Below is a list of 20th century inventions, many of which greatly impacted the lives of our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. (Note: some of the dates may be in dispute as they can either reflect the year an invention was patented or the year it became commercially available. It typically took several years for an invention to become widely used.)
To learn more about an invention and the personal impact it had, ask your parents and grandparents to share their memories of growing up in the 20th century.
~ 20th Century Inventions ~
1900-1910
1900 – The Escalator
1901 – The Vacuum Cleaner
1902 – The Air Conditioner
1903 – Crayons and Airplane
1904 – The Tractor
1905 – E=mc2
1906 – Sonar and Corn Flakes
1907 – Color Photography
1908 – The Model T
1909 – Instant Coffee
1910-1920
1912 – The Motorized Movie Camera
1913 – The Bra
1916 – Stainless Steel
1918 – Fortune Cookie
1919 – The pop-up Toaster
1921 – The Lie Detector
1923 – Frozen Food
1926 – The Television and Liquid Fueled Rockets
1928 – Penicillin
1930-1940
1930 – Scotch Tape and the Jet Engine
1932 – Polaroid Photography
1933 – The FM Radio
1934 – Monopoly
1935 – Nylon
1936 – The Colt Revolver
1937 – The Photocopier
1938 – The Ball Point Pen, Teflon and first Turboprop
1939 – The Helicopter and Electron Microscope
1940-1950
1940 – The Color Television
1941 – The Neutron Reactor
1943 – The Slinky
1944 – Kidney Dialysis
1945 – The Atomic Bomb
1946 – The Microwave Oven
1948 – The Frisbee, Velcro and the Jukebox
1950-1960
1950 – The first Credit Card
1951 – The Video Tape Recorder
1952 – Mr. Potato Head
1953 – The Transistor Radio
1954 – McDonalds and the Birth Control Pill
1955 – Optic Fiber
1956 – Liquid Paper
1958 – The modern Computer, Laser and the Hula Hoop
1959 – The Micro Chip, Barbie Doll, and the Pacemaker
1960-1970
1960 – The Halogen Lamp
1962 – The Audio Cassette and TV Satellite Launched
1963 – The Video Disk
1965 – AstroTurf and the Compact Disc
1967 – The Hand held Calculator
1968 – The Computer Mouse and RAM
1969 – The Artificial Heart and the ATM
1970-1980
1970 – The Floppy Disc
1971 – The VCR
1972 – The Word Processor and Video Game
1973 – The Ethernet
1974 – Liposuction and Post it Notes
1975 – The Laser Printer
1976 – The Ink Jet Printer
1977 – Magnetic Resonance Imaging
1979 – The Cell Phone, Walkman and Roller Blades (what a year!)
1980-1990
1981 – The IBM PC
1983 – Apple Lisa
1984 – The CD ROM and Apple Macintosh
1985 – Microsoft Windows
1986 – The Disposable Camera
1987 – Disposable Contact Lenses and Fax Machine
1988 – The Digital Cell Phone
1989 – High Definition Television
1990-2000
1990 – The World Wide Web and HTML
1991 – The Digital Answering Machine
1993 – The Portable Personal Computers
1995 – The DVD and JAVA
1996 – Web TV
Ask your parent and grandparents what they consider the greatest invention in their lifetime and let us know in the comment section below!.
To learn more about 20th century inventions and your family history, check out my post: ‘Grandparent Interview Questions’.
Capture your parent or grandparent’s life story, family history and life lessons for your family to know!
Here at Family Tree Video we produce Legacy Videos, modern-day memoirs that weave a filmed interview together with family photos, documents, maps and other memorabilia. The result is a beautiful “moving” portrait capturing your loved one as they recount their life story, family history and memories – a gift your family will treasure for generations to come.
To learn more about capturing your parent or grandparent’s life story in a Legacy Video, visit us at FamilyTreeVideo.com.
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20th Century Inventions
~ 20th Century Inventions ~
Legacy Videos
Capturing Life Stories and Family History
for Future Generations
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20th Century Inventions
~ Legacy Videos ~
~ 20th Century Inventions ~
Below is a list of 20th century inventions, many of which greatly impacted the lives of our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. (Note: some of the dates may be in dispute as they can either reflect the year an invention was patented or the year it became commercially available. It typically took several years for an invention to become widely used.)
Here at Family Tree Video we produce Legacy Videos, modern-day memoirs that weave a filmed interview together with family photos, documents, maps and other memorabilia. The result is a beautiful “moving” portrait capturing your loved one as they recount their life story, family history and memories – a gift your family will treasure for generations to come.
thank you sharing