List the Names of Some Famous Inventors

If you want the names of some famous inventors, you can easily create a very long list. Almost everything you have, use or own had to be invented by someone, from the computer you type on to the chairs you sit on to the screws holding that chair together. The list of the names of all famous inventors would seem endless; but, several of these inventors stand out as key contributers to modern day society.

Five of the most famous inventors in history were the creators of these key inventions which changed the way society looks at communication, transportation and mass production:

• Phone
• Automobile
• Cotton Gin
• Internet
• Windows Operating System

Phone

One of the most ubiqutous products in American history has to be the telephone. Today, the vast majority of people have cell phones that they can take anywhere, but before the days of the SmartPhone, someone had to invent the plain old basic telephone.

That someone was Alexander Graham Bell. Whether your phone is a hard-wired rotary unit or a digitally-operated cellular phone capable of web surfing, Bell is responsible for your ability to communicate with a friend or relative on the other side of the world.

Automobile 

If you want to drive to your relative’s house, you might think you would need to thank Henry Ford for the automobile. You’d be wrong however, as the automobile is credited to German-born inventor Karl Benz.

Ford is responsible for the invention of the automated assembly line, which was one of the single most important contributions to American industry as we know it today.

Cotton Gin

Ford’s production-oriented invention wasn’t the first industry related creation that increased production or that made the fabrication process easier. Eli Whitney, a graduate of Yale University, invented the cotton gin as a means of de-seeding cotton at a rate much faster than human hands could perform the task.

He didn’t receive much compensation for his invention before it was pirated by many farmers around the country; but, his contributions to the concept of mass production shaped American industry throughout the 1800’s.

Internet

In more modern times, the Internet is also an invention that is credited to an American scientist Vinton Cerf. Though he was largely only involved in the Internet's infant stages, Cerf designed the protocols for computer networking in 1973, and over the course of the next 10 years the Internet concept was developed by a host of different scientists and computer technology experts.

Windows Operating System

The Internet’s invention wouldn’t have led to anything close to what you experience in your web surfing today if not for the ingenuity of William (Bill) Gates, the creator of Microsoft operating systems. Windows remains the most popular operating system in existence and it changed the way people use computers.

Researching Inventors and Inventions

There are hundreds, if not millions, of people who have invented products since the dawn of time.

The Internet is an excellent source for research on famous inventors. Basic lists of inventors can be found at on the Enchanted Learnings' index of inventors. TMS.Riverview.Wednet.edu provides more detailed information about specific inventors and inventions. The Encyclopedia of World Biography here on YourDictionary is an excellent source for detailed biographical information about the world's inventors.