Technology
Trace human innovation, inventions, and the digital age.
Some of the stories included
The Ice KingIn 1806, Boston's Frederic Tudor shipped 130 tons of frozen pond water to the tropics, launching a global trade that vanished with refrigeration.
Doctor Gladys WestGladys West, the mathematician whose model of the Earth's true shape made GPS accurate, and who went unrecognised for decades.
The Wright BrothersHow bicycle makers Wilbur and Orville Wright worked out controlled powered flight, from their wind-tunnel tests and the 1903 Kitty Hawk flights to the patent battles that followed.
The TransistorThe invention of the transistor at Bell Labs in 1947, a tiny switch with no moving parts that replaced the vacuum tube and created the modern world.
The First Transatlantic Telegraph Cable, 1858The 12-year saga to lay the first transatlantic cable, from its 1854 inception to the lasting success of the Great Eastern in 1866.
Alan Turing and the Thinking MachineHe conceived the computer and broke the Enigma code, but Alan Turing's revolutionary career was cut short by a criminal conviction.
Steve Jobs and the Birth of AppleHow Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne started Apple in 1976, selling a van and a calculator to pay for the first computers.
Lost Cities of the AmazonLIDAR found over 6,000 ancient platforms hidden beneath Ecuador's rainforest canopy, revealing a 2,500-year-old urban network.
Katherine Johnson and the Apollo 11 TrajectoryThe career of NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, who calculated flight paths for Alan Shepard, checked John Glenn's orbit and worked on Apollo trajectories and backup navigation.
The Invention of the BarcodeHow a sketch in Miami sand in 1949 became the barcode, from Woodland and Silver's bullseye patent to IBM's UPC and the first supermarket scan in 1974.
The Cassini Maps of FranceFour generations of one family measured France with triangles and produced the first accurate map of a whole country.
Ada Lovelace: The First Computer ProgrammerThe life of Ada Lovelace, whose 1843 notes on Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine set out the first published computer program and foresaw machines that could work with more than numbers.
Nikola Tesla and the War of the CurrentsNikola Tesla's AC system battled Edison's DC, a war decided when AC power was sent 42 kilometers from Niagara Falls to Buffalo.
Mapping the Deep: The Quest to Understand the OceanFrom an ancient Greek's weighted rope to modern robots, this is the story of the quest to map the ocean floor, revealing a hidden world.
Stephenson's Rocket and the Rainhill TrialsThe story of Stephenson's Rocket, the 1829 locomotive that won the Rainhill Trials and set the pattern for the steam engines that followed.
The Internet RevolutionFrom a 1962 vision of a 'Galactic Network' to a connected world, this is the story of how the internet was built, one step at a time.
The History of Video GamesFrom a university lab in 1962 to a market crash in 1983, this is the story of how video games began, and how Nintendo revived them.
Brunelleschi's DomeHow Filippo Brunelleschi built Florence's iconic dome, a 43-metre-wide marvel, using a double shell and no ground-based scaffolding.
The Space RaceFrom Sputnik to the Moon, two superpowers raced into space. The journey included the first human orbit and ended with a handshake in space.
The Chernobyl Nuclear DisasterThe 1986 Chernobyl disaster began during a flawed safety test on a volatile reactor, releasing a plume of radioactive isotopes into the air.
The History of Artificial IntelligenceFrom a 1950 thought experiment to one of history's fastest-growing apps, the story of AI is a cycle of promise, setbacks and breakthroughs.
The Printing PressJohannes Gutenberg's press used a special metal alloy and oil-based ink to print 250 sheets an hour, sparking a revolution in knowledge.
The Industrial RevolutionHow Britain moved from farms and cottage work to machines and factories, from Newcomen's 1712 mine engine and Watt's condenser to Arkwright's mills, the Rocket, child-labour reform and the Great Exhibition.
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