Question:
The greatest invention of all times?
2006-02-02 09:34:13 UTC
besides the car, and the wheel, what do you think is the greatest invention.
Nine answers:
?
2006-02-02 09:45:30 UTC
Toilet paper, if you don't believe me...try going a day without it.
?
2017-03-01 06:56:34 UTC
1
Just Another Number
2006-02-02 09:40:34 UTC
Electricity hands down. Just think of all of the things that require electricity.



Without it there would be no more Microwaves or Computers or even light from a light bulb. Without electricity this question wouldn't even exist.



I love electricity!
Sugarnspice22
2006-02-02 10:05:00 UTC
I would say plastic just think of all the things they use it for.Like for instance my glasses and contacts without these I would be blind basically.I know they use it for all sorts of things beside that.When Alexander Parkes developed the first man-made plastic in the 1860s, he had no idea what an integral role the material would come to play in our everyday lives.



The uses of plastic materials have grown rapidly in recent years. Plastics today play an important part in cutting-edge technologies such as the space program, bullet-proof vests and prosthetic limbs, as well as in everyday products such as beverage bottles, medical devices and automobiles.

Just consider the changes we've seen in the grocery store in recent years: Plastic wrap helps keep meat fresh while protecting it from the poking and prodding fingers of your fellow shoppers. Plastic bottles mean you can actually lift an economy-size bottle of juice. And should you accidentally drop that bottle, it is shatter-resistant. In each case, the use of plastics help make your life easier, healthier and safer.Plastics also help you get maximum value from some of the big-ticket items you buy. Plastics help make portable phones and computers that really are portable. They help major appliances - like refrigerators or dishwashers - resist corrosion, last longer and operate more efficiently. Plastic car fenders and body panels resist dings, so you can cruise the grocery store parking lot with confidence.Modern packaging -- such as heat-sealed plastic pouches and wraps -- helps keep food fresh and free of contamination. That means the resources that went into producing that food aren't wasted. It's the same thing once you get the food home: plastic wraps and resealable containers keep your leftovers protected -- much to the chagrin of kids everywhere. In fact, packaging experts have estimated that each pound of plastic packaging can reduce up to 1.7 pounds of food waste.



Plastics can also help you bring home more product with less packaging. For example, just 2 pounds of plastic can deliver 1,000 ounces -- roughly 8 gallons -- of a beverage such as juice, soda or water. You'd need 3 pounds of aluminum to bring home the same amount, 8 pounds of steel or 27 pounds of glass. Not only do plastic bags require less total energy to produce than paper bags, they conserve fuel in shipping. It takes seven trucks to carry the same number of paper bags as fits in one truckload of plastic bags. Plastics make packaging more efficient, which ultimately conserves resources.Plastics also help to conserve energy in your home. Vinyl siding and windows help cut energy consumption and lower your heating and cooling bills. Furthermore, the U.S. Department of Energy estimates that use of plastic foam insulation in homes and buildings each year will ultimately save nearly 60 million barrels of oil over other kinds of insulation.



The same principles apply in appliances such as refrigerators and air conditioners. Plastic parts and insulation have helped to improve their energy efficiency by 30 to 50 percent since the early 1970s. Again, this energy savings helps reduce your electric and cooling bills. And appliances run more quietly than earlier designs that used other materials.
barlow_girl87
2006-02-02 09:37:15 UTC
Toothpicks.
abooodi
2006-02-02 09:41:20 UTC
sanitary system and sewage networks under our homes which have reduced the incedence of diseases to the minimum .
sista!
2006-02-02 09:38:06 UTC
lightbulb
2006-02-02 09:37:21 UTC
The COMPUTER
2006-02-02 09:41:08 UTC
Most of the "usefull" inventions are all good these are some of them>





aerosol can 1926 Erik Rotheim Norway

air conditioning 1902 Willis Haviland Carrier US

airbag, automotive 1952 John Hetrick US

airplane, engine-powered 1903 Wilbur & Orville Wright US

airship 1852 Henri Giffard France

alphabet c. 1700–1500 BC Semitic-speaking peoples eastern coast of Mediterranean Sea

American Sign Language 1817 Thomas H. Gallaudet US

animation, motion-picture 1906 J. Stuart Blackton US

answering machine, telephone 1898 Valdemar Poulsen Denmark

aspartame 1965 James Schlatter US

aspirin 1897 Felix Hoffmann (Bayer) Germany

assembly line 1913 Henry Ford US

astrolabe c. 2nd century — —

AstroTurf 1965 James M. Faria, Robert T. Wright US

audiotape 1928 Fritz Pfleumer Germany

automated teller machine (ATM) 1968 Don Wetzel US

automobile 1889 Gottlieb Daimler Germany

baby food, prepared 1927 Dorothy Gerber US

bag, flat-bottomed paper 1870 Margaret Knight US

Bakelite 1907 Leo Hendrik Baekeland US

ball bearing 1794 Philip Vaughan England

balloon, hot-air 1783 Joseph & Étienne Montgolfier France

bandage, adhesive 1921 Earle Dickson US

bar code 1952 Joseph Woodland US

barbed wire 1874 Joseph Glidden US

barometer 1643 Evangelista Torricelli Italy

battery, electric storage 1800 Alessandro Volta Italy

beer before 6000 BC Sumerians, Babylonians Mesopotamia

bicycle 1818 Baron Karl de Drais de Sauerbrun Germany

bifocal lens 1784 Benjamin Franklin US

bikini 1946 Louis Réard France

blood bank late 1930s Charles Richard Drew US

blow-dryer 1920 Racine Universal Motor Co., Hamilton Beach Manufacturing Co. US

bomb, atomic 1945 J. Robert Oppenheimer, et al. US

bomb, thermonuclear (hydrogen) 1952 Edward Teller, et al. US

boomerang c. 15,000 years ago Aboriginal peoples Australia

Braille system 1824 Louis Braille France

brassiere (bra) 1913 Mary Phelps Jacob US

bread, sliced (bread-slicing machine) 1928 Otto Frederick Rohwedder US

button c. 700 BC Greeks, Etruscans Greece, Italy

buttonhole 13th century — Europe

calculator, electronic hand-held 1967 Jack S. Kilby US

calculus 1680s Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (invented separately) England and Germany (respectively)

calendar, modern (Gregorian) 1582 Pope Gregory XIII Italy

camcorder 1982 Sony Corp. Japan

camera, motion picture 1891 Thomas Alva Edison, William K.L. Dickson US

camera, portable photographic 1888 George Eastman US

can, metal beverage 1933 American Can Co. US

can opener 1858 Ezra J. Warner US

candle c. 3000 BC — Egypt, Crete

canning, food 1809 Nicolas Appert France

carbon-14 dating 1946 Willard F. Libby US

cardboard, corrugated 1871 Albert Jones US

cards, playing c. 10th century — China

cash register 1879 James Ritty US

cat litter 1947 Edward Lowe US

catalog, mail-order 1872 Aaron Montgomery Ward US

cellophane 1911 Jacques E. Brandenberger Switzerland

celluloid 1869 John Wesley Hyatt US

cement, portland 1824 Joseph Aspdin England

cereal flakes, breakfast 1894 John Harvey Kellogg US

chewing gum (modern) c. 1870 Thomas Adams US

chocolate c. 3rd–10th century Maya, Aztecs Central America, Mexico

chronometer 1762 John Harrison England

clock, pendulum 1656 Christiaan Huygens The Netherlands

clock, quartz 1927 Warren A. Marrison Canada/US

cloning, animal 1970 John B. Gurdon UK

coffee, drip 1908 Melitta Bentz Germany

coffee, decaffeinated 1905 Ludwig Roselius Germany

coins c. 650 BC Lydians Turkey

compact disc (CD) 1980 Philips Electronics, Sony Corp. The Netherlands, Japan

compass, magnetic c. 12th century — China, Europe

computed tomography (CT scan, CAT scan) 1972 Godfrey Hounsfield, Allan Cormack UK, US

computer, electronic digital 1939 John V. Atanasoff, Clifford E. Berry US

computer, laptop 1983 Radio Shack Corp. US

computer, personal 1974 MITS (Micro Instrumentation Telemetry Systems) US

concrete, reinforced 1867 Joseph Monier France

condom, latex c. 1930 — —

contact lenses 1887 Adolf Fick Germany

contraceptives, oral early 1950s Gregory Pincus, John Rock, Min Chueh Chang US

corn, hybrid 1917 Donald F. Jones US

correction fluid, white 1951 Bette Nesmith US

cotton gin 1793 Eli Whitney US

coupon, grocery 1894 Asa Candler US

crayons, children's wax 1903 Edwin Binney, C. Harold Smith US

cream separator (dairy processing) 1878 Carl Gustaf Patrik de Laval Sweden

credit card 1950 Frank McNamara, Ralph Schneider (Diners' Club) US

crossword puzzles 1913 Arthur Wynne US

DDT 1874 Othmar Zeidler Germany

defibrillator 1952 Paul M. Zoll US

dentures c. 700 BC Etruscans Italy

detector, metal late 1920s Gerhard Fisher Germany/US

detector, home smoke 1969 Randolph Smith, Kenneth House US

diamond, artificial 1955 General Electric Co. US

diapers, disposable 1950 Marion Donovan US

digital videodisc (DVD) 1995 consortium of international electronics companies Japan, US, The Netherlands

dishwasher 1886 Josephine Cochrane US

DNA fingerprinting 1984 Alec Jeffreys UK

doughnut, ring-shaped 1847 Hanson Crockett Gregory US

door, revolving 1888 Theophilus von Kannel US

drinking fountain c. 1905–1912 Luther Haws, Halsey W. Taylor (invented separately) US

dry cleaning 1855 Jean Baptiste Jolly France

dynamite 1867 Alfred Nobel Sweden

elastic, fabric c. 1830 Thomas Hancock UK

electric chair 1888 Harold P. Brown, Arthur E. Kennelly US

electrocardiogram (ECG, EKG) 1903 Willem Einthoven The Netherlands

electroencephalogram (EEG) 1929 Hans Berger Germany

electronic mail (e-mail) 1971 Ray Tomlinson US

elevator, passenger 1852 Elisha Graves Otis US

encyclopedia c. 4th century BC or 77 AD Speusippus (compliation of Plato's teachings) or Pliny the Elder (comprehensive work) Greece or Rome

engine, internal-combustion 1859 Étienne Lenoir France

engine, jet 1930 Sir Frank Whittle UK

engine, liquid-fueled rocket 1926 Robert H. Goddard US

engine, steam 1698 Thomas Savery England

escalator 1891 Jesse W. Reno US

eyeglasses 1280s Salvino degli Armati or Alessandro di Spina Italy

facsimile (fax) 1842 Alexander Bain Scotland

fiber optics 1955 Narinder S. Kapany India

fiberglass 1938 Owens Corning (corp.) US

film, photographic 1884 George Eastman US

flashlight, battery-operated portable 1899 Conrad Hubert Russia/US

flask, vacuum (Thermos) 1892 Sir James Dewar Scotland

food processor 1971 Pierre Verdon France

foods, freeze-dried 1946 Earl W. Flosdorf US

foods, frozen c. 1924 Clarence Birdseye US

Fresnel lens 1820 Augustin-Jean Fresnel France

fuel cell 1839 William R. Grove UK

genetic engineering 1973 Stanley N. Cohen, Herbert W. Boyer US

Geiger counter 1908 Hans Geiger Germany

glass c. 2500 BC Egyptians or Phoenicians Egypt or Lebanon

glass, safety 1909 Édouard Bénédictus France

greeting card, Christmas 1843 John Callcott Horsley England

guillotine 1792 Joseph-Ignace Guillotin France

guitar, electric 1941 Les Paul US

gunpowder c. 10th century — China or Arabia

hanger, wire coat 1903 Albert J. Parkhouse US

helicopter 1939 Igor Sikorsky Russia/US

holography 1948 Dennis Gabor Hungary

hypodermic syringe 1853 Charles Gabriel Pravaz France

in vitro fertilization (IVF), human 1978 Patrick Steptoe, Robert Edwards UK

ink c. 2500 BC — Egypt, China

insulin, extraction and preparation of 1921 Sir Frederick Grant Banting, Charles H. Best Canada

integrated circuit 1958 Jack S. Kilby US

Internet 1969 Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) at the Dept. of Defense US

iron, electric 1882 Henry W. Seely US

irradiation, food 1905 — US/UK

jeans 1873 Levi Strauss, Jacob Davis US

JELL-O (gelatin dessert) 1897 Pearle B. Wait US

jukebox 1889 Louis Glass US

Kevlar 1965 Stephanie Kwolek US

Kool-Aid (fruit drink mix) 1927 Edwin E. Perkins US

laser 1958 Gordon Gould and Charles Hard Townes, Arthur L. Schawlow (invented separately) US

laundromat 1934 J.F. Cantrell US

lawn mower, gasoline-powered c. 1940 Leonard Goodall US

Lego late 1940s Ole Kirk Christiansen Denmark

light bulb, incandescent 1879 Thomas Alva Edison US

light bulb, fluorescent 1934 Arthur Compton US

light-emitting diode (LED) 1962 Nick Holonyak, Jr. US

linoleum 1860 Frederick Walton UK

lipstick, tube 1915 Maurice Levy US

liquid crystal display (LCD) 1963 George Heilmeier US

lock and key c. 2000 BC Assyrians Mesopotamia

locomotive 1829 George Stephenson England

longbow c. 1000 — Wales

loudspeaker 1924 Chester W. Rice, Edward W. Kellogg US

magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) early 1970s Raymond Damadian, Paul Lauterbur US

margarine 1869 Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès France

matches, friction 1827 John Walker England

metric system of measurement 1795 French Academy of Sciences France

microphone 1878 David E. Hughes UK/US

microscope, compound optical c. 1600 Hans & Zacharias Jansen The Netherlands

microscope, electron 1933 Ernst Ruska Germany

microwave oven 1945 Percy L. Spencer US

miniature golf c. 1930 Garnet Carter US

mirror, glass c. 1200 Venetians Italy

missile, guided 1942 Wernher von Braun Germany

mobile home 1919 Glenn H. Curtiss US

money, paper late 900s — China

Monopoly (board game) 1934 Charles B. Darrow US

Morse code 1838 Samuel F.B. Morse US

motor, electric 1834 Thomas Davenport US

motor, outboard 1907 Ole Evinrude Norway/US

motorcycle 1885 Gottlieb Daimler, Wilhelm Maybach Germany

mouse, computer 1963–64 Douglas Engelbart US

Muzak 1922 George Owen Squier US

nail, construction c. 3300 BC Sumerians Mesopotamia

necktie 17th century — Croatia

neon lighting 1910 Georges Claude France

nuclear reactor 1942 Enrico Fermi US

nylon 1937 Wallace H. Carothers US

oil lamp 1784 Aimé Argand Switzerland

oil well 1859 Edwin Laurentine Drake US

pacemaker, cardiac 1952 Paul M. Zoll US

paper c. 105 Ts'ai Lun China

paper clip 1899 Johan Vaaler Norway

paper towel 1931 Arthur Scott US

parachute, modern 1797 André-Jacques Garnerin France

parking meter 1932 Carl C. Magee US

particle accelerator 1929 Sir John Douglas Cockcroft, Ernest Thomas Sinton Walton Ireland/UK

pasteurization 1864 Louis Pasteur France

pen, ballpoint 1938 Lazlo Biro Hungary

pencil 1565 Conrad Gesner Switzerland

periodic table 1871 Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleyev Russia

personal watercraft, motorized 1968 Bombardier, Inc. Canada

petroleum jelly 1870s Robert Chesebrough US

phonograph 1877 Thomas Alva Edison US

photocopying (xerography) 1937 Chester F. Carlson US

photography 1837 Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre France

photography, instant 1947 Edwin Herbert Land US

Play-Doh 1956 Noah W. & Joseph S. McVicker US

plow, steel 1836 John Deere US

pocket watch c. 1500 Peter Henlein Germany

polyethylene 1935 Eric Fawcett, Reginald Gibson UK

polygraph (lie detector) 1921 John A. Larson US

polyvinyl chloride (PVC) 1872 Eugen Baumann Germany

Post-it Notes mid-1970s Arthur Fry (3M) US

potato chips 1853 George Crum US

printing press, movable type c. 1450 Johannes Gutenberg Germany

Prozac 1972 Ray W. Fuller, Bryan B. Molloy, David T. Wong US

radar c. 1904 Christian Hülsmeyer Germany

radio 1896 Guglielmo Marconi Italy

radio, car early 1920s William P. Lear US

rayon 1884 Louis-Marie-Hilaire Bernigaud, count of Chardonnet France

razor, electric 1928 Jacob Schick US

razor, safety c. 1900 King Camp Gillette US

reaper, mechanical 1831 Cyrus Hall McCormick US

record, long-playing (LP) 1948 Peter Carl Goldmark US

refrigerator 1842 John Gorrie US

remote control, television 1950 Robert Adler US

respirator c. 1955 Forrest M. Bird US

revolver 1835–36 Samuel Colt US

Richter scale 1935 Charles Francis Richter, Beno Gutenberg US

rifle, assault 1944 Hugo Schmeisser Germany

roller coaster 1884 LeMarcus A. Thompson US

rubber, vulcanized 1839 Charles Goodyear US

rubber band 1845 Stephen Perry UK

saccharin 1879 Ira Remsen, Constantin Fahlberg US, Germany

saddle c. 200 BC — China

safety pin 1849 Walter Hunt US

satellite, successful artificial earth 1957 Sergey Korolyov, et al. USSR

satellite, communications 1960 John Robinson Pierce US

saxophone 1846 Antoine-Joseph Sax Belgium

Scotch tape 1930 Richard Drew (3M) US

scuba gear 1943 Jacques Cousteau, Émile Gagnan France

seat belt, automotive shoulder 1959 Nils Bohlin (Volvo) Sweden

sewing machine 1841 Barthélemy Thimonnier France

shoelaces 1790 — England

silicone 1904 Frederic Stanley Kipping UK

skateboard 1958 Bill & Mark Richards US

skates, ice 1000 BC — Scandinavia

skates, roller 1760s Joseph Merlin Belgium

ski, snow c. 2000–3000 BC — Sweden, Finland, Norway

skyscraper, steel-frame 1884 William Le Baron Jenney US

slot machine 1890s Charles Fey US

snowmobile 1922 Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada

soap 600 BC Phoenicians Lebanon

soft drinks, carbonated 1772 Joseph Priestley UK

sonar 1915 Paul Langevin France

stamps, postage 1840 Sir Rowland Hill UK

stapler 1866 George W. McGill US

steamboat, successful 1807 Robert Fulton US

steel, mass-production 1856 Henry Bessemer UK

steel, stainless 1914 Harry Brearley UK

stereo, personal 1979 Sony Corp. Japan

stereophonic sound recording 1931 Alan Dower Blumlein UK

stethoscope 1819 René-Théophile-Hyacinthe Laënnec France

stock ticker 1867 Edward A. Calahan US

stove, electric 1896 William Hadaway US

stove, gas 1826 James Sharp UK

straw, drinking 1888 Marvin Stone US

submarine 1620 Cornelis Drebbel The Netherlands

sunglasses 1752 James Ayscough UK

sunscreen 1944 Benjamin Green US

supermarket 1930 Michael Cullen US

synthesizer, music 1955 Harry Olson, Herbert Belar US

synthetic skin 1981 Ioannis V. Yannas, John F. Burke US

tampon, cotton 1931 Earle Cleveland Haas US

tank, military 1915 Admiralty Landships Committee UK

tea bag early 1900s Thomas Sullivan US

teddy bear 1902 Morris Michtom US

Teflon 1938 Roy Plunkett US

telegraph 1832–35 Samuel F.B. Morse US

telephone, wired-line 1876 Alexander Graham Bell Scotland/US

telephone, mobile 1946 Bell Laboratories US

telescope, optical 1608 Hans Lippershey The Netherlands

television 1923, 1927 Vladimir Kosma Zworykin, Philo Taylor Farnsworth Russia/US, US

thermometer 1592 Galileo Italy

thermostat 1830 Andrew Ure UK

threshing machine 1778 Andrew Meikle Scotland

tire, pneumatic 1888 John Boyd Dunlop UK

tissue, disposable facial 1924 Kimberly-Clark Co. US

tissue, toilet 1857 Joseph Gayetty US

toaster, electric 1893 Crompton Co. UK

toilet, flush c. 1591 Sir John Harington England

toothbrush 1498 — China

tractor 1892 John Froehlich US

traffic lights, automatic 1923 Garrett A. Morgan US

transistor 1947 John Bardeen, Walter H. Brattain, William B. Shockley US

typewriter 1868 Christopher Latham Sholes US

ultrasound imaging, obstetric 1958 Ian Donald UK

vaccination 1796 Edward Jenner England

vacuum cleaner, electric 1901 Herbert Cecil Booth UK

Velcro 1948 George de Mestral Switzerland

vending machine c. 100–200 BC — Egypt

Viagra 1997 Pfizer Inc. US

video games 1972 Nolan Bushnell US

videocassette recorder 1969 Sony Corp. Japan

videotape 1950s Charles Ginsburg US

virtual reality 1989 Jaron Lanier US

vision correction, laser 1987 Stephen Trokel US

washing machine, electric 1907 Alva J. Fisher US

wheel about 3500 BC proto-Aryan people or Sumerians Russia/Kazakhstan or Mesopotamia

wheelbarrow 1st century BC — China

wheelchair 1590s — Spain

windmill 644 — Persia

wine before 4000 BC — Middle East

World Wide Web 1989 Tim Berners-Lee UK

wristwatch, digital 1970 John M. Bergey US

X-ray imaging 1895 Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen Germany

Zamboni (ice resurfacing machine) 1949 Frank J. Zamboni US

zipper 1893 Whitcomb L. Judson US


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