No one has invented a time machine yet that would enable Jefferson to go back and correct a few of their poor decisions. In lieu of that, however, what would you consider to be the most important invention of the previous century?
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Norman Borlaug's progress in developing high yielding grains transformed India & Mexico from food importers to exporters and saved well over 100,000,000 lives.
"Indeed, on first seeing the situation in Mexico for himself, Dr. Borlaug reacted with near despair. Mexican soils were depleted, the crops were ravaged by disease, yields were low and the farmers could not feed themselves, much less improve their lot by selling surplus.
“These places I’ve seen have clubbed my mind — they are so poor and depressing,” he wrote to his wife after his first extended sojourn in the country. “I don’t know what we can do to help these people, but we’ve got to do something.” The next few years were ones of toil and privation as Dr. Borlaug and his colleagues, with scant funds or equipment, set to work improving yields in tropical crop varieties."
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Thank God for great, dedicated men.
There are just so many to choose from - it boggles your mind when you try to imagine the inventions of the 21st century.
I like the accompanying photo - and yes, 3D glasses get my vote.
The most important invention of the previous century (20th)? Breast implants have to rank up there pretty high. Perhaps Ron Popeil came up with a better idea or two. The Veg-O-Matic is pretty cool, but breast implants would be a source of endless entertainment for me. I hate tough choices!!!
The splitting of the atom. The consequences of this discovery are enormous and as of yet, unknown.
Lots to choose from. I go with penicillin, the life-saving drug we now take for granted.
While I agree with Diamond Dave that Norman Borlag contribution was mighty, there are so many things that I think have impacted all of us.
The automobile/trucks, railroads and airlines for transportation, radio/television, the telephone, computers and the internet. These are things we use directly or indirectly each day.
There have been many more, but all of those items affect us one way or another. I marvel at how far we have come and am thankful for so many things we have.
Braxton Hicks
A few of my favs are
1914 The zipper and bra both in same year. (makes aperson wonder what life was like unrestarined)
1927 Kool-Aid
1954 Oral contraceptives invented
Penicillin tops 3D glasses?? What are you, on drugs or something? Oh, I guess you would be.
How can you not recognize the contribution of George Beauchamp, who invented the first electric guitar in 1931? He began producing it a year later and changed the course of music forever.
The first computer was used to crack Nazi codes. Then came the transistor in 1947, the integrated circuit in 1959, the microprocessor in 1970, and the modem in 1980.
The computer has not only changed the world, its greatest effects are yet to come. We have just encountered the tip of the iceberg.
The computer and its offspring will create a society somewhere down the road completely unrecognizeable to us today.
Unrecognizable? Have you not seen the Matrix and Terminator movies?
I think that the greatest invention of the twentieth century happened in 1900 when Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin invented the zeppelin. He of course named it after himself.
The greatest inventions of the twentieth century were invented by Nikola Tesla. Check him out at Badassoftheweek.com. He could have split the Earth in half.(Little known fact). He sent electricity through the air for 20 miles and lit 200 light bulbs in 1899. To this day, no one knows how he did any of this, because he didn't write it down. He just kept it to himself and the dwarf he kept chained by his feet.
Today, I'm thankful for that guy who invented the snow blower.
A better question might be, "What will be the most important invention in the twenty-first century?"
A web-site had "agricultural innovations" as #7 in engineering achievements of the 20th century.
This may be the most critical change for Jefferson. In 1900 41% of jobs were farming/ag related. Now it's under 2%. Jefferson would still have a dynamic downtown and economic future. Of course, it is hard to divorce all the advances in other fields and say there's been no farming changes.
Of course, I'd probably be working for a farmer in this scenario.
Tesla was an interesting scientist. He was retroactively credited by the US Supreme Court with the invention of the radio in 1943. He was most famous for his work with developing wireless electrical power transmissions. He often demonstrated the lighting of incandescent bulbs from unconnected power sources sometimes hundreds of feet away.
He also theorized the invention of an ion-propelled aircraft. It ran without the use of wings, propellers, or on-board fuel source.
Tesla died penniless in 1943.
Somebody needs to give a shout-out for inventor Ron Popeil, pop-culture icon and inventor of literally hundreds of inane but useful everyday contraptions.
He is the creator of such items as the veg-o-matic, pocket fisherman, Mr. Microphone, the cap snaffler, and the smokeless ashtray.
He sold his company, Ronco, in 2005 for $55 million.
Maybe not the most important invention was the microwave oven. The first was built in 1947 and stood 6' tall and weighed 750 lbs. The Amana Radarange was the first popular home model, introduced in 1967 for $500.
Today over 90% of US homes now have a microwave oven.
I see the laser has not been mentioned. It was Albert Einstein's idea, but was not built basically until 1960. Nowadays it is used in surgery, dentistry, eye treatments, cutting, welding, defense systems, barcode scanners, printers, thermometers, holograms, skin procedures, and even laser light shows.
Not an invention but a discovery. DNA, 1953 by Crick and Watson.
Putting DNA under "20th Century Inventions" is like putting the Western Hemisphere under "15th Century Inventions".
Only 5 centuries later.
The slide rule. Great for math, well multiplying and division any way. I'm sure there were other calculations you could do, but I probably skipped that class.
Even when the computers started coming on strong, you could still use the slide rules for drawing straight lines, very handy.
How about those really small scooter-type things that were supposed to replace walking? I can't remember what those damn things were called.
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