Natwerk Designs

What are some great innovations in history?

I have to do a project for national history day and the theme this year is innovations in history and i can't think of any that interest me

Public Comments

1. The wheel. I'm not joking. It must have been one of the greatest innovations of all time. The fact that civilazations like the Mayans and the Aztecs and Incans who were highly advanced and built staggering pyramids, the fact that these civilazations did not use the hell suggests something about the wheel is conceptually difficult. It took 300 years for the Mespotamians after they used the wheel to make clay to decide the wheel could be used for transport. It took another 1600 years for the spoked wheel to occur. You could also go for the printing press by Johann Gutenberg. What about vaccinnation, the idea of protecting people from disease by infecting them with a weaker form of the disease. This was done in the 18th century in Britain where people were infected by cowpox to stop smallpox. The idea of money, and paper money to stop bartering. (The fact that bartering can sometimes turn ver weird is reflected when a guy used a peperclip and eventually bartered his way up to a house) The introduction of the number zero. The amazing fact is that the Romans had no number symbol for zero, as zero did not exist in those nations. The introduction of the number zero has helped society. What about the idea of writing? Or the idea of property ownership? Once people own property, they can use the wealth they accumulate to try something else. This has the effect of raising the standard of living for everyone. Still not persuaded? Consider the megacity of Mumbai, where fully half of the 12 million residents are squatters. In this and other shantytowns all over the world, there is no one thing you could do to increase the standard of living faster than to simply give people a deed to the places they've already staked out. Suddenly they have a little bit of "wealth" that they can use to generate a very small amount of capital and start a business or buy something that must be made by someone with a job. This was the logic behind the U.S. Homestead Act (1862) that allowed anyone to claim up to 160 acres of land. After clearing and working the land for five years, the homesteader would receive title to the land from the government—and this is how we settled the West. Or limited liability? Limited liability is the core notion behind what it means to have a corporation or a "limited" partnership, and it means that individuals don't personally risk everything when their companies make a mistake.
2. Managerial Capitalism, invented in USA by the railroad companies in the later 19th century to run the railroads as efficiently (and therefore as profitably) as possible. Managerial Capitalism is the basic management model for almost all business operations in capitalist countries.
3. if i look at my life and see what i use the most it would have to be the computer. but there are also other great inventions such as: paper - Chinese restaurant - muslims set meals course (starter, main and dessert) - muslims bicycle - europeans windmill - muslims modern soap - muslim universities - muslims public hospitals - muslims the cheque - muslims