Important Inventions and Discoveries for Competitive Exams

Inventions and discoveries is a part of static GK and it plays an important role in different Government exams. In general awareness section, list of inventions and discoveries is an important topic.

In different exams such as SSC, RRB, Bank, PSC etc. questions are asked and you must be prepared yourself from this section.

important-inventions-and-discoveries
Inventions and Discoveries

Aspirants who are willing to start your preparation for competitive exams must focus on static GK as you can easily score high within very less time.

Here, we will provide you important inventions and discoveries, name of the inventor and also year of inventions. At the end of this article, we have discussed some sample questions related to this topic.

General Awareness:

List of inventions and discoveries

Invention/DiscoveriesYearInventor Country
Adding Machine1642PascalFrance
Aeroplane1903Orville & Wilbur WrightUSA
Automatic Calculator1623Wilhelm SchickardGermany
Air Brake1872George WestinghouseUS
Air Conditioner1914Willis CarrierUSA
Air Pump1650Otto von GuerickeGermany
Airship (jet engine)1939OhainGermany
Airship (Non-rigid)1852Henri GiffardFrance
Airship (rigid)1900G. Ferdinand Von ZeppelinGermany
Anemometer1450Leon Battista AlbertiItaly
Automatic gearboxHermann FottingerGermany
Animation1892Emile ReynaudFrance
Automobile1886DaimlerGermany
Atom Bomb1945Julius Robert OppenheimerUSA
Adhesive tape 1923 Richard G. Drew USA
Aspirin 1899 Dr. Felix Hoffman Germany
Antiseptic Surgery 1865 Lord Joseph Lister British
Arc Lamp 1879 C. F. Brush Ohio, USA
Astronomical Telescope 1608 Hans Lippershey Netherlands
Argon 1894 William Ramsay & Baron Ray Leigh UK
AC motor and transformer, vacuum tube amplifier, Tesla coil, X-Ray technology 1880s Nikola Tesla USA
Barometer 1643 Evangelista Torricelli Italy
Bacteria 1665 Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek Netherlands
Bifocal Lens 1784 Benjamin Franklin USA
Braille 1829 Louis Braille France
Bullet 1849 Claude Minie France
Barbed Wire 1873 Joseph F. Glidden USA
Ball Point Pen 1888 John Loud USA
Bicycle Tyres 1888 John Boyd Dunlop Scotland
Bakelite 1907 H. Backcland Belgium /US
Band Aid 1920 Earle Dickson USA
Bicycle1839 Kirkpatrick Macmillan Britain
Blood Group 1900 Karl Lansdsteiner Austria
Battery (Electric) 1800 Alessandro Volta Italy
Bleaching Powder 1798 Tennant Britain
Burglar Alarm 1858 Edwin T Holmes USA
Blood Circulation 1628 William Hervey UK
Balloon 1783 Jacques and Joseph Montgolfier France
Beri – Beri 1897 Christiaan Eijkman Netherlands
Biogenetic Principle 1860s Ernst Haeckel Germany
Camera (Kodak) 1888 Walker Eastman USA
Cine Camera 1889 Wm. Friese-Greene Britain
Clarinet 1690 Johann Christoph Denner Germany
Centigrade Scale 1742 Anders Celsius Sweden
Chlorine 1774 Karl Wilhelm Scheele Sweden
Car (Steam) 1769 Nicolas Cugnot France
Car (Petrol) 1888 Karl Benz Germany
Carburetor 1876 Gottlieb Daimler Germany
Cadmium 1817 Friedrich Stromeyer Germany
Cement (Portland) 1824 Joseph Aspdin England
Cassette 1969 Sony Japan
Cinema 1894 Nicolas & Jean Lumiere France
Cash Register 1879 James Ritty USA
Clock (Mechanical) 1725 I-Hsing & Liang Ling-Tsan China
Clock (Pendulum) 1656 Christian Huygens Netherlands
Celluloid 1861 Alexander Parkes UK
Chloroform 1831 E. Soberran France
Cellophane 1900 I.E. Brandenberger Switzerland
Crescograph 1920s Jagadish Chandra Bose India
Car Radio 1929 William Lear & Elmer Wavering US
Compact Disc 1972 RCA USA
Compact Disc Player 1979 Sony, Philips Japan, Netherlands
Computer (Laptop) 1987 Sinclair Britain
Computer (Mini) 1960 Digital Corp USA
Dynamite 1867 Alfred B. Nobel Sweden
Dynamo 1832 Hypolite Pixii France
Diesel Engine 1895 Rudolf Diesel Germany
Dental Plate 1817 Anthony A. Plantson USA
Disc Brake 1902 Dr. F. Lanchester England
Electric stove/cooker 1896 William S. Hadaway England
Electric Iron 1882 H.W. Seeley USA
Electroscope 1748 Jean Nollet France
Electric Motor 1834 Moritz Jacobi Russia
Electric Fan 1882 Schuyler Skaats Wheeler USA
Electric Battery 1800 Volta Italy
Electromagnet 1824 William Sturgeon England
Elevator 1852 Elisha G. Otis USA
Electric Motor (AC) 1888 Nicolas Tesla USA
Electric Motor (DC) 1873 Zenobe Gramme Belgium
Electromagnetic Induction 1831 Michael Faraday UK
Electrons 1897 J.J.Thomson UK
Electric Generator 1831 Michael Faraday UK
Electric Lamp 1879 Thomas Alva Edison USA
Electronic Calculator 1954 IBM USA
Electric Washing Machine 1906 Alva J Fisher USA
Electroplating 1805 Luigi Brugnatelli Italy

Electronic Computer

1824

Dr Alan M Turing

Britain

Fountain Pen

1884

Lewis Edson Waterman

USA

Film sound

1923

Dr. Le de Forest

USA

Fluorine

1886

Ferdinand Frederick Henri Moissan

France

Film (Talking)

1926

Warner Bros

US

Gramophone

1878

Thomas Edison

US

Glider

1853

Sir George Calyey

UK

Gravity & Reflecting telescope

1668

Isaac Newton

England

Generator

1860

Piciontti

Italy

Gyrocompass

1908

Elmer A. Sperry

US

Guillotin

1790s

Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin

France

Galvanometer

1824

Andre-Marie Ampere

France

Gas lighting

1792

William Murdoch

British

Gun powder

 

Roger Bacon

 

Hydrogen

1766

Henry Cavendish

France

Hot Air Balloon

1783

Josef & Etienne Montgolfier

France

Helium

1868

William Ramsay

Great Britain

Helicopter

1939

Igor Sikorsky

Ukraine

Hovercraft

1959

Christopher Cockerell

England

Insulin

1923

Sir Frederick Banting

Canada

Jet Engine

1937

Sir Frank Whittle

Britain

Kala-azar Fever

 

Upendra Nath Brahmachari

India

Kaleidoscope

1817

David Brewster

Scotland

Lightning Conductor

1752

Benjamin Franklin

USA

Laser

1960

Theodore Maiman

USA

Launderette

1934

J F Cantrell

USA

Locomotive

1804

Richard Trevithick

UK

Lift (Mechanical)

1852

Elisha G Otis

USA

Light Bulb

1854

Heinrich Goebel

Germany

Loudspeaker

1900

Horace Short

Britain

Logarithms

1590s

John Napier

Scotland

Laughing Gas

1772

Joseph Priestley

England

Law of Electrolysis

1833

Michael Faraday

England

Life Boat

1790

Henry Greathead

England

Machine Gun

1861

Richard Gaffing

US

Magnetic recording tape

1928

Fritz Pfleumer

Germany

Motorcycle

1848

Edward Butler

UK

Microphone

1876

Alexander Graham Bell

USA

Microscope(Compounded)

1590

Zacharis Janssen

Netherlands

Microscope (Electronic)

1931

Ruska Knoll

Germany

Milling machine & cotton gin

1793

Eli Whitney

USA

Motor Scooter

1919

Greville Bradshaw

England

Microwave Oven

1947

Percy LeBaron Spencer

USA

Movie Projector

1893

Thomas Edison

USA

Neon Lamp

1915

Georges Claude

France

Napier Bones

1590s

John Napier

Scotland

Neutron

1932

James Chadwick

England

Nylon

1935

Wallace Hume Carothers

USA

Neutron Bomb

1958

Samuel Cohen

USA

Oxygen

1775

Antoine Laurent Lavoisier

France

Optical Fibre

1955

Narinder Kapany

Germany

Ozone

1839

Christian Schonbein

Germany

Origin of Species

1859

Charles Darwin

UK

Piano

1700

Bartolomeo Cristofori

Italy

Printing Press

1440

Johannes Gutenberg

Germany

Parachute

1785

Jean Pierre Blanchard

France

Polio Vaccine

1955

Jonas Edward Salk

USA

Periodic Table

1869

Dmitri Mendeleev

Russia

Penicillin

1928

Alexander Fleming

UK

Pacemaker

1952

Dr. Paul Zoll

USA

Petrol (for motor car)

1885

Karl Benz

Germany

Pocket Watch

1510

Peter Henlein

Germany

Pendulum Clock

1657

Christian Huygens

Netherlands

Photography (on metal)

1826

Joseph Nicephore Niepce

France

Photography (on paper)

1835

W.H Fox Talbot

England

Photography (on film)

1888

John Carbutt

USA

Phonograph

1877

Thomas Edison

USA

Refrigerator

1851

James Harrison

UK

Radium

1898

Marie & Pierre Curie

France

Radar

1922

Dr. Albert H. Taylor & Leo C. Yong

USA

Rubber (Vulcanized)

1841

Charles Goodyear

USA

Rocket Engin

1926

Robert H. Goddard

USA

Radio

1894

Gughelmo Macroni

Italy

Richter Scale

1935

Charles Richter

USA

Revolver

1835

Samuel Colt

USA

Rubella Vaccine

1967

Maurice Hillman

US

Ship (Turbine)

1894

Charles Parsons

England

Ship (Steam)

1775

J.C Perier

France

Safety Match

1855

J.E. Lundstrom

Sweden

Safety Lamp

1816

Sir Humphry Davy

England

Steam Engine

1698

Thomas Savery

UK

Submarine 1776 David Bushnell USA
Steam Boat 1786 John Fitch USA
Small Pox Vaccine 1796 Edward Jenner England
Stethoscope 1816 Rene Laennec France
Saxophone 1846 Adolphe Sax Belgium
Sewing Machine 1846 Elias Howe USA
Safety Pin 1849 William Hunt US
Steam-Powered Airship 1852 Henri Giffard France
Silicones 1904 F.S Kipping England
Soft Contact lenses 1961 Otto Wichterle Czech
Synthesizer 1964 Dr. Robert Arthur Moog USA
Steam Engine (Piston) 1712 Thomas Newcomen Britain
Steam Engine (Condenser) 1765 James Watt Britain
Super Computer 1976 J H Van Tassel USA
Telescope 1608 Hans Lippershey Netherlands
Television 1926 John Logic Baird Scotland
Thermometer 1593 Galileo Italy
Tungsten 1783 Juan José Elhuyar Lubize & Fausto de Elhuyar Spain
Telegraph 1837 William Cook & Charles Wheatstone England
Telegraph code 1837 Samuel Morse USA
Typewriter 1841 Peter Mitterhofer Austria
Transformer (Induction coil) 1842 William Stanley .Jr US
Telephone 1874 Graham Bell Canada
Time Recorder 1890 Harlow Bundy USA
Tractor (Caterpillar) 1900 Benjamin Holt US
Transistors 1948 John Bardeen, William Shockley & Walter Brattain US
Theory of Evolution 1858 Charles Darwin UK
Valve. Radio 1904 Sir J.A Fleming Britain
Vacuum Cleaner 1869 Ives McGuffey USA
Vitamin A 1913 Elmer V. McCollum & M. Davis USA
Vitamin B 1916 Elmer V. McCollum US
Vitamin C 1920 Albert Szent-Györgyi & Charles Glen King USA
Vitamin D 1920 Edward Mellanby USA
Vitamin E 1922 Herbert McLean Evans USA
Vitamin K 1929 Henrik Dam & Edward Adelbert Doisy Denmark
Watch (Self Winding) 1791 Abraham-Louis Breguet France
Welder (Electric Welding) 1877 Elisha Thompson US
Windshield wipers1903 Mary Anderson USA
World Wide Web1989 Tim Berners Lee with Robert Cailliau Belgian
X-ray 1895 Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen Germany
Xerox Machine 1928 Chester Carlson US

We have provided a list of inventions/ discoveries and their inventor. Almost in every government exam questions are asked from this area. Hope it will help you to score better. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Inventions and Discoveries FAQs

Q1. Who invented microphone?

Ans: Alexander Graham Bell invented the microphone.

Q2. What is discovered in 1920 by Edward Mellanby?

Ans: In 1920, Edward Mellanby discovered Vitamin D.

Q3. In 1842, who discovered Telephone?

Ans: In 1842, Graham Bell discovered Telephone.

Q4. Who invented Safety pin in which year?

Ans: In 1849, Walter Hunt invented the Safety pin.



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