Revolutionary Innovations & Technology
Journey through humanity's greatest technological leaps that changed the world forever.
- Technology
- Innovation
- Inventions
- Progress
Some of the stories included
The History of Formula 1How Formula 1 grew from its first world championship race at Silverstone in 1950 into a global sport, through safety campaigns, ground-effect cars, TV deals, hybrid engines and Liberty Media's takeover.
The Wright BrothersHow bicycle makers Wilbur and Orville Wright worked out controlled powered flight, from their wind-tunnel tests and the 1903 Kitty Hawk flights to the patent battles that followed.
Benjamin Franklin: Lightning, Liberty, and ContradictionFrom runaway apprentice to revered diplomat, Benjamin Franklin's life saw him tame lightning and champion liberty, even while owning slaves.
The TransistorThe invention of the transistor at Bell Labs in 1947, a tiny switch with no moving parts that replaced the vacuum tube and created the modern world.
The First Transatlantic Telegraph Cable, 1858The 12-year saga to lay the first transatlantic cable, from its 1854 inception to the lasting success of the Great Eastern in 1866.
AlphaGo's Move 37Lee Sedol was stunned by AlphaGo's Move 37, a fifth-line stone a human would play only once in 10,000.
Alan Turing and the Thinking MachineHe conceived the computer and broke the Enigma code, but Alan Turing's revolutionary career was cut short by a criminal conviction.
Steve Jobs and the Birth of AppleHow Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne started Apple in 1976, selling a van and a calculator to pay for the first computers.
How Hollywood Was BuiltHow independent filmmakers escaping Thomas Edison's patent trust settled in Hollywood, built the studio system and feature films, and came to dominate world cinema after the First World War.
Space InvadersSpace Invaders, Taito's 1978 arcade game: how Tomohiro Nishikado built it, why the aliens speed up, the coin-shortage myth, and how it made home consoles a mass market.
The Invention of the BarcodeHow a sketch in Miami sand in 1949 became the barcode, from Woodland and Silver's bullseye patent to IBM's UPC and the first supermarket scan in 1974.
The History of AnimationHow animation developed from Victorian optical toys and Gertie the Dinosaur to Disney's Snow White and Pixar's Toy Story, including how Walt Disney lost his first star, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.
Nikola Tesla and the War of the CurrentsNikola Tesla's AC system battled Edison's DC, a war decided when AC power was sent 42 kilometers from Niagara Falls to Buffalo.
The Internet RevolutionFrom a 1962 vision of a 'Galactic Network' to a connected world, this is the story of how the internet was built, one step at a time.
The Machine GunMaxim guns helped kill more than 10,000 fighters at Omdurman in 1898, yet armies still sent infantry forward in lines.
Thomas Midgley: The Man Who Poisoned the Planet TwiceMidgley added lead to petrol in 1921 and invented CFCs in 1928, and both chemicals went on to poison the planet.
Le Prince: The Inventor of Film Who VanishedLe Prince filmed a Leeds garden in 1888, then vanished from a Paris-bound train on September 16, 1890.
The History of Video GamesFrom a university lab in 1962 to a market crash in 1983, this is the story of how video games began, and how Nintendo revived them.
Brunelleschi's DomeHow Filippo Brunelleschi built Florence's iconic dome, a 43-metre-wide marvel, using a double shell and no ground-based scaffolding.
George Washington Carver and the PeanutHow a scientist born into slavery revolutionized Southern agriculture by promoting alternative crops like peanuts and sweet potatoes.
The Printing PressJohannes Gutenberg's press used a special metal alloy and oil-based ink to print 250 sheets an hour, sparking a revolution in knowledge.
The Industrial RevolutionHow Britain moved from farms and cottage work to machines and factories, from Newcomen's 1712 mine engine and Watt's condenser to Arkwright's mills, the Rocket, child-labour reform and the Great Exhibition.
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