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Curated playlist

English inventions

  • 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.
  • Stainless steelStainless steel began as a failed search for better gun barrels. Harry Brearley found it in Sheffield in 1913.
  • SubmarineAmerican submarines were about two percent of the US Navy but sank over sixty percent of Japan's merchant fleet.
  • ZX SpectrumThe ZX Spectrum's rubber keyboard felt like "dead flesh" to some buyers. Still, it sold more than five million.
  • Self-propelled artilleryCaptain Alfred Becker mounted howitzers on captured British tanks to keep pace with German armor.
  • Newcomen atmospheric engineThe Newcomen engine was built by an ironmonger, not a scientist. His steam engine drained flooded coal mines in 1712.
  • Puddling (metallurgy)Puddlers stirred 800 to 900 pounds of molten iron by hand. Their work made wrought iron without charcoal.
  • Colossus computerA German operator's blunder in August 1941 eventually led to the Colossus computer.
  • Cast ironA cast-iron railway bridge collapsed under a train in May 1847, killing five people.
  • InductorAn inductor is a coil of wire that fights any change in current. An iron core can boost this several thousand times.
  • Bessemer processThe Bessemer process cut the price of steel from forty pounds a long ton to six or seven.
  • Plate glassMost flat glass today is made by floating molten glass on molten tin. Both surfaces form smooth, parallel planes.
  • Rapid transitIn early 2010, the Nuremberg U-Bahn fully automated its U2 line without halting service for a day.
  • Steam engineOn February 21, 1804, a steam locomotive hauled 70 passengers along a tramway in south Wales.
  • BombeIn February 1942, the Allies suddenly could not read German U-boat messages. A fourth rotor did it.
  • Vacuum tubeOne Mazda vacuum tube ran for 232,592 documented hours. It served a BBC transmitter from 1935 to 1961.
  • Web browserInternet Explorer once held over 95% of the browser market. Microsoft bundled it with Windows and gave it away free.
  • Association footballFootball's stoppage time exists because of one goalkeeper in 1891. He kicked the ball away to run out the clock.

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