these ideas changed the world welcome to
watchmojo.com and today we're counting
down our picks for the top ten
inventions of all time number 10 paper
one of the Chinese people's four great
inventions paper was invented and
developed in the second century BC by
the Han Dynasty the idea eventually
travelled to Europe where paper mills
began manufacturing the product on a
larger scale without paper the printing
press would never have been invented and
our world would be very different we
would not have Maps paper currency for
books to disperse information its impact
is truly endless number nine the compass
before the compass sailors depended on
landmarks or even the Stars to navigate
their ships
but once the Chinese began using
lodestones and magnetism to find their
bearings between the 9th and 11th
centuries it quickly spread to the Arab
world and to Europe this not only made
circumnavigation of the globe easier it
also made it safer which kicked off the
Age of Discovery number eight
refrigeration though ice was used since
prehistoric times to prevent food from
spoiling and developing bacteria the
concept of refrigeration was only
developed in earnest starting in the mid
1700s the process was then refined and
improved changing the way the food
industry transports and stores food the
implications of this discovery are
far-reaching as it transformed the way
we eat and live number seven the
printing press though Johannes Gutenberg
is credited with this invention he
actually perfected and popularized
existing technology by combining the
Chinese principle of movable type with
European press systems already in use
for winemaking Gutenberg created the
machine that printed text on a wide
scale which in turn lowered the price of
books and helped spread information and
knowledge to the masses spurring the
Reformation the Renaissance and the
Scientific Revolution number six
plumbing the landscape of major cities
would be drastically different without
this innovation after all how would a
high-rise exist without modern plumbing
evolving from holes in the ground to
chamber pots to outhouses and eventually
to flush toilets as early as the 31st to
26th centuries BC the development of
plumbing improved living conditions for
millions of people across the globe and
lengthened our lifespans number-5
medicine many medicines and vaccinations
have extended and changed our lives
significantly discovered by accident by
Alexander Fleming penicillin was the
first group of drugs that fought
illnesses like syphilis and strep
infections on the other side of the
spectrum since they were introduced to
the public in the 1960s contraceptives
such as the birth control pill helped
level out the global population and
launched a revolution in social change
number 4 engines these engines got
industry and the population moving
instead of relying on horses as
transportation people traveled across
the countryside via Thomas Newcomen
steam engine as of 1712
which was improved upon by James Watt
later that century quickly becoming the
backbone of society and sparking the
Industrial Revolution internal
combustion ultimately replaced steam and
ushered in the Second Industrial
Revolution and allowed individuals to
affordably travel great distances number
three the wheel though it's still
unclear which civilization was first to
invent this simple machine in the 4th
century BC it's obvious that it's been
one of the world's most vital
innovations the transportation commerce
and travel industries wouldn't be the
same without it and today the wheel can
be found in every aspect of our daily
lives from water wheels gears motors and
engines to more fun applications number
two communications
several inventions changed global
communications forever Samuel Morse
brought us the electric telegraph in
1836 Alexander Graham Bell's telephone
was the first to be awarded a patent to
transmit voices in 1876
guglielmo marconi and Nikola Tesla
developed radio in the late 19th century
moving pictures first came across John
Logie Baird's television in 1925 Conrad
Sousa developed the first computer in
the early 40s and Tim berners-lee
proposed the World Wide Web in the late
80s and they all made the world a little
bit smaller before we unveil our number
one pick here are a few honorable
mentions number one electricity not only
did sleep patterns change drastically
with the introduction of electricity so
did work habits from Ben Franklin to
Nikola Tesla to Michael Faraday to
Thomas Edison many innovators made
important contributions to this
modernization which brought light and
power to the masses however electricity
only became a necessity and standard to
everyday life in the mid twentieth
century before that it was enjoyed
mainly in the big cities do you agree
with our list which inventions could you
not live without for more informative
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