20 historical photographs depicting the very first examples of familiar things and devices (20 photos)

I invite you to look at pictures of the first variations of inventions that we actively use today. You may not even recognize them at first because their appearance has changed quite a bit!





Man was created in order to invent and improve already made discoveries. History stubbornly proves this fact, and it is difficult to disagree with its convincing arguments. The need for comfort and ease of work forced the sharpest male and female minds to come up with things that helped solve issues with housework, cooking and moving from one point to another. Although their ideas were not perfect, they made a huge contribution to future developments.

Niépce's camera, the world's very first camera - 1820-1827



One of the first cameras used to take large pictures





Of course, it should be noted that the ancestor of all these devices is the camera obscura, which, according to some information, was created back in the 5th-4th centuries BC. e.

The world's first airplane, the Wright Flyer, 1903



The world's first telephone, invented by Alexander Bell, 1875



The world's first electronic digital computer ENIAC, 1943-1945





The first Benz Patent-Motorwagen, 1885



The world's first vacuum cleaner, 1906



The world's first helicopter, 1938-1941



The first working helicopter was invented a little earlier - in 1936 by Heinrich Fokker. However, its development had a number of imperfections, so the invention was not widely used. A little later, the American designer Igor Sikorsky created the first stable helicopter, which was called the VS-300.

The first headphones, 1881 and 1920



The photo on the left shows the first telephone headset, invented by Bella Ezra Gilliland. On the right are the first electromagnetic headphones developed by Nathaniel Baldwin.

The world's first refrigerator, 1803



In 1803, an American named Thomas Moore introduced a device that allowed food to be preserved intact for a long time. He was engaged in business - he transported oil and was constantly faced with the fact that during transportation the product deteriorated and lost its attractive presentation.

The first microwave oven was used by the military only to defrost food, 1947



The creator of the device is considered to be the American engineer Percy Spencer.

First household microwave oven, 1955



The first version of the home stove was presented by the American Tappan Company.

The world's first dishwasher, 1893



Josephine Garys Cochrane was the first inventor to come up with a successful automatic dishwasher.

The first washing machine, 1766



For a very long time people began to come up with devices that would make washing clothes easier. However, the first and most acceptable option was developed by Jacob Christian Schaeffer in 1766 (his washing machine is shown in the image on the left). A little later, his idea was transformed and other inventors and companies began to adopt it (an example of a Finnish washing machine, produced from 1943-1949, is shown in the photo on the right).

First successful toaster, 1909



The first toaster, which perfectly coped with its task (frying pieces of bread evenly on both sides), was invented by Frank Shaylor. Before him, Albert Marsh and Alan McMaster tried to make a similar invention. However, their attempts were not so successful.

The first pressure cooker, late 18th century



It turns out that this rather popular kitchen utensil was invented not by a chef, but by the French physicist and mechanic Denis Papin. Yes, the device of that time was very different from modern pressure cookers. Initially, it was an ordinary saucepan with bolts that were tightened as tightly as possible in order to somehow contain excess pressure.

The world's first passenger steam locomotive, 1825



It was called Lokomotiv No. 1. It was built by the English inventor George Stevenson. The miracle locomotive moved at a speed of 24 kilometers per hour.

Pascaline - the world's first calculator, 1642-1644



The device could only perform addition and subtraction, and numbers were entered by manipulating its dials. The first calculator was invented by the French mathematician Blaise Pascal.