This week Americans celebrated the 246th birthday of our country. We wanted to pile on by celebrating ten of the greatest inventions the U.S. has contributed to the world. Some are big, some are simple, but each one made life a little easier, a little faster, or a whole lot better. Here are our picks, in no particular order.
Bread Slicing Machine
America may not have invented sliced bread, but the bread slicing machine was all ours. Otto Frederick Rodwedder, a jeweler from Iowa, spent more than a decade perfecting his design. It finally hit commercial production in 1928 and changed the way we eat forever. To this day, every new innovation is still compared to the “best thing since sliced bread.”
The Internet
In 1969, researchers working for the U.S. Advanced Research Projects Agency sent the first host-to-host message between UCLA and Stanford. That single data packet was the start of something massive. Today, more than half the world is online, and the internet adds trillions to the global economy every year.
Global Positioning System (GPS)
Approved by the Department of Defense in 1973, GPS was designed to synthesize the best elements of existing satellite navigation systems. It became fully operational in 1993 and has changed the way we navigate — on land, sea, and air — ever since.
Post-It Notes
Thanks to a happy lab accident by 3M chemist Spencer Silver, and a clever idea from his colleague Art Fry, the Post-It Note was born in 1974. Originally used to mark hymnal pages during choir practice, it went on to revolutionize how we leave reminders, plan meetings, and stick grocery lists to the fridge.
The Telephone
Scottish-born Alexander Graham Bell was living in Massachusetts when he patented the electric telephone in 1876. Three days later, he made the first phone call: “Mr. Watson – come here – I want you.” With that, the world got a little smaller, and communication changed forever.
The Airplane
Bicycle mechanics Wilbur and Orville Wright were obsessed with flight. On December 17, 1903, in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, they launched the first successful powered aircraft. Every plane since has borrowed from the core principles they proved that day.
The Light Bulb
While many contributed to the invention of electric light, Thomas Edison is credited for creating the first fully functional and commercially viable light bulb in 1879. His system changed how — and when — the world worked, slept, and gathered. It quite literally lit the path to modern life.
Interchangeable Parts
Before mass production, everything was made by hand. Eli Whitney changed that by developing interchangeable parts, a system he proved in the early 1800s with a government contract for 10,000 muskets. The idea paved the way for the assembly line and modern manufacturing as we know it.
Plastic
European chemists made the first plastics, but it was American inventor Charles Goodyear who unlocked their potential. He patented the vulcanization process in 1844, allowing plastics to become durable and commercially viable. Every industry we know today — from packaging to medicine — has been reshaped by plastic.
Moving Pictures
In 1890, William Dickson, an assistant to Thomas Edison, introduced the Kinetograph, one of the first motion picture cameras. By 1892, he’d helped create the Kinetoscope, the world’s first movie projector. Two years later, America began public screenings, launching a storytelling industry that would dominate the globe for more than a century.
