Best inventions of past 100 years

[6miths]

An interesting book, 'How We Got to Now' discussing the major innovations that brought us major modern technologies. Time marches on, many of the innovations mentioned above are now over 100 years old. Though not computers (unless you count mechanical varieties), satellites and the internet.

 

[COcheesehead]

The thermos. Keeps hot things hot. Cold things cold and he don’t have to tell it which is which.

 

[travelover]

The thermos. Keeps hot things hot. Cold things cold and he don’t have to tell it which is which.

Simply amazing! And telephones - they work in any language!

 

[davebarnes]

Jet engine - Frank Whittle
Transitor - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor
Digital communication theory - Claude Shannon

 

[gerntz]

- Fluoridated water
- Penicillin
- Polio vaccines
- artificial joints
- microwave ovens
- ball point pens
- air conditioning
- nuclear power
- transistor
- DNA understanding

 

[Extra Medium]

It’s predictable, but the smartphone-in spite of so many problems- is truly revolutionary, in making information and communication so much more available to ordinary people.

Antibiotics, corticosteroids, insulin and oral contraceptives.

Automobile efficiency and commercial flight. Invented more than 100 years ago, but both relatively unavailable to nearly anyone until much later.

The reemergence of craft beer.

 

[Red Badger]

Yella wood (pressure treated lumber).

 

[gauss]

Air conditioning (Houston area here!) LOL!!

In all seriousness - this ^ even in the 'mild' midwest.

On a day to day basis the comfort and productivity it brings is priceless. YMMV.

 

[DrRoy]

transistors
integrated circuits
antibiotics
LEDs

 

[blueskyk]

The universal joint

 

[MichaelB]

K-Y jelly.

automatic espresso maker

A close second ...

 

[GreenEggs]

Refrigeration seems pretty high on the list. Who likes hot Beer?

And forget the toilet, what about nice soft 2-ply toilet paper?

 

[CaptTom]

- Fluoridated water Not in our town
- Penicillin The rise of resistant bacteria
- Polio vaccines Anti-Vaxers
- artificial joints
- microwave ovens
- ball point pens
- air conditioning
- nuclear power Anti-Nukers
- transistor
- DNA understanding

It seems for every two steps forward, we take one step back. As science deniers gain more power every day, this can only get worse.

 

[braumeister]

Ever been potty trained in a cold, damp, wooden outhouse? LOL!!

Not me, but DW grew up on the old family farm and didn't have indoor plumbing until she was 12 years old.

 

[JoeWras]

Air conditioning (Houston area here!) LOL!!

Corollary: modern self contained and safe home refrigerators.

All the old apartments (built about 1920-25) where I grew up had little ice chutes on the back that the ice man would deliver the block. You put it in the true ice box. Rinse and repeat. Wiki says the self contained electric fridges started coming into use after 1920, so I think I can still meet the 100 year requirement.

No need for this for the building boom after the war. Everyone had self contained electric refrigerators. Huge quality of life and safety improvement.

We boys would always find interesting uses for those unused ice chutes. Fun for play.

 

[Masquernom]

Not me, but DW grew up on the old family farm and didn't have indoor plumbing until she was 12 years old.

I got indoor plumbing when I was a freshman in high school. Also had a wood stove for heat until then. I wouldn't want to go back to those days again.

 

[Sunset]

Corollary: modern self contained and safe home refrigerators.

All the old apartments (built about 1920-25) where I grew up had little ice chutes on the back that the ice man would deliver the block. You put it in the true ice box. Rinse and repeat. Wiki says the self contained electric fridges started coming into use after 1920, so I think I can still meet the 100 year requirement.

...

I remember going into town to get a block of ice, and playing in the ice-house (a large garage sized building full of 100 lb blocks of ice with sawdust thrown between and over the blocks. The sawdust stopped them from sticking to each other. On a hot summer day, it was like being in a giant fridge.

Our ice box was the kind where you put the block in the top. I was young so I don't know, but I think we probably only used 25->50 lb blocks, as I can't see my dad lifting a 100 lb block into the fridge.

 

[gerntz]

Not me, but DW grew up on the old family farm and didn't have indoor plumbing until she was 12 years old.

As I grew up in 50s, multiple homes on our street had outhouses. Went the way of the dodo when sewer system went in & required mandatory hookups.

 

[gerntz]

It seems for every two steps forward, we take one step back. As science deniers gain more power every day, this can only get worse.

Some day folks will wake up to nuclear power being necessary to cut CO2 emissions in a major way.

 

[MRG]

Can you imagine if a MD was transported from 1920 to 2020?

 

[Winemaker]

1) Barrels
2) Plumbing
3) Air conditioning
4) Sliced bread

 

[Markola]

The modern mutual fund!

From Investopedia: “America's First Mutual Funds
The modern mutual fund that we know today first appeared in Boston in 1924 with the introduction of the Massachusetts Investors' Trust, which was the first mutual fund with an open-end capitalization, allowing the fund to continuously issue and redeem its shares. After only one year of existence, the fund's popularity was obvious. The fund's holdings grew from $50,000 to more than $390,000. The fund was also the first of its kind to go public in 1928. That same year saw the introduction of the Wellington Fund (now part of the Vanguard family of funds), which was the first mutual fund to include stocks and bonds, as opposed to direct merchant bank style of investments in business and trade. (See also: A Brief History of the Mutual Fund.)

 

[braumeister]

1) Barrels
2) Plumbing
3) Air conditioning
4) Sliced bread

I'm pretty sure barrels have been around at least a couple thousand years.

 

[Which Roger]

I think #1 is computing technology, hands down. Computing technology is behind most of the other major advances. Medical advances would probably be #2 in my book but most of those wouldn't be possible without computers. Nor of course would all the applications of the internet, which I would rank as tied for #2. All the things I can think of that might rival computing in their impact (electrification, flight, etc) are more than 100 years old.

 

[travelover]

I'm pretty sure barrels have been around at least a couple thousand years.

Yea, but not orange barrels.