Inventions that changed the world!

Last century is widely acknowledged as the heyday of scientific development wherein amazing inventions were made changing the lifestyle of human race.

These inventions encompassed almost all areas of human life as well as helping to comprehend the mysteries of nature and the intricacies of universe.

They also provided impetus to carry forward the efforts for further improving not only human life but also to take better care of the mother Earth.

1960 witnessed the advent of pacemaker. While the first pacemaker was implanted in 1958 in Sweden, the first completely internal pacemaker was implanted two years later. It ran on batteries and lasted three to five years.

In 1962 audio cassette was invented and quickly became a very popular and practical way to record sound.

Computer Mouse was invented in 1963 and it owed its invention to Douglas Englebart from the Stanford Research Center in the United States that with the passage of time this device has become indispensable. Interestingly, the very first mouse was made of wood that was changed later. 1967 saw the first Automated Teller Machine (ATM).

It was installed by a London Bank Barclays in June 1967.

The wonderful Video Cassette Recorder (VCR) was invented in 1970. These large noisy machines were sometimes decorated with wooden panelling and could be quite heavy, but they revolutionized the way we watched films and television. It is now uncomfortable to recollect that the cassettes took up so much room to keep and store.

1971 was the year when Email came into existence. The first email was sent in 1971 by Ray Tomlinson, the father of the internet. Prior to this, messages could only be sent to the computer… from which they came. Tomlinson also originated the use of ‘@’.

The extremely amazing devise invented in 1973 was the Cell Phone. To begin with these devices were big, heavy and expensive but now life could not be conceived without them. Motorola employee Martin Cooper had the honour of making the first call on 3 April, 1973. Interestingly, he made his first call to the Bell Labs headquarters in New Jersey.

In 1975, Digital Camera was invented completely changing the way photography was conducted. Steve Sasson, an engineer at Eastman Kodak, is credited with inventing the very first digital camera in 1975.

A bit like Doctor Frankenstein, he reconfigured parts from other cameras.

The resulting Cromemco Cyclops weighed an imposing 3.6 kg but it soon was not to be made light but also far more versatile.