Timeline of Irish inventions and discoveries
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Irish inventions and discoveries are objects, processes or techniques which owe their existence either partially or entirely to an Irish person. Often, things which are discovered for the first time, are also called "inventions", and in many cases, there is no clear line between the two. Below is a list of such inventions.
Pre-history[edit]
6th century[edit]
7th century[edit]
- Word spacing first used by Irish scribes.[3]
14th century[edit]
- Caid (precursor to modern Gaelic football).[4]
17th century[edit]
- Irish road bowling.[5]
- 1661: Modern chemistry founded by Robert Boyle with the publication of The Sceptical Chymist.[6]
- 1662: Boyle's law discovered by Robert Boyle.[7]
- 1680s: European adaptation of Drinking chocolate - Hans Sloane.[8] However, this "adaption" is highly disputed. According to historian James Delbourgo, the Jamaicans were brewing “a hot beverage brewed from shavings of freshly harvested cacao, boiled with milk and cinnamon” as far back as 1494.[9]
18th century[edit]
- 1730: The concept of an entrepreneur - Richard Cantillon.[10]
19th century[edit]
- 1805: Beaufort scale created by Francis Beaufort.[11]
- 1809: Milk of Magnesia discovered by James Murray.[12]
- 1813: Clanny safety lamp created by William Reid Clanny.[13]
- 1820: 30 January, Edward Bransfield discovered the Antarctic Continent (mainland, islands were discovered earlier).[14]
- 1820: Modern meat curing and the Bacon Rasher were invented by Henry Denny, a Waterford butcher, in 1820[15]
- 1821: The development of "Extra Stout" beer by The Second Arthur Guinness and others.[16]
- 1831: Column still design enhanced and patented by Aeneas Coffey.[17]
- 1831: William Brooke O'Shaughnessy pioneered the cure for cholera through Intravenous therapy
- 1832: Kyanising process patented by John Howard Kyan.[18]
- 1834: The game of Croquet.[19]
- 1836: Induction coil created by Nicholas Callan.[20]
- 1843: Quaternion first described by Sir William Rowan Hamilton.[21]
- 1844: Hypodermic needle created by Francis Rynd.[22]
- 1848: Kelvin scale created by William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin.[23]
- 1851: Binaural stethoscope created by Arthur Leared.[24]
- 1856: Icosian calculus discovered by Sir William Rowan Hamilton.[25]
- 1859: Greenhouse Effect theory proven by John Tyndall.[26]
- 1865: The first Transatlantic telegraph cable pioneered by William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin on Valentia Island.[27]
- 1877: Brennan torpedo patented by Louis Brennan.[28]
- 1885: The Cream Cracker was invented by Joseph Haughton in his home in Dublin and first manufactured by William Jacob in his bakery in Dublin.[29]
- 1888: Gregg Shorthand created by John Robert Gregg.[30]
- 1891: Electron introduced as a concept by George Johnstone Stoney.[31]
- 1894: Joly colour screen created by John Joly.[32]
- 1894: cohesion-tension theory proposed by John Joly and Henry Horatio Dixon at Trinity College Dublin[33]
- 1897: Modern submarine design created by John Philip Holland.[34]
20th century[edit]
- 1901: Reflector sight created by Howard Grubb.[35]
- 1914: Radiation therapy developed by John Joly.[36]
- 1926: Three point linkage patented by Harry Ferguson.[37]
- 1931: Drumm Battery Train created by James J. Drumm.[38]
- 1931: Sudocrem created by Thomas Smith.
- 1932: The first disintegration of an atomic nucleus by artificially accelerated protons (splitting the atom) discovered by Ernest Walton et al.[39]
- 1946: Ejection seat - first live test of a reliable, successful modern ejection seat developed by James Martin.[40]
- 1947: Duty-free shopping created by Brendan O'Regan.
- 1950: Joseph 'Spud' Murphy and his employee Seamus Burke produced the world's first seasoned potato chips: Cheese & Onion and Salt & Vinegar.[41] Companies worldwide sought to buy the rights to Tayto's technique.[42]
- 1954: Clofazimine first synthesized by a medical research team led by Vincent Barry at Trinity College Dublin.
- 1965: Portable defibrillator created by Frank Pantridge.[43]
21st century[edit]
- 2003: Sugru created by Jane Ní Dhulchaointigh.[44]
- 2010: Spice bag created by Sunflower Chinese Takeaway in Templeogue, Dublin.[45]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "The ancient Irish alphabet Ogham explained". IrishCentral.com. 11 May 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- ^ Association, Gaelic Athletic (15 December 2015). "GAA: Hurling History and Evolution". www.gaa.ie.
- ^ Saenger, Paul (1997). Space Between Words. Stanford University Press.
- ^ Foxall, Damian (2011). Ocean Fever: The Damian Foxall Story. The Collins Press. p. 41. ISBN 9781848899490.
- ^ "Road Bowling". Culture Northern Ireland. 2 February 2006. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- ^ Principe, Lawrence (5 January 2011). "In retrospect: The Sceptical Chymist". Nature. 469 (7328): 30–31. Bibcode:2011Natur.469...30P. doi:10.1038/469030a.
- ^ "Boyle's law - chemistry". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- ^ "More than just the chocolate man: The story of Hans Sloane". The Irish News. 10 September 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- ^ Eveleth, Rose (12 February 2014). "Chocolate Milk Was Invented in Jamaica". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
- ^ "How Entrepreneurship Theory Created Economics". Mises Institute. 21 August 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- ^ "Beaufort scale". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
- ^ "Stomach upset innovator honoured". BBC News. 25 February 2005. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
- ^ Brief History of the Miner's Flame Safety Lamp Archived 26 August 2003 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Edward Bransfield - British explorer". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
- ^ "10 Irish inventions that changed the world".
- ^ Yenne, Bill (2007). Guinness: The 250 Year Quest for the Perfect Pint. John Wiley & Sons. p. 205. ISBN 9780470120521.
- ^ Carlton, Carla Harris (2017). Barrel Strength Bourbon: The Explosive Growth of America's Whiskey. Clerisy Press. p. 113. ISBN 9781578605767.
- ^ Standards, United States National Bureau of (1927). Standards and Specifications in the Wood-using Industries: Nationally Recognised Standards and Specifications for Wood and Manufactures Thereof Including Paper and Paper Products ... October 5, 1927 ... U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 76.
- ^ "An Irishwoman's Diary". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
- ^ "History is made as Darver man gets science award". Independent.ie. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- ^ "Sir William Rowan Hamilton - Irish mathematician and astronomer". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- ^ "The Irish doctor who invented the syringe". The Irish Times. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- ^ "Discoveries - Lord Kelvin - National Library of Scotland". digital.nls.uk. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- ^ Prynne, Miranda (201). "A history of the stethoscope". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 20 February 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- ^ Weerden, Anne van (2017). A Victorian Marriage: Sir William Rowan Hamilton. J. Fransje van Weerden. p. 232. ISBN 9789463230025.
- ^ Graham, Steve (8 October 1999). "John Tyndall : Feature Articles". earthobservatory.nasa.gov. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- ^ "Atlantic Cable". special.lib.gla.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- ^ Everett, H. R.; Toscano, Michael (2015). Unmanned Systems of World Wars I and II. MIT Press. p. 33. ISBN 9780262331760.
- ^ "Cream Crackers – An Authentically Irish Snack". Irish American Mom. 26 October 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- ^ "John Robert Gregg - American stenographer". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- ^ "George Johnstone Stoney - Irish physicist". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- ^ Hirsch, Robert (2014). Exploring Color Photography Sixth Edition: From Film to Pixels. CRC Press. p. 21. ISBN 9781317911159.
- ^ "John Joly,Trinity College Dublin biography". Trinity College Dublin. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
- ^ "John Holland Father of the Modern Submarine". Archived from the original on 6 October 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
- ^ Aukstakalnis, Steve (2016). Practical Augmented Reality: A Guide to the Technologies, Applications, and Human Factors for AR and VR. Addison-Wesley Professional. p. 29. ISBN 9780134094359.
- ^ "The Irish man who brought radiotherapy forward". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
- ^ "Harry Ferguson: Planes, tractors and automobiles". BBC Timelines. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
- ^ "Flashback 1931 - first journey of battery-powered train - Independent.ie". Independent.ie. 6 December 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
- ^ Cambridge Physics - Splitting the Atom
- ^ "British History - Ejection Seat". BBC - Primary History. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
- ^ "Joe 'Spud' Murphy: The Man Who Gave Potato Chips Flavor". HuffPost. 20 April 2012.
- ^ Hochman, Karen. "A History of the Potato Chip: Page 4: The First Salted & Flavored Potato Chips". The Nibble.
- ^ Crutchley, Peter (3 October 2016). "'Father of emergency medicine' celebrated". BBC News. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
- ^ "Kilkenny woman invents best thing since blu-Tack and Sellotape". Kilkenny People. 25 January 2010. Archived from the original on 1 February 2010. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
- ^ Who invented the spice bag?, retrieved 21 December 2020 (Originally broadcast on The Business on RTE Radio 1 on 27/08/2016.)