1800

Electric Battery

Conte Alessandro Volta
(Italy)

Volta began experimenting with the conduction of electric current during the 1770s. In 1800, he demonstrated the first battery (“voltaic pile”) capable of generating electric current.

Following Michael Farraday’s experiments that derived the laws of electrochemistry (ca. 1834), battery technology was commercialized.

1801

Steam Locomotive

Richard Trevithick
(Great Britain); George Stephenson
(Great Britain)

Trevithick developed the first steam locomotive while Stephenson’s design (1814) set the general pattern for all subsequent steam locomotives.

The first practical application of locomotive engines was for the transportation of coal and other mineral ores from mines. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (1830) was the first fully timetabled railway providing scheduled freight and passenger service powered entirely by steam locomotives. Its opening heralded the so-called “Railway Era” which continued through the First World War (1914–1918).

Likely private.

Apparently none initially although development of marine steam engine applications was accelerated by the mid-1850s with the adoption of the technology by major navies.

-  Council for Economic Education, “Transportation Milestones.”

-  J. and W. H. Rankine, Biography of William Symington, Civil Engineer; Inventor of Steam Locomotion by Sea and Land. Also, a Brief History of Steam Navigation, with Drawings, 1862.

-  American Railroad Journal, and Advocate of Internal Improvements, Vol. 3, Part 2, January 1835, D. K. Minor, New York, p. 825.

Likely private.

Governments and government agencies were likely among the early users of this technology.

-  Electric Auto Association, “EV History.”

-  Library of Congress, Researchers, “Who invented the automobile?,” Science Reference Services.

Likely private.

Likely none.

-  Tim Sharp, “The First Powered Airship,”
Space.com.

-  U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission,
“First Flights of the Airship.”

Year

Invention

Inventor(s)

Description

First Successful
Commercial Application?

1867 (cont’d)

time, Roper invented a two-cylinder, steam engine motorcycle. The first gasoline engine motorcycle was developed by Gottleib Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach (Germany) in 1885.

1867

Reinforced Concrete

Joseph Monier and François Hennebique
(France)

As a gardener, Monier experimented with the use of iron mesh to strengthen cement containers for horticultural use. He patented his idea in 1867 and displayed it at the 1867 Paris Exposition.

The first commercial application of Monier’s reinforced concrete was undertaken by François Hennebique, a French engineer, who, after viewing Monier’s display at the Paris Exposition, incorporated it into his designs for several buildings during the late 1800s. Early use of reinforced concrete rapidly expanded from horticultural containers (tubs and basins) to other engineering structures such as railways ties (sleeper), pipes, floors, arches and bridges.

1869

Railway Air Brake

George Westinghouse
(U.S.A.)

Westinghouse’s air brake allowed locomotive engineers to apply the brakes to a train in a fail-safe manner, without relying on the manual application of brakes by human brakemen.

The Westinghouse Air Brake Company (WABCO) was established to manufacture and sell Westinghouse’s invention in 1869.

1871

Bicycle

James Starley
(Great Britain)

The first two-wheeled, rider propelled machine emerged in 1817 in Germany but Starley’s Ariel bicycle set the design standard for the “ordinary” bicycle. There were many bicycle-like inventions in between these two events.

The first two-wheeled riding machines were manufactured for sale in 1817 and 1818 by various inventors. French “velocipedes” were manufactured in 1868 and exported to America, where small manufacturers also filed for patents. Major (500 units+) bicycle production began in Britain around 1868 as well.

Year

Invention

Inventor(s)

Description

First Successful
Commercial Application?

1870s

Refrigerated Rail Cars

Various
(U.S.A.) including Gustavus Franklin Swift and Joel Tiffany

Shipping live animals by rail was risky and expensive. A few meat producers in the United States developed ice-cooled railroad cars in order to ship dressed beef long distances to market.

Swift was the founder of a meat-packing empire in the U.S. Midwest. Swift’s refrigerated rail cars entered service in 1880 and his fleet grew rapidly. Competitors rapidly copied his innovation

1881

Electric Trolley

Ernst Werner von Siemens
(Germany)

Siemens’ trolley was a wheeled vehicle powered by overhead electrical wires. It set the pattern for urban streetcar and trolleybus designs.

There is some disagreement on the first successful electric street railway system. Some credit Frank Julian Sprague (Richmond, Virginia, 1888) while others identify Siemens’ Gross-Lichterfelde Tramway (Berlin, 1881) as the world’s first electric tramway.

1883

Multipurpose Bridge

John Augustus Roebling
(U.S.A.)

The first Brooklyn Bridge connecting Brooklyn to Manhattan carried railway tracks, trolley tracks, a roadway and a walkway and was the largest bridge in the world (at 1,595.5 feet) when it opened.

The Brooklyn Bridge set the pattern for large multipurpose bridges around the world.

Likely private.

Likely none.

-  Carl W. Hall, A Biographical Dictionary of People in Engineering: From Earliest Records to 2000, Purdue University Press, 2008, p. 92.

-  PBS: American Experience, “Made in Chicago: The Refrigerated Rail Car.”

-  “Gustavus Franklin Swift,” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition, Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012.

Likely private.

Unknown.

-  Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Engineering, “Electric Trolley System.”

-  Siemens, “Inauguration of the first electric streetcar in the world,” History.

Public.

Public funding was provided by the State of New York and the boroughs of New York City.

-  Council for Economic Education, “Transportation Milestones.”

-  Library of Congress, “Roebling and the Brooklyn Bridge,” American Memory.

Year

Invention

Inventor(s)

Description

First Successful
Commercial Application?

1885

Internal Combustion Engine powered truck and bus

Karl Benz
(Germany)

Benz developed the first truck powered by an internal combustion engine, some of which were subsequently modified to become the first commercially viable passenger buses.

Buses and trucks powered by gasoline and diesel engines were developed by numerous manufacturers by the early 1900s.

1885–1886

Gasoline Powered Automobiles

Karl Benz, Gottleib Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach
(Germany)

Benz’s three-wheeled vehicle powered by a gas engine designed by Daimler represents the first practical automobile. Daimler and Maybach subsequently developed a larger four-wheeled gas powered “horseless carriage” in 1886.

The first commercially successful automobile was the curved dash Oldsmobile (U.S.A.) which sold 425 units in 1901 growing to over 5,000 in 1904. The Ford Model T (1908) was the first automobile to be mass produced, making it affordable to the masses. By the time production ended in 1927, over 15 million Ford Model Ts had been sold.

1887

Pneumatic Tire

John Boyd Dunlop
(Great Britain)

Dunlop invented the first commercially viable pneumatic tire featuring an inner tube and rubber treads.

Dunlop’s invention was quickly adapted for use on bicycles. Michelin & Cie (France) introduced pneumatic tires for automobiles in the 1890s though American Phillip Strauss is also credited with the “successful” marketing of pneumatic tires for automobiles in 1911.

1892

Diesel Engine

Rudolf Diesel
(Germany)

Instead of using an electric ignition process, a diesel internal combustion engine uses compressed air to ignite diesel fuel injected into cylinder. In 1892, Diesel received patents in

Diesel engines were originally used as a more efficient replacement for stationary steam engines. The first transport applications were in the 1910s when they were used in submarines and ships. Diesel engines were later used in locomotives, trucks, heavy

Likely private.

Governments supported this invention indirectly through the construction of road networks.

-  “Karl Benz,” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition, Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012.

-  Michael MacRae, “Karl Benz,” American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), April 2012.

Likely private.

Governments supported this invention indirectly through the construction of road networks.

-  Council for Economic Education, “Transportation Milestones.”

-  Library of Congress, Researchers, “Who invented the automobile?,” Science Reference Services.

Likely private.

Governments supported this invention indirectly through the construction of road networks.

-  Council for Economic Education, “Transportation Milestones.”

-  Dunlop, “History: Where It All Began.”

Likely private.

Governments were likely among the first consumers of this innovation.

-  Council for Economic Education, “Transportation Milestones.”

-  “Rudolf Diesel,” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition, Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012.

Year

Invention

Inventor(s)

Description

First Successful
Commercial Application?

1892 (cont’d)

Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and filed in the United States for “Method of and Apparatus for Converting Heat into Work.” He operated his first successful pressure-ignited heat engine in 1897.

equipment and automobiles.

1898

Hybrid (gas/diesel-electric) Vehicles

Dr. Ferdinand Porsche
(Austria)

Dr. Porsche devised a vehicle with an internal combustion engine that provided power to electric motors located in the wheel hubs.

Various manufacturers began to introduce hybrid gas-electric vehicles to market during the 1990s. Several major automakers including Honda, Toyota and General Motors have introduced hybrid passenger vehicles to relative commercial success in recent years. Additionally, hybrid technology has been used increasingly in public transit buses.

1900

Dirigible (Zeppelin)

Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin
(Germany)

Zeppelin’s dirigible was a rigid but light airframe that set the pattern for future airship designs.

In 1909, the first commercial Zeppelin service was launched in Germany.

Year

Invention

Inventor(s)

Description

First Successful
Commercial Application?

1903–1905

Airplane

Orville and Wilbur Wright
(U.S.A.)

The Wright brothers’ first flight in 1903 lasted only 12 seconds but by 1905, they had developed the first practical airplane.

The Ford Trimotor (1926) was the first commercially successful passenger aircraft. However, the Boeing Model 247 and Douglas DC2/3 (1933) represented the first modern commercial airliners as they demonstrated that air travel could be safe, reliable, affordable and profitable for the airlines.

1907

Helicopter

Paul Cornu
(France)

Cornu’s twin rotor helicopter was the first to successfully rise vertically in powered flight. It was ultimately unsuccessful as it suffered from several control problems. In 1916, Raul Pateras de Pescara (Argentina) conducted the first fully controlled helicopter flight in Buenos Aires. The German Focke-Wulf Fw61 (1934) was the first practical helicopter but remained experimental.

The Sikorsky R-4 (1942) became the first production helicopter and was used primarily by Allied militaries during the Second World War. Post-1945, numerous manufacturers worldwide developed designs and the military and civilian use of helicopters expanded dramatically.

Year

Invention

Inventor(s)

Description

First Successful
Commercial Application?

1909

Airport

College Park Airport, Maryland
(U.S.A.)

The College Park Airport in Maryland, U.S.A., is reportedly the world’s oldest continually operated airfield. The airfield was formally established in 1909 after it was used to train military officers to fly the U.S. government’s first airplane.

In 1925, Cleveland’s Hopkins Airport set the pattern for modern airport design, being the first to feature, among other things, a runway lighting system, ground to air radio and an air traffic control tower.

1911

Electrical Ignition

Charles Kettering and Clyde Coleman
(U.S.A.)

General Motors engineers Kettering and Coleman invented the first electric starter motor for automobiles, eliminating the need to hand crank vehicles.

The Kettering and Coleman starter was introduced in 1912 Cadillac automobiles and by 1920 most manufacturers had adopted electric ignition.

1917

Diesel-electric Locomotive

General Electric, Ingersoll-Rand and other firms
(U.S.A.)

The first diesel-electric locomotives built by General Electric and Ingersoll-Rand were demonstrated in 1925 by several railroads. They were initially used for switching railcars in its train yards.

In 1929, CN Rail became the first railway in North America to use diesel-electric locomotives on mainline service. By the early 1950s, most major North American railways began to phase out steam locomotives in favour of the more powerful, more efficient and cleaner diesel-electric locomotives.

Year

Invention

Inventor(s)

Description

First Successful
Commercial Application?

1926

Liquid-fuelled Rocket

Robert Goddard
(U.S.A.)

Type of jet propulsion engine that generates thrust from the controlled explosion resulting from the mixing of liquid fuel and oxidizer within a combustion chamber.

Commercial space transportation services began in the 1980s with the U.S. Space Shuttle offering to send commercial payloads into low Earth orbit. However, after Challenger disaster in 1986, the Space Shuttle was prohibited from launching commercial payloads which provided the private sector with opportunities to use expendable launchers such as Delta, Atlas and Titan to offer commercial payload launching services.

1939

Jet Aircraft

Frank Whittle (Great Britain); Hans von Ohain
(Germany)

Whittle filed a patent for a jet aircraft engine in 1930, but his engine was not flown in a prototype aircraft until 1941. Von Ohain developed his own engine unaware of Whittle’s experiments and his design flew in 1939.

Several military jet aircraft designs emerged during the mid-1940s, transforming air warfare. The first passenger jet aircraft was the De Havilland Comet (1952) but the turning point for the commercial viability of commercial jet airlines was the introduction of the Boeing 707 (1957) and Douglas DC-8 (1958).

1940

Jeep

Bantam Car Company
(U.S.A.)

The Bantam Car Company designed what became known as the Jeep in response to a U.S. Army request for a small multipurpose vehicle. It was an invaluable personnel carrier and facilitated the motorization of Western armies during the Second World War.

Following the Second World War, the Jeep design was manufactured for both military and civilian use, spawning an entire category of motor vehicle: the four-wheel drive off-road vehicle

Year

Invention

Inventor(s)

Description

First Successful
Commercial Application?

1946

Computer

J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly
(U.S.A.)

The ENIAC was the first electronic computer capable of performing complex mathematical calculations and operations.

Commercial applications for the computer were led after 1945 by private firms such as IBM. As efforts to miniaturize and increase their power progress during the mid-20^th century, computers were progressively integrated into most transportation technologies.

1942

Ballistic Missile

Werner von Braun and others
(Germany)

The V-2 was the first rocket capable of being launched from a site on Earth, entering the upper reaches of the atmosphere and returning to another location on Earth while carrying an explosive payload.

While ballistic missile technology was primarily used for military applications after the Second World War, von Braun and other German researchers contributed to the American space program during the 1950s and 1960s.

1947

Supersonic Aircraft

Bell Aircraft Company
(U.S.A.)

In 1947, Chuck Yeager in the Bell X-1 rocket aircraft became the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound in controlled level flight.

The Concorde supersonic jetliner was flown for the first time in 1969 and began scheduled commercial service in 1976. Funded jointly by the British and French governments, the Concorde proved difficult to operate profitably and was retired in 2003.

Year

Invention

Inventor(s)

Description

First Successful
Commercial Application?

1953

Practical Solar Cell

Gerald Pearson, Daryl Chapin, Calvin Fuller
(U.S.A.)

Building on the research into photovoltaic cells conducted during the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, Pearson, Chapin and Fuller demonstrated a silicon solar cell capable of a 6% energy conversion efficiency in direct sunlight.

The first commercially affordable solar cell was developed by Elliott Berman and the Exxon Corporation during the 1970s. In recent years, solar technology has been demonstrated in automobiles and has been increasingly used to generate electricity

1955

Container Ship

Malcom McLean

In 1955, McLean, a trucking operator, purchased a steamship company with the idea of using the ships to transport loaded truck trailers. In 1956, his firm began operations with the first container ship, the SS Ideal-X. Subsequent innovations led to standardized steel shipping containers and large container ships. Containerization yielded significant cost savings in loading and unloading ships.

McLean’s firm, Sea-Land Industry, led the development of containerized shipping but progress was slow through the 1950s and 1960s due primarily to the lack of port infrastructure to handle containers. However, by the 1970s, Sea-Land was joined by numerous competitors and containerization became a major element in ocean shipping.

Year

Invention

Inventor(s)

Description

First Successful
Commercial Application?

1957

Satellite

Soviet Union

Sputnik I.

First commercial application of satellite technology was the communications satellite. The Communication Satellite Corporation (Comsat) was the first authorized by U.S. Congress in 1962 and set up as a private corporation. The first operational commercial satellite providing regular telecommunications and broadcasting services between the United States and Europe was Intelsat 1 (otherwise known as “Early Bird”). It was launched in 6 April 1965.

1961

Manned Space Flight

Soviet Union

Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel in space in April 1961 aboard the Vostok I.

NASA has recently commissioned a number of private aerospace corporations to develop a crewed space vehicle to be deployed by 2015 to service the International Space Station following the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011.

1964

Bullet Train

Japan

Operating at speeds of over 100 mph, the first Japanese Bullet Trains travelled on specially design rail rights-of-way between Tokyo and Osaka.

The Bullet Trains now provide the primary high speed rail service to most major Japanese cities. Similar high speed rail technology has been introduced in France (TGV), Germany, China and the Northeast United States (Amtrak Acela Express).

1969

Manned Moon Landing

United States

Apollo 11 was the first manned spacecraft to land on the surface of the Moon.

Moon exploration technology has not been commercialized to date.

Year

Invention

Inventor(s)

Description

First Successful
Commercial Application?

1969

Jumbo Jet

Boeing Company
(U.S.A.)

First flown in 1969, the Boeing 747 was the first commercial jumbo jet capable of carrying over 500 passengers and crew over 6,000 miles non-stop.

The Boeing 747 was very successful commercially, being flown on long-haul flights by airlines around the world for over 40 years. In 2005, the Airbus A380 “superjumbo” was first flown. The A380 can carry over 850 passengers and crew and has recently entered commercial service with several airlines.

1981

Space Shuttle

NASA
(U.S.A.)

The first space shuttle mission was launched in 1981. The space shuttle fleet revolutionized space travel as the reusable craft could carry large crews and cargo payloads into orbit and return to Earth under its own power.

The technology was used to carry numerous commercial satellites into orbit until Challenger disaster in 1986 forced NASA to cease providing commercial space services and focus on scientific and application missions, particularly the assembly of the International Space Station. The Space Shuttle program was retired in 2011 without a replacement program being developed.

2001

Segway Human Transporter

Dean Kamen
(U.S.A.)

The Segway is the first self-balancing, electric personal transportation machine. Featuring two wheels, it is balanced by a computer and operated by a rider who accelerates and decelerates the vehicle by shifting weight fore and aft.

Although it attracted significant media attention after it was introduced, the Segway was not a major commercial success.