Shark Tank is the television show that made inventions popular, but what most of us don’t realize is that inventors are everywhere. They’re some of the most important people in the world. Their creative and unique thought process is what helps us live the life we live today. Without Alexander Graham Bell we wouldn’t have phones, which means no one would be using their iPhones to snap selfies in public restroom mirrors – not that the world needs another one of those. Read on to find out which inventors are the most successful of all time.
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Benjamin Franklin
There are several reasons the modern world should thank Ben Franklin. Without his inventions, most of which people are largely unfamiliar with in terms of them being his inventions, are used in today’s modern society. His inventions include everything from the lightning rod to bifocal glasses. Ben Franklin also invented the odometer, which is what we use in our vehicles.
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Eli Whitney
Everyone has a lesson on Eli Whitney in basic high school history. He’s the inventor of the cotton gin. His invention occurred hundreds of years ago in 1794, back when farmers spent countless hours doing manual labor that today is done with the use of machinery. The cotton gin was the first of its kind, separating seeds and other materials from cotton once it was picked.
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John Baird
The next time you sit down to indulge in a Real Housewives marathon on Bravo, thank John Baird. He invented the first television – the mechanical television – in the early 1900s. He was also the inventor behind patents such as fiber optics and radar, which makes him one of the most prolific inventors in all of history.
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Alexander Graham Bell
Most 29-year-olds are just starting out in life but at that age, Alexander Graham Bell had already invented his own telephone. And it was only 1876, so he didn’t have a YouTube tutorial to guide him. He went on from there to invent many more items, but the phone is the most important and prolific of his career.
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Johannes Gutenberg
This German goldsmith is who we can thank for the written word. Without him, the world would not spend so much time sitting behind the computer screen typing letters, sending emails and otherwise putting words on paper through the use of movable type. Sometime during his life, which lasted from 1394 to 1468, Gutenberg created the Gutenberg press.
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Thomas Edison
We know him as the man who provided us with things like electricity and light. Thomas Edison lived from 1847 to 1931. His inventions were some of the most prolific in the world; without him, we might not have light bulbs or power. While someone would have eventually come up with these concepts, it was Edison who did it first.
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George Washington Carver
He was the face that changed the way we look at agriculture, particularly in the south. Despite the fact that he was an African American man living in the deep south during its most segregated and racist time, Carver spent his time working as an agricultural chemist. He created 300 different uses for peanuts and several hundred uses for things such as soybeans that we still use today. He lived longer than most people in his time, from 1864 to 1943.
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Henry Ford
His last name is recognizable because it’s on the front, back, side, and interior of millions of vehicles. The inventor of Ford vehicles, Henry Ford also received patents for several other automobile related inventions. He’s credited with inventing the gas-powered car known as the Model-T, he made drastic improvements to the assembly line for manufacturing automobiles and he also invented some transmission pieces.
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Werner Heisenberg
Nuclear physics and atomic energy would not be the same without Heisenberg, probably because he invented the concepts behind each. He is the inventor of the quantum mechanic theory, which is used in so many different scientific processes around the world. He’s the man behind many mathematical associations as well as scientific knowledge.
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Gregor Mendel
He’s on the list because he invented what many medical scientists and doctors now use in common genetic testing. Mendel is the face and brain behind the basic principles of heredity. His work with genetics paved the way for modern technology to take genetics and medical knowledge where it’s gone today.
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