna Vail Sanford 1834 - 1918
vi. Jeanette Horton Sanford 1835 - 1858
vii. Hortense Vail Sanford 1836 - 1838
viii. Francis Baird Sanford 1838 - 1864
ix. Thomas VanDuzer Sanford 1840

You'll note Helen died in childbirth at age 33 as did the baby. In her short life she had 9 children and three predeceased her and the infant. GW went on to marry again and have five more children of which three lived to maturity. FB Sanford died in the Civil War of sepsis and Tusten and Hanna both died from Spanish Flu.

Can you imagine? War, epidemics, or simply cutting yourself with a kitchen knife could be the end of you and your loved ones. Predeceasing your kids is largely taken for granted these days. We hear of the deaths of children and react in horror at what the surviving parents must be going through. It was very, very common not long ago. Now you know why all those people aren't smiling in those old daguerreotypes.

That I read entries, hundreds of them, like this knowing they're my ancestors brings a unique and frightening pain to my heart because this is my family and I want to reach out through the centuries and offer them some consolation to let them know I haven't forgotten them or their trials. We take life for granted in a way I think they never did and antibiotics are largely the cause of that.

 

[B_Dustydo]

I vote for Antibiotics and "The Pill".

 

[Krusader]

duct tape