If one were asked to name an invention that most profoundly affected modern life..what was it?

[Stuart G]

It was thought about in the 1700s, but did not start to really change modern civilization till the last half of the 1800s. closer toward 1900.. any guesses? one hint, not electricity or having to do with electricity.
Another idea from the twisted mind of Stuart G....answer later today...

[boobooday]

1. The Clock n/t

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. The zipper?

[hexola]

3. Pringles?

[Aviation Pro]

4. The locomotive.

.....

[Stuart G]

7. Nope..........none of the above...

[DJ13]

5. Electricity....sctratch that .......the automobile

[davidinalameda]

6. viagra

:shrug:

[Stuart G]

8. Nope...getting it up is important,....but........this idea saved lives..did not create em.

[rock]

9. The computer

[Stuart G]

13. Computer very important...this one more important...

[Cleita]

10. The horseless carriage? n/t

[DS1]

11. internal combustion engine

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

15. Jinx!

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

12. Internal combustion engine?

[Morning Dew]

14. indoor plumbing, maybe.

[Stuart G]

17. So it took only 2 mintues. yes....indoor plumbing.but the..flush toliet...here is link:

http://www.victoriancrapper.com/Toilethistory.HTML

[Stuart G]

22. Modern flush toliets, and plumbing that takes waste away..... are you ready>>>

saved more lives, and created a better society than all the medical advances put together..tell that to your doctor some time..............boy ...I got a twisted mind.......but this is true...Stuart G.

[Morning Dew]

25. Yay !

That sanitation stuff is pretty important.

that link is chock full of info. Thanks!

[Stuart G]

27. Here is the answer...

So it took only 2 mintues. yes....indoor plumbing.but the..flush toliet... and here is link to read that says so..........................

http://www.victoriancrapper.com/Toilethistory.HTML

[McCamy Taylor]

23. They had that in the Indus Valley thousands of years ago.

[L. Coyote]

61. And Mayan toilets still function in Mexico after over 1,000 years.

There a functional toilet at Palenque in the rooms atop a huge mound. How the water arrives atop the mound remains hidden. This is so even though the site was abandoned for many centuries.

[L. Coyote]

58. invention of the toilet by Sir John Harington dates to the late 1500's

[pinto]

16. Steam engine -> trains -> ships -> industrialization -> trade.

:shrug:

[kristopher]

18. The flush toilet nt

[Stuart G]

30. Correct............here is the link..that says so...

So it took only 2 mintues. yes....indoor plumbing.but the..flush toliet...here is link:

http://www.victoriancrapper.com/Toilethistory.HTML

[pinto]

33. Good one. Probably a big boon to health and safety.

[FarCenter]

51. What fraction of the world's population uses flush toilets?

After a little googling, it seems maybe 60% use flush toilets?

But there are some high-density populations that don't, or at least didn't until very recently.

[uppityperson]

19. velcro. kick to mark for later.

[kayakjohnny]

63. You stole my answer. Yes, it is of course velcro. I'm surprised more people didn't get this.

[McCamy Taylor]

20. Civilization was founded upon alcohol. First written word in ancient Ur was beer seal.

If you used your crops--grain,grapes or whatever to make a fermented beverage, you could have a source of calories that would last you into the lean months of winter and also one that was easy to transport over many miles, since it was nonperishable. So people could bring in their ivory or furs and take home jugs of wine or beer. That made it possible to have trading centers, usually situated on rivers since water and sanitation sources were needed. Fermented drinks also cut down on disease and they probably helped people deal with the stress of living in the early cities.

I have read that people used to drink alcohol from the moment they got up till they went to bed (weak liquor) until the advent of the industrial revolution. Suddenly, train conductors and factory workers and car drivers had to be stone cold sober.

[peace13]

21. penicillin n/t

[Political_Junkie]

24. sewing machine?

[OxQQme]

26. Gutenberg's printing press

[Thothmes]

28. invented a way to start a fire

[varelse]

29. vaccination ?

or modern sanitation systems(sewers, ect).

[Stuart G]

31. Flush Toliets...see this link....

So it took only 2 mintues. yes....indoor plumbing.but the..flush toliet...here is link:

http://www.victoriancrapper.com/Toilethistory.HTML

[ThomWV]

32. Steam engine

[EFerrari]

34. Interior walls, aka, privacy.

:)

[Stuart G]

35. Flush toliets have saved more lives..than almost any other invention.

So it took only 2 mintues. yes....indoor plumbing.but the..flush toliet...here is link:

http://www.victoriancrapper.com/Toilethistory.HTML

[sellitman]

36. The Dildo

Battery operated

[Stuart G]

37. Plese talk to my girl friend about that one...

[sellitman]

46. Maybe that's not the best idea.

LOL

[DemoTex]

38. Your time-line would also fit the cotton gin.

Eli Whitney's "cotton gin" invention, a machine for the cleaning of cotton, was granted a patent on March 14, 1794. However, rudimentary cotton gins date back a couple of thousand years.

[seemslikeadream]

39. toliet

[Stuart G]

40. Yes here is the link....

So it took only 2 mintues. yes....indoor plumbing.but the..flush toliet...here is link:

http://www.victoriancrapper.com/Toilethistory.HTML

[ThomWV]

41. 2nd answer: From a 1920's History book I was reading last spring

I read an essay by someone who was commenting on early occupants of what is now West Virginia - prior to the increase of population that came with importing workers to mine coal after the Civil War. His comment was that improvements in metallurgy that lead to better farm implements caused a rapid increase in population in what had there-to-fore been sparsely populated lands. He made a good argument, but noted it was of short-lived importance when it came to the populating of the area but suggested that it was part of a world-wide phenomena. I know no more than that. Couldn't even tell you who wrote it or where I read it other than I was boning up on this state's history when I ran across it.

[proud2BlibKansan]

42. The automobile or the airplane

[HughBeaumont]

43. Plastic.

Think of how many things that covers. To the benefit and the detriment.

[rufus dog]

45. Huge

Allows for mass production of items at much lower weight.

[undeterred]

65. One word: plastics

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=PSxihhBzCjk

[jmowreader]

44. The shipping container

I really believe the huge push toward offshoring manufacturing wouldn't have been possible if people had to load ships the old-fashioned way. With containers, human hands don't have to touch the merchandise from the time it leaves the Chinese factory until the time it arrives at a Wal-Mart Distribution Center.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

47. If I were to guess

my vote would have been for the telegraph
Prior to that information could only travel as fast as the fastest horse, locomotive or ship
If you lived in California it would have taken weeks to find out that Obama won the election
:o

[jwirr]

48. Oil well pumps?

[FarCenter]

49. Nitrocellulose by C F Schoenbein, forerunner of plastics, high-explosives

This was the first nitrated hydrocarbon.

It led to celluloid, other plastics, etc, which are essential for photographic film, the invention of movies, magnetic recording on tape, and the insulating and structural components of all electronics.

It also led to guncotton, smokeless powder, high-explosives, plastic explosives, etc, without which 20th Century warfare would have been impossible. Imagine trying to bomb London with black-powder bombs! Shaped charges of high-explosives are also essential to assemble critical masses of plutonium or uranium in order to set off a fission bomb.

[Wwagsthedog]

50. The mute button. nt

[movonne]

52. TV...

[PCIntern]

53. the Thermos Bottle

Old joke...

[devilgrrl]

69. How does it know?

:silly:

[Sedona]

54. antibiotics

[stuntcat]

60. I like it!

I was about to add antibiotics, I saw people had already added penicillin and vaccinations. It's all great stuff!

[L. Coyote]

55. internal combustion engine

[flvegan]

56. The cigarette or the assault weapon.

:popcorn:

[JVS]

59. The assault cigarette lighter

[Stellabella]

57. The printing press.

Brought us out of the dark ages and made books available to the masses, not just the clergy and royalty.

[undeterred]

62. Birth Control Pill and other forms of safe, effective contraception.

[stuntcat]

67. omg YES

:o

[Pavulon]

64. coke blast furnace

allowed for mass production of steel.

[justinaforjustice]

66. The Internet, Of Course.

[XOKCowboy]

68. Air conditioners - Carrier killed the front porch/small town society

Before air conditioners people went outdoors more and were more personally connected to their neighbors.

[blockhead]

70. movable type

[Mari333]

71. The Penile Volumetric measuring device

volumetric measuring device for measuring a body part. The device includes a fluid container filled with fluid. The fluid container has a body part opening for permitting the insertion of a body part and a displaced fluid opening for permitting the flow of fluid that has been displaced as the result of inserting the body part. A watertight barrier covers the body part opening and maintains a watertight seal over the body part opening while the body part is being inserted. The volumetric measurement is determined by measuring the amount of displaced fluid after the insertion of the body part through the body part opening. In a preferred embodiment, the body part being measured is an erect penis.




patent no 7147609

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7147609.PN.&OS=PN/7147609&RS=PN/7147609