The history of how America emerged as the premier superpower
in the world is about more than just a great military or a homeland so rich in
natural resources that we were able to become the breadbasket of the
world. There are many forces that
combined in the American experiment that has made this country so great. One of those great forces is the phenomenal
inventive minds that have graced America virtually since its inception. Starting with the powerful mind of Benjamin
Franklin, the history of inventions that started in America and transformed the
world is lengthy indeed.
The computer has become so much a part of our lives that we
forget that it was once invented. The history
of the development of this “futuristic” device is long and filled with
genius. The actual first prototypes of
the computer were developed by the Defense Department, which is oddly the
source of a lot of the great innovations in American history. But it was the early PC developers including
Steve Wozniac, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates that took the computer to the level of
familiarity we know it to be now and made computers a part of our everyday
lives.
Most world changing inventions have a profoundly positive
influence on mankind’s quality of life.
But an invention that did not improve life but destroyed it is also an
American invention that changed the world.
That invention, of course, is the Atomic Bomb. Developed by the fabled “Manhattan Project”, this bomb changed everything
about war, diplomacy and the way nations relate to one another. And to find a positive amongst all the death
the bombings in Japan brought about, that bomb may be one of the key elements
that brought an end to a horrific war, World War II. And in the long run, that is a conflict that the world breathed a
sigh of relief when it came to an end.
There is a joke that makes its rounds frequently during political
jesting that “Al Gore invented the internet.”
If he had invented it, he would be a world changing inventor for
sure. But it is not out of line to
declare that America invented the internet.
Again, the original primitive retypes for what became our modern
internet was the work of the American Defense Department as a measure to insure
that America’s computer security was guarded by decentralizing the network. From this simple goal, the vast World Wild
Web has emerged that has transformed everything about how we look at
communication, information and knowledge.
We have American ingenuity to thank for that.
But of the thousands of American inventions that have done
so much in the fields of medicine, technology, research and communications,
none can compare to an invention by a brilliant thinker by the name of Henry
Ford. That invention, obviously, is the
automobile. Just like with some of the
other inventions we have talked about, we can hardly imagine a time where there
was no such thing as an automobile.
Mr. Ford’s amazing invention literally transformed society
not just in America but around the world.
From it came the freeway system and an overhaul to how cities and towns
are organized and linked together. And
while there are downsides to the widespread use of automobiles, it has been a
huge leap forward for America and civilization as a whole. And Mr. Ford, like any of the inventors we
have talked about and thousands we have not, would see the betterment of
mankind as their greatest calling.
America has hosted this great calling for centuries and will continue to
produce brilliant inventors such as these for a long time to come.
tripleclicks.com
Audiobook
The Colored People at the New Orleans Exposition
Article first printed in July 1885
in "The American Missionary" Volume 39, #7
Anonymously written
The article begins:
"The colored people of the United States are just twenty years out of the house of bondage. With long centuries of barbarism and two hundred and fifty...
American Inventions
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