The World's Biggest Inventors: Have You Heard Of All Of These?

Several inventors highly influenced every sphere of life through their brilliant ideas and spectacular inventions.

It is impossible to pick out a single inventor as the greatest. Multiple inventors throughout the years have contributed to the development of human civilization in various ways.

Different countries throughout the world had inventors who impacted society in different ways. For instance, James Watt, from Scotland, made significant improvements to the steam engine and changed the course of the Industrial Revolution for the better and significantly impacted society. On the other hand, Louis Pasteur, a French scientist, invented the method of 'Pasteurization,' which significantly improved the health of the common people, who were otherwise at risk of dying from bacterial infections.

To learn more about the biggest inventors, keep reading! You can also check out the biggest invention ever and the American invention list.

Insightful Facts About Biggest Inventor

Some of the world's greatest inventors were those who improved everyone's lives drastically with their genius ideas. Read on to learn about such prolific inventors and their contributions to humankind.

One of the most famous inventors of all time has to be Johannes Gutenberg, an inventor of German origin. He is credited with the invention of the movable type of printing press. His creation led to the development of a number of the most significant events in history, like the Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution. Often tagged as the person to have initiated the Printing Revolution in Europe, did you know Gutenberg himself was a goldsmith?

In the 18th century, Benjamin Franklin invented many items used in everyday life, even today. A founding father belonging to American history, Franklin invented the lightning rod, one of his biggest achievements, while exploring the subject of electricity. Additionally, Franklin was also the person to come up with bifocals. Do you know how this invention came to be? Benjamin Franklin decided to cut his lenses in half so that he could understand the expression of the French speakers in court, whom he did not understand, otherwise, and that was the birth of the bifocals.

In the same year, Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell were two of the greatest minds who invented light bulbs and the telephone. Both these inventions revolutionized the world in ways more than one. Thomas Edison also created the movie camera from the electric light bulb. Astonishingly, Edison was the first to set up a research laboratory of industrial nature.

The prolific inventor Alexander Graham Bell was inspired to make hearing devices as two of the most influential women in his life; his mother and wife were deaf. Though the first invention of the telephone remains a debated matter, Bell is considered the first inventor due to having the first patent for the telephone being granted in his name.

Empowering Facts About Biggest Inventor

Some inventors rose against all odds to gift the world with their ideas and inventions. Let us now look into the empowering stories of some of the most consequential inventors.

George Washington Carver was a black man born in the year 1864, during slavery. Slavery was abolished in 1865; however, Carver grew up in a racially segregated society, impacting his early education years. Nevertheless, he finished his college degree in agricultural science and invented over 300 products from peanuts, some of which were medicinal oils, plastics, and cosmetics.

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are technologies of everyday use. However, did you know who invented the precursor of these devices? It was a famous Hollywood actress, Hedy Lamarr. Being a woman in the field of technology, Lamarr did face considerable sexism and discrimination. However, her invention of a specific type of radio guidance system during World War II formed the basis for modern developments of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Baffling Facts About Biggest Inventor

Some of the most baffling facts about the biggest inventors are related to their patents. While almost all inventors have multiple patents to their names, some of them have been remembered for unique and amusing facts surrounding their patents.

Irrespective of whether you are interested in computers or not, you must have heard of Steve Jobs! Were you aware that the first patent granted to Jobs, who wasn't even a computer scientist, was called "Personal Computer"? Job's invention was undoubtedly one of the greatest creations of that century. In total, Steve Jobs has 458 patents granted in his name.

At the beginning of 2021, it was announced that the Ford company has the most number of patents for autonomous technology. This is not surprising, considering the founder of Ford Motor Company, Henry Ford himself, had more than 150 patents. Henry Ford invented the revolutionary assembly line, a mode of production in automotive industries.

Facts about patent holders must include the names of the Japanese inventor Shunpei Yamazaki who owns the most number of patents in the world, followed by the Australian inventor Kia Silverbrook. While the former has invented methods related to the production of cold nuclear fusion, Silverbrook has been credited with the invention of a type of printing technology, among many others.

Interestingly, two of the greatest inventions of all time, the internet and subsequently, the world wide web, were never patented. While it is not possible to patent the internet, the inventor of the world wide web, Tim Berners Lee, chose not to patent his creation to make it accessible to everyone.

Mystifying Facts About Biggest Inventor

When it comes to inventions, one name that will reverberate through decades is that of Nikola Tesla, as he was one of the biggest and greatest inventors of all time. However, certain mystifying facts surround this brilliant man.

Nikola Tesla was associated with several inventions, including the Tesla coil, induction motor, and fluorescent lighting. However, his most significant work was his noteworthy contribution to the development of the AC or alternating current electric supply system, which formed the basis for the modern method of electric supply. Did you know that Tesla got the idea for alternating current while working under Edison, who was the inventor of DC or Direct Current?

However, the mysteries surrounding Tesla are entirely different. When World War II was ongoing, Tesla claimed to have invented a death ray, which was a particle beam weapon of extreme power. However, following Tesla's death, all his documents were seized by the FBI. In the later years, though most of the documents were declassified, there are theories suggesting the documents related to the death ray and other inventions of interest have been concealed.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created many interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for the biggest inventor, then why not take a look at 1966 inventions or 1968 inventions?