Decade - 1920s

The 1920s represent an important phase, in terms of innovations and inventions. Lots of improvements were being made in technology, manufacturing, medical science, fashion and transportation. In fact, the inventions of the early 20th century have made a significant contribution in improving the life of mankind.

Radio/Television transmission (1920): Before 1920, radio transmission consisted of a series of dots and dashes, transmitted by inefficient machines. The credit for inventing the present day radio/television transimissions, goes to Ernst Alexanderson, a Swedish-American engineer. After rigorous experimentation and hard work, he invented a high frequency alternator for the first time, with which transmission of radio waves became successful. A few years later, he developed a scanning disk and high-frequency neon lamps for television transmission.

Traffic Lights (1920): William Potts, a police officer from Detroit Michigan, invented traffic lights. He made his invention by using red, green and amber lights and wire; it was installed in the region of Woodward and Michigan Avenues in Detroit, United States.

Band-Aid (1920): Earle Dickson made Band-Aid for the first time for his wife, Josephine Dickson. Earle Dickson worked in the company Johnson & Johnson that manufactured gauze and tape. He used a piece of tape with a small size gauze in the middle, and put it on Josephine's injured hand. Later, he started selling these strips and after four years, Johnson & Johnson produced it on a mass scale and called it 'Band-Aid'.

Hair Dryer (1920): Prior to the 1920s, women used to blow-dry their hair, by inserting a flexible pipe in the exhaust of a vacuum cleaner. In 1920, the first hair dryer was invented. Though, the machine overheated easily, it was of course better than using a vacuum cleaner!

Lie Detector (1921): Lie detector or polygraph was invented by John A. Larson, a medical student in California. In the lie detector test, the device measured the heartbeats and breathing of a person to check whether the person was lying or not. If the pulse rate and breathing were high, then an alarm would buzz, indicating that the person was lying.

Rocket (1926): The first liquid-fueled rocket was launched by Robert Hutchings Goddard of the United States. During the first World War, he developed solid-fuel rockets for use in armed weapons. His pioneering work in the field was evident from the fact that he possessed 214 patents in rocketry.

Penicillin (1928): Penicillin, one of the widely used antibiotics, was invented by scientist Sir Alexander Fleming after studying bacteria. Since penicillin was not approved by the FDA, it was not popular in those times. Subsequent research had been done about the effects of penicillin on other forms of bacteria. It was only after the World War I that people started using penicillin as a life-saving antibiotic drug.

Frozen Food (1929): Clarence Birdseye, a naturalist from the United States, invented frozen food. In New York, he started a packing company called Birdseye Seafoods, Inc., in 1924. He introduced a system wherein dressed meat and vegetables were preserved in waxed-cardboard cartons, after being exposed to high pressure. In 1930, he succeeded in patenting the Birdseye system of freezing food.

Car with Combustion Engine (around 1920): Prior to the 1920s, cars were operated with the help of steam engines and were very expensive. Henry Ford invented the first car with a combustion engine, which was much cheaper than the earlier cars. With cost-effective assembly line and standardized production, Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Company became a leading manufacturer of affordable cars.

These are some of the 1920s inventions that we use in our day-to-day life and have taken them for granted. Imagine life without them! Life would not have been as progressive as it is today.