Famous American Inventors

The land of America has produced some great scientists and inventors who made a lot of difference to the way we lead our lives. These inventions laid the foundation for future developments in the field of science. Wright brothers gave us the 'wings' to fly. Thomas Edison changed the entire concept of how we use electricity. His idea of distributing electricity to every household brought about revolutionary changes in the way we interact with the world. We cannot imagine our today's world without electrical distribution networks. There are many other notable American inventors who brought about important changes in our lives. The article is an attempt to profile these famous inventors.

Famous American Inventors and their Inventions

Listed below are the names of great inventors from America. Descriptions of their notable works also are presented in short, in this article.

Benjamin Franklin: He had a multi-faceted personality which allowed him to venture in many different fields include science and politics. Important Benjamin Franklin inventions include the bifocals, glass armonica, lightening rods, Franklin stove, urinary catheter and simple odometer. Benjamin Franklin believed that his works/inventions were meant for improving the efficiency and in bringing about overall human improvement.

Wright Brothers: The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur are credited with the invention of first successful airplane. It was on 17th December, 1903 that the Wright brothers were able to successfully fly their heavier-than-air flight. After a period of just 2 years of this successful flight, Wright brothers built the first practical fixed-wing aircraft. Their invention of the three-axes technology played an important part in the steering mechanism and also in maintaining equilibrium. Wright brothers were therefore, amongst renowned American inventors in the 20th century.

Thomas Edison: He was one of the prolific inventors and also amongst famous American inventors of the 1800s. Thomas Edison has 1093 patents to his credit. The 'Electric Bulb' was one of his major inventions. Thomas Edison is credited with inventions mainly in the field of telecommunications. Important Thomas Edison inventions apart from the electric bulb are mechanical vote recorder, stock ticker, battery for the electric car, motion pictures and recorded music. He also conceptualized the idea of generating and distributing electric power to houses.

George Washington Carver: He was basically an agricultural chemist and one of the famous African-American inventors. George Carver is credited for different uses of peanuts, pecans, soybeans, sweet potatoes, etc. George Carver's integrity towards his research work gave him the courage to decline a job with $100,000 salary. He brought many improvements to edible and other items of daily use. These items are as follows: adhesives, instant coffee, fuel briquettes, chili sauce, buttermilk, bleach, axle grease, linoleum, shaving cream, wood stain, talcum powder, sidewalk, plastic, metal polish, etc. It is surprising that even after doing such a huge work in the field of agricultural chemistry, George Washington Carver applied for just 3 patents.

John Moses Browning: He is known for the work in weapon designing. The gas-operated return mechanism invented by John Moses Browning was used for rifles. The need to load each and every shot manually was eliminated with this mechanism. Amongst the first few patents that John Browning secured were the breech-loading and single-shot rifle. Inventions of John Browning changed the firearm industry in America to a great extent. Those firearms which attained commercial success were the lever-action repeating rifle, .22 caliber rifle, semi-automatic shotgun, Browning 1919 .30 caliber and M2 .50 caliber machine guns (MGs).

America is the land where many of the inventions and other scientific developments of 20th century took place.