Television (1920s)
The invention that swept the world and changed leisure habits for countless millions was pioneered by Scottish-born electrical engineer John Logie Baird. It had been realised for some time that light could be converted into electrical
impulses, making it possible to transmit such impulses over a distance
and then reconvert them into light.
Motor Car (Late 19th Century)
With television, the car is probably the most widely used and most useful of
all leisure-inspired inventions. German engineer Karl Benz produced the
first petroldriven car in 1885 and the British motor industry started
in 1896. Henry Ford was the first to use assembly line production for
his Model Т car in 1908. Like them or hate them, cars have given people
great freedom of travel.
ElectricityThe name came from the Greek word for amber and was coined by Elizabeth I's physician William Gilbert who was among those who noticed that amber had the power to attract light objects after being rubbed. In the 19th
century such great names as Michael Faraday, Humphry Davy, Alessandro
Volta and Andre Marie Ampere all did vital work on electricity.
Photography (Early 19th Century)
Leonardo da Vinci had described the camera obscura photographic principle as
early as 1515. But it was not until 1835 that Frenchman Louis Daguerre
produced camera photography. The system was gradually refined over the
years, to the joy of happy snappers and the despair of those who had to
wade through friends' endless holiday pictures.
Telephone (1876)
Edinburgh-born scientist Alexander Graham Bell patented his invention of the telephone in 1876. The following year, the great American inventor Thomas Edison
produced the first working telephone. With telephones soon becoming
rapidly available, the days of letter-writing became numbered.
Computer (20th Century)
The computer has been another life-transforming invention. British
mathematician Charles Babbage designed a form of computer in the
mid-1830s, but it was not until more than a century later that theory
was put into practice. Now, a whole generation has grown up with
calculators, windows, icons, computer games and word processors, and the
Internet and e-mail have transformed communication and information.
AeroplaneThe plane was the invention that helped shrink the world and brought
distant lands within easy reach of ordinary people. The invention of the
petrol engine made flight feasible and the American Wright brothers
made the first flight in 1903.