Curated playlist
19th-century inventions
- Roberts LoomPower looms in Britain grew from around 55,500 to 100,000 after the Roberts loom arrived in 1830.
- Incandescent light bulbA cartel secretly limited the rated life of light bulbs to 1,000 hours.
- Steam turbineIn 1884, Charles Parsons built a steam turbine that made just 7.5 kilowatts.
- PhotographyA man getting his boots polished in Paris in 1838 became the earliest confirmed person photographed.
- AccordionThe accordion got its name from a patent for one-key chords. Cyrill Demian sought protection for it in Vienna in 1829.
- Clothes dryerA spin dryer can remove more water in two minutes than a heated tumble dryer can in twenty.
- Bessemer processThe Bessemer process cut the price of steel from forty pounds a long ton to six or seven.
- BicycleWilbur and Orville Wright ran a bicycle company during the 1890s bike boom.
- FilmTest audiences hated it when John Rambo died at the end of First Blood. The company re-shot it so he survives.
- CarIn August 1888, Bertha Benz made the first road trip in an internal combustion car.
- Internal combustion engineIn 1807, a French engine ran on controlled dust explosions and powered a boat. Napoleon granted it a patent.