It is no doubt that technology took significant leaps in recent decades. The twentieth century is considered as most remarkable for technological advancement around the world. With the considerable impacts of technology on people’s daily life, progress has continued to date and has never rested. Countless new gadgets were invented, which are modified and upgraded with new features to ease the daily life of the people. This advancement has not only given the ease to the people, but it is also groundbreaking to some impossible beliefs. From nuclear power, airplanes, computers, and mobiles, the twentieth century was remarkable among the countless inventions.
These advancements came in all sorts of sizes and shapes. Some of the inventions replaced the traditional lifestyle practices, while some wholly renewed our lives. Especially computers and mobile phones have completely revolutionized over the recent century. It is quite challenging to narrow down all the advancements gadgets because of their exponential growth and impact on our lives. On the other side, it is impossible to live without these gadgets since they have become part of our lives. Apart from computers, alarm clocks, airplanes, and other small entertainment equipment have greatly influenced human life. With that said, let’s discuss the top gadgets of the twentieth century.
- PERSONAL COMPUTERS
If there is a remarkable revolution of gadgets, then computers are not an exception. No one can imagine the world without computers. These devices are now widely used in every sector. The people’s lives were completely changed in 1976 when Steve Wozniak and Steven Paul Jobs introduced Apple. These devices are used in everyday life, and it is impossible to live without them.
From tracking the finance, calculation, estimation, writing, and reading books, the computers are the means of maintaining the livelihood. Along with the variety of tasks, personal computers have also introduced entertainment features like watching movies, music, and games.
- VAPING DEVICES
Everyone will be surprised to see the vaping devices first in the list, but the devices are the part of ancient history. Their inventions are considered as one of the prominent breakthroughs in the tobacco crisis. Most of the people think of the vaping as the modern trend, but its root development started in the 20th century. With the increase in health crises related to tobacco consumption, the vaping devices replaced cigarettes with more safe e-cigarettes. The idea was proposed in 1927 by Joseph Robinson.
The very basic vape starter kits were widely famous in 1963 as the smokeless tobacco devices. Herbert Gilbert continued Joseph’s idea and implemented the logic of consuming the vaporized air rather than combustions. These devices did not include nicotine, which is the prime ingredient of cigarettes. However, these devices are not much different from modern vaping devices that are being used today.
- REFRIGERATOR
The refrigerators were initially introduced by Fred Wolf in 1913. This refrigerator worked with the compressor technology, which was attached to the icebox for cooling. Later on, this design was updated by Nathaniel Wales in 1914 for more efficient cooling. The Nathaniel design was quickly approved for domestic use and got trusted by Kelvinator, a home appliance company.
It is quite striking to think of the history of the refrigerator and how it has helped in keeping the food fresh. The domestic refrigerators’ designs have been updated several times until now what we have one in the kitchens.
- ROTARY DIAL TELEPHONE
Rotary dial telephones are another great gadget of the twentieth century. These devices did not receive much praise in the 21st century because of the invention of mobile phones. However, they were still better than more durable candlestick phones. The rotary dial phones were introduced around 1904. The reason the rotary dial telephones revolutionized the technology is that they assisted the telephones companies to update to automated switching. Since every phone was using manual phone operators, there was a dire need for automated switching. It was made possible only through the rotary dial phones.
The rotary dial telephones enabled people to make phone calls whenever and whomever they want. The dial telephones supported the automated switching by replacing the “hello girls” who connected calls to the calling exchanges.
- ELECTRIC WASHING MACHINE
Electrical washing machines are one of the most used gadgets in our daily lives, yet no one knows when they were invented. Although developed in the 20th century, there is much debate on the fact because of several patents. However, some resources suggest that electric washing machines were introduced in 1930, which eventually became the standard of the homes.
The famous World War II also impacted the production of the electric washing machine. It gave inventors more time to research and upgrade the devices with more features. During the 40s and 50s, many companies introduced electrical washing machines, which conformed to the home’s standard needs.
- RADIO
Most of us remember the domestic radios in the 80s, where whole families would gather around and listen to the news bulletin. Unfortunately, no one quite accurately knows when and who invented this gadget. The radio brings us back to the World War I era for military broadcasts for communicating with the army.
Not only the past, but radio is still prevalent today, as it is supported by mobile phones and cars. Radios are widely used in vehicles to keep drivers from falling asleep by banging music. The radios are operated via the radio waves received by the radio antenna, which are amplified and converted into sound waves.
- ELECTRIC TYPEWRITER
The electric typewriter was an essential development for mass printing media. Many people think that electrical typewriters were invented back in the 1700s, but they were not powered with electricity. The electricity upgraded typewriters were introduced by IBM in 1940 that changed the world of the 20th century.
The electrical typewriters were updated with the latest features to produce clean and professional typing. Moreover, the company also modified the spacing for the text to give the prints a crisper look.
FINAL WORDS
The 20th century was great for these technological advancements and gadgets inventions that have changed the world forever. Moreover, the century holds its importance to assist the people in daily life. These all are the reason why the century is still praised among the boomers for several innovations.
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