Electric Welding--Elihu Thompson, United States, 1886.
Electric Waves discovered by experiment--Heinrich Hertz, Germany, 1888.
Coherer for receiving electric Waves--Edward Branly, France, 1890.
X-rays--Discovered by Prof. W. C. Roentgen, Germany; announced to the public in 1895.
Wireless telegraphy--G. Marconi, Italy, 1896.
Nernst electric light, a clay capable of conducting electricity when heated is used; it becomes incandescent without a vacuum--Walter Nernst, Germany, 1897.
Radium discovered by Madame Curie, France, 1898.
Explosives
Gunpowder--Inventor and date unknown.
Guncotton--Schonbein, Germany, 1845.
Nitroglycerine--Sobrero, 1847.
Explosive gelatine--A. n.o.bel, France, 1863.
Dynamite--A. n.o.bel, France, 1866.
Smokeless powder--Vielle, France, 1866.
Firearms and Ordnance
Spirally grooved rifle barrel--Koster, England, 1620.
Breech-loading shot-gun--Thornton and Hall, United States, 1811.
The revolver; a device "for combining a number of long barrels so as to rotate upon a spindle by the act of c.o.c.king the hammer"--Samuel Colt, United States, 1836.
Breech gun-lock, interrupted thread--Chambers, United States, 1849.
Magazine gun--Walter Hunt, United States, 1849.
Breech-loading rifle--Maynard, United States, 1851.
Iron-clad floating batteries first used in Crimean War--1855.
Breech-loading ordnance--Wright and Gould, United States, 1858.
Revolving turret for floating batteries--Theodore Timby, United States, 1862.
First iron-clad floating battery propelled by steam: the _Monitor_--John Ericsson, United States, 1862.
Gatling gun--Dr. R. J. Gatling, United States, 1862.
Automatic sh.e.l.l-ejector for revolver--W. C. Dodge, United States, 1865.
Torpedo--Whitehead, United States, 1866.
Disappearing gun-carriage--Moncrief, England, 1868.
Rebounding gun-lock--L. Hailer, United States, 1870.
Magazine rifle--Lee, United States, 1879.
Hammerless gun--Greener, United States, 1880.
Gun silencer, to be attached to barrel of gun; gun can be fired without noise--Maxim, 1909.
Gas Used for Light and Power
Gas first used for illuminating purposes--William Murdoch, England, 1792.
First street gas-lighting in England--F. A. Winsor, 1814.
Gas-meter--S. Clegg, England, 1815.
Water-gas, prepared by pa.s.sing steam over white-hot anthracite coal--First produced in England in 1823.
Illuminating water-gas--Lowe, United States, 1875.
Gas-engine, 4-cycle, beginning of modern gas-engine--Otto and Langen, Germany, 1877.
Incandescent gas-mantle--Carl A. von Welsbach, Austria, 1887.
Iron and Steel
Blast-furnace, beginning of iron industry--Belgium, 1340.
Use of c.o.ke in blast-furnace--Abram Darby, England, about 1720.
Puddling iron--Henry Cort, England, 1783-84.
Process of making malleable-iron castings--Lucas, England, 1804.
Hot-air blast for iron furnaces--J. B. Neilson, Scotland, 1828.
The galvanizing of iron--Henry Craufurd, England, 1837.