Curated playlist
Italian inventions
- ViolinIn 1560, France's King Charles IX ordered twenty-four violins from Andrea Amati.
- CelloAround 1845, the cellist Adrien Servais added an endpin so the cello could rest on the floor.
- Perspective (graphical)Brunelleschi held a mirror up to a painting of the Florence Baptistery. Viewers compared it with the real building.
- RadioOn November 11, 1886, Heinrich Hertz saw a spark jump a lab gap and confirmed invisible radio waves.
- Roman lawAround 1070, a lost copy of Roman law's Digest turned up in Italy. Bologna scholars studied it.
- Electric batteryAlessandro Volta believed his 1800 battery could never run out of energy. Faraday proved him wrong in 1834.
- OperaOpera began with a piece that no longer exists. Around 1597, Jacopo Peri's Dafne tried to revive Greek drama.
- Gini coefficientBangladesh and the Netherlands both had a Gini coefficient of 0.31 in 2010.
- Magic lanternThe magic lantern's inventor called it a bagatelle and regretted making it.
- BankA bank creates new money the moment it makes a loan. That act sits at the heart of banking.
- PizzaThe oldest known written pizza was owed to a bishop in the year 997. A tenant owed twelve pizze every Christmas Day.