From First Spark to the Personal Computer
From Michael Faraday to Steve Jobs, innovators have improved upon the work of those before them—in both direct and indirect ways—to push human progress forward.
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Telegraph to Smartphone
From talking drums to tweets, innovations in communication gradually gave humankind a voice heard around the world—and beyond.
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The Birth of the Internet
Disruptive digital innovations of the Internet—the network of networks—transformed personal and public life, enabling new forms of global community and commerce.
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Moving Forward: the Wheel to Outer Space
Innovation on the move accelerated our ability to travel faster and ever higher, changing how and where we live, from suburbs to low Earth orbit.
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Dirt to DNA
Medical innovations gave researchers the means to create new kinds of drugs and offered a way to hunt for them in the code of life itself.
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There’s a Prize for That
Since Napoleon, managers frustrated with the pace of innovation have organized prize competitions to spur solutions to their most pressing problems.
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China’s Ancient Glory
Chinese invention flourished during the Tang (618-906) and Song Dynasties (960-1279), sometimes referred to as China's golden age. Inventions during that period included movable type, gunpowder and the compass.
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Engine of Innovation
Bell Labs, the R&D arm of AT&T for much of the 20th Century, boasted some of the most important discoveries of modern life—even though its focus on pure research meant it often left others to profit from them. Alphabet's X aims more directly for commercially viable products.
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Explore the History of Human Innovation
Select an innovation to learn more
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