The transmission of information and democratisation were revolutionised by Johannes Gutenberg's printing press in 1440. By 1500, over 1,000 presses were operating in Europe, producing 200 million new books and igniting the Age of Enlightenment.
James Watt's 1775 steam engine, which propelled the First Industrial Revolution and encouraged the creation of locomotives, steamships, cars, combustion engines, and aeroplanes, transformed transportation in the 19th century.
With his invention of incandescent lamps, Thomas Edison outperformed his forebears and transformed home appliances, working hours, illumination, and energy production.
Alexander Graham Bell's 1876 patent for the telephone revolutionised communication, paving the way for modern society and mobile telephony, marking the beginning of modern society.
Charles Lindbergh's 1927 non-stop Atlantic flight and the Wright brothers' 1903 Wright Flyer experiment established the groundwork for aeronautical engineering, which now contributes to the prosperity of the world's economy.
Computers made work and life easier by processing data, storing information, and streamlining tasks. Vacuum tubes were replaced by microprocessors in 1971 and transistors in 1947, which resulted in the creation of personal computers.
The World Wide Web in 1991, the ARPAnet connection in 1969, and the invention of TCP in the late 1970s all had an impact on the formation of the Internet.