1. Thomas Hancock (1786)

Inventor

British inventor credited as the founder of the British rubber industry. He is responsible for the invention known as the "masticator".

2. Léon Gaumont (1864)

Inventor

Inventor who began a groundbreaking French film production company and gained a patent for his chronophone invention.

3. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek (1632)

Inventor

Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek is a famous Inventor, who was born on October 24, 1632 in Netherlands. Creator of some of the earliest microscopes, through which he first discovered bacteria and...

4. Mikhail Lomonosov (1711)

Inventor

Mikhail Lomonosov is a famous Inventor, who was born on November 19, 1711 in Russia. Russian scholar and natural scientist who improved the telescope, formed the theory of continental drift,...

5. Joseph-Michel Montgolfier (1740)

Inventor

Co-inventor of the groundbreaking globe aérostatique hot air balloon.

6. Jacques-etienne Montgolfier (1745)

Inventor

Co-inventor of the hot air balloon alongside his brother Joseph-Michel.

7. John McAdam (1756)

Inventor

Scottish scientists who discovered a way to make roads harder and less muddy. He called this process, "macadamization" and would use hot-laid tarred aggregate to create a smooth hard surface...

8. Nicephore Niépce (1765)

Inventor

Nicephore Niépce is a famous Inventor, who was born on March 7, 1765 in France. French inventor who developed heliography, a photography technique that produced the world’s oldest surviving photograph...

9. Gustaf Erik Pasch (1788)

Inventor

Gustaf Erik Pasch is a famous Inventor, who was born on September 3, 1788 in Sweden. Inventor of the safety match who never profited from his work because, although it...

10. Charles Green (1785)

Inventor

English balloonist who invented coal in the 19th century. He was also the United Kingdom's most famous balloonist after he made 200 ascents as a professional by 1835.

11. Louis Braille (1809)

Inventor

Blind inventor of a system of writing for blind people known as Braille. He later extended his system into musical notations, and, in 1829, he published his first book on...

12. Gail Borden (1801)

Inventor

One of America's earliest food scientists who most notably invented a method to condense milk so that it would have a longer shelf life. He also created the "meat biscuit"...

13. Samuel Colt (1814)

Inventor

Inventor of the Colt revolver, which is commonly known as The Gun that Won the West. He was able to produce his guns, which used interchangeable parts, on a large...

14. Narcis Monturiol (1819)

Inventor

Spanish intellectual, artist and engineer who invented the world's first submarine that could stay submerged with its own air supply. He made his first dives with his sub, which was...

15. Richard Gatling (1818)

Inventor

Most well known for creating an early machine gun known as the Gatling gun, this prolific 19th-century inventor is also remembered for his wheat drill, steam plow, and marine steam...

16. Andrew Smith Hallidie (1836)

Inventor

Andrew Smith Hallidie is a famous Inventor, who was born on March 16, 1836 in United Kingdom. Remembered for his key role in the development of San Francisco’s Clay Street...

17. Elijah McCoy (1844)

Inventor

Best known as the inventor of mechanical lubrication for steam engines, he also had 57 other U.S. patents to his name. His name, McCoy, is a likely origin of the...

18. Whitcomb L. Judson (1846)

Inventor

Whitcomb L. Judson is a famous Inventor, who was born on March 7, 1846 in United States. Inventor, salesman, and engineer who invented the first version of the zipper in...

19. David Schwarz (1852)

Inventor

Inventor of the first flyable metal airship. He died shortly before his airship made its first flight.

20. William Mills (1856)

Inventor

Inventor of the Mills bomb, which was the hand grenade that was mostly used during the First World War by the British and Imperial forces.

21. Jagadish Chandra Bose (1858)

Inventor

Jagadish Chandra Bose is a famous Inventor, who was born on November 30, 1858 in India. A Bengali scientist who was a pioneer in the study of radio and microwave...

22. John Browning (1855)

Inventor

Gun designer who changed the world of weapons when he designed the M1911 pistol, Winchester model 1892 and the Browning Automatic Rifle. He also developed the first gas-operated machine gun,...

23. Jozef Murgaš (1864)

Inventor

Scientist and Roman Catholic priest whose experiments made the first wireless radio transmissions possible. Engineering was hardly his only interest - he also dabbled in the natural sciences, avidly campaigned...

24. Eldridge R. Johnson (1867)

Inventor

Eldridge R. Johnson is a famous Inventor, who was born on February 6, 1867 in United States. Known for creating the Victor Talking Machine Company with Emile Berliner. According to...

25. Wilbur Wright (1867)

Inventor

Co-inventor and co-pilot of the first successful airplane, which he called a "flying machine." His and his brother Orville's planes were later used in WWI and set the stage for...

26. Frank Bunker Gilbreth (1868)

Inventor

Frank Bunker Gilbreth is a famous Inventor, who was born on July 7, 1868 in United States. Pioneer of motion study, a business efficiency technique, who is, most notably, the...

27. Štefan Banič (1870)

Inventor

Inventor who the military commissioned to create the first parachute to be actively used.

28. Orville Wright (1871)

Inventor

Aviation pioneer who, with his brother, Wilbur Wright, invented three-axis control and flew the first successful, albeit brief, "flying machine" in 1903.

29. Lee Deforest (1873)

Inventor

Scientist and engineer who earned 180 patents over his lifetime, including the Audion and the triode vacuum tube, which made radio broadcasting possible. In his long career he founded over...

30. Garrett Morgan (1877)

Inventor

African American inventor of the three-position traffic signal and one of the first gas masks, which he called a Safety Hood. He made a heroic rescue in 1916 when he...

31. Elizabeth Lee Hazen (1885)

Inventor

Elizabeth Lee Hazen is a famous Inventor, who was born on August 24, 1885 in United States. Co-inventor, by correspondence with Rachel Fuller Brown, of the antibiotic and antifungal Nystatin....

32. Vladimir Zworykin (1888)

Inventor

Vladimir Zworykin is a famous Inventor, who was born on July 29, 1888 in Russia. Russian-born TV pioneer who invented the TV technologies that employed cathode ray tubes and are...

33. Charles Darrow (1889)

Inventor

Main developer and claimed inventor of the classic board game Monopoly who invented some of the iconic drawings such as the red GO arrow, the railroad locomotives, the water works...

34. Norman Bel Geddes (1893)

Inventor

Norman Bel Geddes is a famous Inventor, who was born on April 27, 1893 in United States. Inspired by the aerodynamics of planes, he applied the same principles to ships,...

35. Valerian Abakovsky (1895)

Inventor

Latvian inventor best known for creating the Aerowagon, a high-speed railcar fitted with an aircraft engine.

36. Sylvan Goldman (1898)

Inventor

Best known for inventing the shopping cart, he also contributed to the development of the supermarket. He opened the Sun Grocery Company, Oklahoma's first supermarket, in 1920.

37. Lonnie Johnson (1899)

Inventor

Jazz guitarist who invented the single-string solo and who was also was the first musician to play an electrically-amplified violin.

38. John Vincent Atanasoff (1903)

Inventor

John Vincent Atanasoff is a famous Inventor, who was born on October 4, 1903 in United States. Inventor of the Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC), the world’s first digital computer. He defended...

39. Edwin H. Land (1909)

Inventor

Edwin H. Land is a famous Inventor, who was born on May 7, 1909 in United States. CO-founder of the Polaroid corporation who invented inexpensive filters for cameras. He also...

40. George Devol (1912)

Inventor

Famous as the inventor of Unimate, the first automatic robot to be used for industrial purposes, Devol was a key figure in the development of modern-day robotics and was also...

41. Ruth Benerito (1916)

Inventor

Most famous for her invention of wrinkle-free cotton fabric, she is remembered for patenting numerous chloride processes for the production of wash-and-wear cotton-based products.

42. Mikhail Kalashnikov (1919)

Inventor

Mikhail Kalashnikov is a famous Inventor, who was born on November 10, 1919 in Russia. Russian small arms designer who most notably designed the world’s most popular automatic weapon, the...

43. Roger L. Easton (1921)

Inventor

Roger L. Easton is a famous Inventor, who was born on April 30, 1921 in United States. Scientist who invented the Global Positioning System (GPS), which is used worldwide, in...

44. Marie Van Brittan Brown (1922)

Inventor

Marie Van Brittan Brown is a famous Inventor, who was born on October 30, 1922 in United States. New York-born inventor who became famous for her home security system. According...

45. Douglas Engelbart (1925)

Inventor

Early computer and internet pioneer best known for his work in improving human–computer interaction.

46. Steve Crocker (1944)

Inventor

Inventor of the Request for Comments publications series who was one of the founding fathers of the modern internet. His first RFCs were a series of typewritten documents circulated among...

47. Roland Moreno (1945)

Inventor

French inventor of the smart card that made everything from modern driver's licenses to credit cards to mobile phone SIMs possible.

48. Simone Giertz (1990)

Inventor

Swedish inventor known for her work in robotics innovation. She has documented her work on her self-titled YouTube channel, where she has gained popularity for her comedic demonstrations of her...

49. Shiva Ayyadurai (1963)

Inventor

In the late 1970s, while volunteering at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, this teenage, up-and-coming computer scientist created an in-office mail delivery method that he termed...

50. Charles Francis Jenkins (1867)

Inventor

Charles Francis Jenkins is a famous Inventor, who was born on August 22, 1867 in United States. Prolific inventor and pioneer of early cinema who helped create the first television...