Technology — Page 2
Innovations and technology
118 facts
The 'Like' button on Facebook was originally going to be called the 'Awesome' button.
During early development, this was the working title. However, the creators eventually settled on 'Like' because it…
The first commercial computer, UNIVAC I, predicted the 1952 US presidential election.
CBS News used the massive computer to analyze early returns. It correctly predicted an Eisenhower landslide, shocking…
The first CD was produced in 1982.
The first commercial CD was released on August 17, 1982 in Japan and contained the recording of 'The Visitors' by…
The first portable computer weighed 11 kg.
The Osborne 1, released in 1981, is considered the first truly commercial portable computer. It weighed about 11 kg…
The first product ever scanned with a barcode was a pack of chewing gum.
In 1974, at a Marsh supermarket in Ohio, a pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum became the first item purchased using…
Garrett Morgan invented the traffic light and an early version of the gas mask.
In 1923, Morgan patented a three-position traffic signal. He also created a 'safety hood' smoke protector that was…
The first fax was installed in a palace in 1860.
Napoleon III installed a fax machine between his palace and his office in Paris in 1860. The device, a precursor to…
Bubble wrap was invented by accident.
In the late 1950s, two North American engineers imagined a modern, textured wallpaper. The material did not please as…
Post-it notes were invented by accident.
In 1968, scientist Spencer Silver was trying to develop a strong adhesive for 3M. Instead, he created a weak adhesive…
Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1989 and made the technology available for free, without patents or royalties.
In 1993, CERN officially released the web software into the public domain, allowing the internet to grow explosively…
The first computer password was created in 1961 by MIT researcher Fernando Corbató.
Corbató developed passwords for the Compatible Time-Sharing System (CTSS) so multiple users could securely share a…
The first computer to sing was the IBM 7094 in 1961.
The IBM 7094, at Bell Labs, was programmed to sing 'Daisy Bell (A Bicycle Built for Two)'. The feat inspired Arthur…
The first credit card was created in 1950.
The Diners Club, the first general-purpose credit card, was created in 1950 by Frank McNamara, who forgot his wallet…
Physicists created the world's smallest QR code, measuring just 50 by 50 nanometers.
Using a scanning tunneling microscope, researchers positioned silver atoms one by one to form a QR code that is more…
The mantis shrimp delivers a punch so fast that the water boils and forms cavitation bubbles.
The mantis shrimp's punch reaches speeds similar to a .22 calibre bullet. When the appendage moves through the water…
CSIRAC, Australia's first computer, still works and could help with quantum computing.
CSIRAC is the fifth automatic digital computer ever built and the first in Australia. Built in the 1940s, it is still…
Stanford researchers invented the first self-powered mechanical circuits that learn.
The circuits use a mechanism called Adaptive Directed Springs (ADS), which work like mechanical neurons capable of…
Electronic circuits made from living mushrooms can detect heat and have self-healing capacity.
Researchers bioprinted networks of living fungal mycelium onto stretchable electronics to create a self-sustaining…
A smart bionic eye prototype combines sensing, memory and processing in a single system.
The invention from RMIT University uses a molybdenum disulfide chip measuring 2 centimetres by 2 centimetres that…
The first electronic computer, ENIAC, weighed about 30 tonnes.
Built between 1943 and 1946, ENIAC occupied a room of 167 square metres and weighed approximately 30 tonnes. It used…
The world's first telephone with built-in microphone and earpiece was invented by a Portuguese man.
Cristiano Bramão, a Portuguese telegraph operator, developed in 1878 a desk telephone that integrated the microphone…
The Antikythera mechanism may have been just a very elaborate toy.
A 2025 study concluded that the gear configuration of the Antikythera mechanism does not work correctly…
The first functional niobium-based battery has been created in Brazil.
Researchers at USP developed the first functional battery based on niobium, a metal abundant in Brazil. The battery…
Dyson has created a toothbrush with a camera that sees inside the mouth.
Dyson s CameraJet is an electric toothbrush with a small camera that observes the inside of the mouth during…
