Americans All, Immigrants All :: Our Gifts to Industry and Commerce Inventions

Our Gifts to Industry and Commerce Inventions

First clock in America constructed to strike the hours built by Benjamin Banneker, Negro, in 1790 ... early flour-milling machinery by Oliver Evans, Welsh ... iron comb, made by a Negro to help cotton pickers, gave Eli Whitney, English, idea for his cotton gin ... screw propeller and revolving turret on battleship invented by John Ericsson, Swede ... first patent to a Negro granted to Henry Blair for corn harvester in 1834 ... comb-making machine built by Nathaniel Jones, Welsh.

First zipper fastener invented by Gideon SundbÄck, Swede ... green coloring matter used in our paper dollar invented by Dr. Seropian, Armenian ... machine for lasting shoes built by Jan Matzeliger, Haitian, in 1852 ... self-starter automobile clutch invented by Victor Bendix, Swede; also developed four-wheel brakes and carburetor ... steam-boiler furnace, electrical air-brakes, and incubator invented by Granville T. Woods, Negro ... inventor of carborundum was E. G. Acheson, English.

Sewing machine invented by Elias Howe, English, in 1846 ... lubricating cup, used on locomotives and marine engines, invented by Elijah J. McCoy, Negro ... discovery of artificial rubber by Father Nieuland of Notre Dame, Belgian, broke the British hold on rubber ... induction motors invented by Nicolas Tesla, Yugoslav ... co-discoverer of process for making luminous paints was John Sochocky, Ukrainian ... fireproof stairs and library bookstacks invented by Neils Poulson, Dane ... Stilson wrench invented by Daniel Stilson, Swede, in 1875.

Bakelite, a substitute used for ivory and bone in making toilet articles, invented by Leo Baekeland, Belgian. He discovered velox, a paper used by photographers, and made several other discoveries through experimenting with the electrolytic cell ... one of our earliest elevators was built by Dr. Nils Collins, Swede, a Philadelphia pastor ... the condensor used in radios and electric motors is the result of work done by Alexander Georgiev, Bulgarian ... numerous inventions of a wide and varied nature in connection with steam turbines were developed by Oscar Junggren and by Carl SÖderburg, Swedes ... huge machines used for knitting are the invention of Ladislaus Robaczynski, Armenian ... outstanding typewriter designer is Carl Gabrielson, Swede.

Airbrake invented by George Westinghouse, English-Netherlander ... “scientific divining rod” used in electro-magnetic method of locating metal ore, petroleum, and other minerals devised by Hans Lundberg and Karl Sundberg, Swedes ... in inventing telephone transmitter and motion-picture projector, Edison, Scot-Netherlander, helped by Emile Berliner, German Jew ... accuracy gauges from which precision machinery is made, invented by Carl Johannson, Swede ... process for making artificial stone invented by Michael Tymofiev, Ukrainian ... pioneer in radio work and sound motion pictures was Lee De Forest, French-English.

Transportation

First steamboat built and taken down Ohio and Mississippi by Nicholas Roosevelt, Netherlander ... first elevated railroad in New York City was built by JosÉ Francisco de Navarro, a Spaniard, in 1878 ... first demonstration of steam railroad in practice by John Stevens, English, in 1825 ... the Clermont, our first commercially successful steamboat, built by Robert Fulton, Irish ... greatest of clipper ships, Rainbow and Sea Witch, built by John Griffith, Welsh ... wagons and automobiles produced by Studebaker Brothers, German.

Inventor of modern suspension bridge was John Roebling, German, who built beautiful Brooklyn Bridge ... the Niagara cantilever bridge, for heavy railroad traffic, invented by Charles Schneider, German ... the Northwest opened up by railroad builder James J. Hill, Scotch-Irish ... transatlantic flier, Charles Lindbergh, and airship commander, Charles Rosendahl, Swedes.

Manufacturing

Window glass manufactured by Caspar Wistar, German, in 1739 ... decorative stoves and glass of highly prized nature manufactured in 18th century by Heinrich Stiegel, German ... the New England cotton mills established by Samuel Slater, English ... first to unite all processes for manufacturing finished cloth in one factory was Patrick Jackson, Irish ... art of making gunpowder perfected by Eleuthere Dupont, French.

Great steel works of Pittsburgh founded by Andrew Carnegie, Scot, assisted by William Jones, Welsh ... iron and steel industries of Pueblo, Colorado, established by Daniel Jones, Welsh ... famous pioneer organ builder, Matthias Moller, a Dane ... pianos and other instruments by Steinway, Knabe, Weber, Wurlitzer, GemÜnder, Germans ... steel manufactured by Charles Schwab, German ... sugar produced by Havemeyer, German ... food products by Heinz and Fleischmann, Germans ... world-noted cymbals made by Zildijian, Armenian ... airplane builders are Igor Sigorsky, Russian; Bellanca, Italian; Douglas, Scot; Boeing, German; and Curtiss, English-German.

Communication

The telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell, Scot ... the telegraph was invention of Joseph Henry and Samuel Morse, Scotch-Irish ... steam-cylinder printing press, making possible our great daily newspapers, was brain child of Robert Hoe, English ... Erie Canal built by DeWitt Clinton, Irish-Netherlander ... long distance telephone and wireless telegraphy made possible by Michael Pupin, Yugoslav ... inventor of wireless switch was Fritz Lowenstein, German Jew ... new device for transmitting radio photographs by Arthur Korn, German Jew ... loud speaker invented by Peter Jensen, Dane ... Zworykin, Russian, pioneered in television ... first printing press imported to California by Agustin Zamorana, Spaniard.

Commerce

One of the largest cotton gins owned by Scott Bond, Negro ... our leading industrialists include Astor, Vanderbilt, and Rockefeller, Germans ... Julius Rosenwald, Chicago mail-order executive, German Jew ... Alfred Knudsen, Dane, automobile manufacturing executive.

Leading rug merchants are Karaghuesian, Gulbenkian, Kelekian, and Pushman, Armenians ... leading linen and lace merchants are Mallouk, Kassab, Bardwill, Jabara, Mamary, and Boutross, Syrians ... largest raiser of orchids and specialist in cacti is J. A. Manda, Yugoslav ... first American circus opened in Baraboo, Wisconsin, in 1854, by Ringling Brothers, German ... Virginia tobacco trade founded by Augustine Herrman, Czech ... gas first introduced in 1830 by Edward Jones, Welsh, in Boston.

Mining

First oil well drilled at Titusville, Pa., by Edwin Drake, English, in 1859.... In Texas, oil was first struck by Anthony F. Lucas, Yugoslav ... coal in Pennsylvania first discovered by William Jones, Welsh ... pioneer miner of Colorado was Vaso Chakovic, Yugoslav ... first California gold found on ranch of John Sutter, German-Swiss ... eminent mining industrialists include Simon and Daniel Guggenheim, Swiss Jews, and Adolph Lewisohn, German Jew.

Banking

Leading bankers include: J. Pierpont Morgan, Welsh ... Nathan Straus, Felix Warburg, Jacob Schiff, Otto Kahn, and James Speyer, German Jews ... Charles G. Dawes, English ... Amadeo Gianini, Italian ... and Jesse Jones, Welsh.

Building

First American iron sea-going steamship built in 1859 by JosÉ Francisco de Navarro, Spaniard, who also laid foundation of cement business in this country ... Panama Canal built by General Goethals, Netherlander ... George Washington Bridge built by Othmar Ammann, Swiss ... Manhattan Bridge in New York and Interstate Bridge connecting Philadelphia and Camden built by Leon Moisseff, Russian.

Hetch Hetchy water system from Sierra Nevada to San Francisco built by Michael O’Shaughnessy, Irish ... Ralph Modjeski, Polish Jew, chairman, Board of Engineers, San Francisco-Oakland Bridge ... Peter Demyanoff, Russian, railroad builder.

Clyx.com