Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Revolutionary Innovator

Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Revolutionary Innovator

ByFabien

Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a pioneering 19th-century engineer, left an indelible mark on the world of engineering, transport, and construction. Born into an esteemed family of engineers, Brunel’s destiny seemed preordained, yet the magnitude of his impact on the world would exceed all expectations.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel, The Promising Engineer

Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s youth was marked by exposure to the world of engineering and a strong foundation in mathematics, which laid the groundwork for his illustrious career as an engineer.

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Ada Lovelace, The Countess Who Knew How To Code

Ada Lovelace, The Countess Who Knew How To Code

ByFabien

Born Augusta Ada Byron, Ada Lovelace was a mathematician and author who seemed for a long time fated to be forgotten, like so many women through History, but things changed and she is now rightly so widely regarded as the world’s first computer programmer.

Ada was Lord Byron and Annabella Milbanke’s only legitimate child. A month after Ada was born, Byron and his wife split up, and he eventually left England. Ada was just eight years old when he passed away in Greece. He passed away in Greece when Ada was only eight years old.

Her mother took it upon herself to ensure Ada had a strong education in mathematics and science. She tried to lead Ada away from her father’s literary legacy and perceived insanity, but Ada was still drawn to her father’s memories.

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Who Invented the TV Remote Control?

Who Invented the TV Remote Control?

ByFabien

You may think I’m old, but do you remember the Married… With Childen episode in which Peg took Al’s TV remote control to get what she wants from him? I don’t know why it’s one of those that I keep remembering. Maybe I feel lazy each time I’m using my remote. It’s not like I have a choice, no TV works without one nowadays. Well, this introduction is just to get us to talk about the subject of this article:

Who Created the TV Remote Control?

In the beginning, there was no television remote control. We had to get up and change channels by using the button on the box. It’s a good thing that there were almost no channel. Today, as I was saying, it’s another story and we couldn’t see it without the remote to switch on the TV–unless you can find it on a streaming service! Maybe the TV remote control was a luxury at some point, but it became part of our lives.

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Who Invented the Typewriter?

Who Invented the Typewriter?

ByFabien

Nowadays, typewriters are looked at with some kind of nostalgic romanticism, artifacts of a bygone era. Strangely enough, we have relegated them to a museum only recently, as the computer took their places on the writers’ desks less than three decades ago. But where do they come from?

Who Created the Typewriter?

The earliest documented version of a typewriter dates back to 1575 when an Italian printmaker named Francesco Rampazetto invented the “scrittura tattile,” a machine designed to impress letters into paper. This early version set the foundation for the concept of typing.

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Rachel Mary Parsons: Wealthy Heiress, Engineer, and Militant

Rachel Mary Parsons: Wealthy Heiress, Engineer, and Militant

ByFabien

Born in 1885, Rachel Mary Parsons came from a wealthy family full of brilliant minds—her father invented the steam turbine, her grandfather built giant telescope, and even her grandmother was a known as a pioneering photographer. As for herself, Rachel made significant contributions to the field of engineering and fought tirelessly for women’s rights.

Rachel Mary Parsons, Heiress and Militant

Parsons’s journey into the world of engineering began at a young age. Encouraged by her parents, particularly her mother Katharine, she received an excellent scientific education at Roedean School in Sussex, where she excelled in her studies. In 1910, she became one of the first three women to embark on the Mechanical Sciences Tripos at Cambridge University, breaking barriers and defying societal expectations of women’s roles.

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What was the First Operating System?

What was the First Operating System?

ByFabien

I recently had to upgrade my phone. Too old, the apps couldn’t update anymore, and I needed a more recent operating system. That brings back memories as, once upon a time, I had to tweak my config to play games on my PC, forcing it to use only MS-DOS because with Windows it wouldn’t work. Not really nostalgic about any of that.

But while I was thinking about that, I tried to remember what was before DOS and I couldn’t remember the name. Well, I went on and search for:

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Who Invented the Umbrella?

Who Invented the Umbrella?

ByFabien

This summer, at least where I’m living, the heat is hard and the rain is harder. I don’t know why we can just have a nice soft rain, it feels like an act of personal revenge coming from the sky. So lately, when rain is announced, you better be ready if you have to go outside. Of course, it’s not something new. And thinking about that made me curious:

Who Created the Umbrella?

As I’m realizing while writing articles for this website, like a lot of objects we are using in our day-to-day life, the umbrella finds its origins in ancient civilizations. Back then though, they were primarly used as sun protection, known as parasols.

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Philo Farnsworth: A Television Pioneer Who Started Young

Philo Farnsworth: A Television Pioneer Who Started Young

ByFabien

I heard about Philo Farnsworth for the first time in the book “The Box: An Oral History of Television, 1920-1961” by Jeff Kisseloff. In it, the author described this American Inventor as the not well-known Television Pioneer who made it all possible. I was intrigued.

Philo Farnsworth, A Young Inventor Who Dreamt of Electronic Television

Philo Taylor Farnsworth II was born on August 19, 1906, in Beaver, Utah, and his interest in science started young. As a teenager, he avidly read science magazines and became captivated by the problem of television.

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Who invented the GPS?

Who invented the GPS?

ByFabien

I was on Google Maps, searching for the time needed to go to some grocery store that has some item I can’t find in the ones near my house (the joy of not having a car), and when I did a right-click on my destination I saw weird numbers.

I assumed it is the GPS coordinate, but I don’t even know. Obviously, as you are here, you know I became curious about the topic (It’s the same with every one of my introductions, I need to change things up!).

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Who Invented the Lie Detector?

Who Invented the Lie Detector?

ByFabien

At the moment, I’m reading a book about the creation of Wonder Woman (The Secret History of Wonder Woman, by Jill Lepore, if you’re interested), and there’s a lot of talk in it about the invention of the lie detector (but also about feminism and more).

It’s quite interesting and it inspired me to search for more information about some of the subjects Lepore wrote about–I will late probably write articles about them. For now, though, let’s talk about lies!

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What was the First Electric Car?

What was the First Electric Car?

ByFabien

I’m not a driver, but I’m living in a city whose history is linked to the automobile. And, let’s be honest, there are cars everywhere. But I hope they’ll make less noise in the future. The electric car seems to go this way at least.

I don’t know if you remember but, like 20 years ago, there was this story going around about the fact that a guy invented a car using water, not oil, and was killed in South America (Apparently, it was a hoax). I don’t know if there’s a bit of truth there, but it seems that the inventor of the electric car had a better chance… or does it? I don’t know who he is, but I’ll find out by trying to discover…

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Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry

Who Invented the Gun?

ByFabien

I was watching the Michael Shannon-led miniseries “Waco” and this led me to think about all those guns. Seriously! But whatever. I’m here to take a look back at the creation of the gun.

Who Created the Gun?

As this is often the case with this type of question, when it’s this old, it’s hard to put one name on the invention. Before the gun, came the gunpowder.

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