19th-century inventions
503 inventos y descubrimientos: año, qué es, de qué evolucionó y a qué llevó.
Cómo se conectan los inventos
- Draisiana → Velocípedo Michaux → Velocípedo de rueda alta → Bicicleta de seguridad Rover → Bicicleta → Motocicleta
- Automóvil → Camión → Ambulancia
- Telégrafo eléctrico → Teléfono → Audífono
- Telégrafo eléctrico → Fonógrafo → Gramófono
- Electromagnetismo → Inducción electromagnética → Ecuaciones de Maxwell
- Barco de paletas → Barco de vapor → Transatlántico
| Año | Invento | Qué es | Evolucionó de | Llevó a |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1801 | Ultravioleta | Radiation shorter than violet (Ritter). | ||
| 1801 | Interferencia de ondas | Waves adding up to reinforce or cancel each other (Young). | ||
| 1802 | Arco eléctrico | A discharge in a gas between electrodes (Petrov, Davy). | ||
| 1802 | Lámpara de arco | Light from an electric arc between carbons (Petrov, Davy, c. 1802); the “Yablochkov candle” (1876) made it street lighting. | ||
| 1804 | Locomotora a vapor | A locomotive with a steam engine; the first was Trevithick’s. | Locomotora diésel | |
| 1804 | Ballesta (suspensión) | A stack of springy steel leaves; suspension of carriages and trucks. | Suspensión | |
| 1804 | Telar Jacquard Joseph Marie Jacquard | A loom in which a complex pattern is set by a chain of punched cards. | Telar de Bouchon, Autómata | Máquina analítica de Babbage |
| 1804 | Filtro de agua | Purifying water by filtering it through sand and charcoal. | ||
| 1804 | Planta potabilizadora | Purifying drinking water (Paisley filters). | ||
| 1806 | Endoscopio | Viewing internal organs; the flexible fibre-optic one dates from 1957. | ||
| 1807 | Lámpara de gas | Street lighting with coal gas. | Bombilla incandescente, Alumbrado público | |
| 1807 | Alumbrado público | Lighting streets (gas, arc, LED). | Lámpara de gas | |
| 1807 | Rueda de paletas | A wheel with blades that pushes a ship. | ||
| 1808 | Teoría atómica | Matter is made of atoms (Dalton). | Electrón, Núcleo atómico | |
| 1810 | Lata de conserva | A tinplate can for storing food (Durand). | Lata de bebida | |
| 1812 | Cartucho Jean Samuel Pauly | Bullet, charge and primer in one case (Pauly, 1812; widespread from the mid-19th century). | ||
| 1814 | Espectroscopio Joseph von Fraunhofer | An instrument for splitting light into a spectrum (Fraunhofer, 1814); spectral analysis — Kirchhoff and Bunsen (1859). | ||
| 1814 | Planímetro | An instrument for measuring areas. | ||
| 1815 | Lámpara de Davy Humphry Davy | A safety miner’s lamp with a gauze. | Lámpara de carburo | |
| 1817 | Manillar | A lever for steering the front wheel. | ||
| 1818 | Fresadora | A machine in which a rotating cutter removes material. | Máquina CNC | |
| 1820 | Cable de cobre | A conductor made of copper. | ||
| 1820 | Electromagnetismo | An electric current creates a magnetic field (Ørsted’s experiment), and a field acts on a current. | Magnetismo | Inducción electromagnética |
| 1820 | Galvanómetro | An instrument that detects current by the deflection of a needle. | Multímetro, Amperímetro, Voltímetro, Electrocardiógrafo | |
| 1820 | Cinta de sastre | A soft measuring tape for tailors. | ||
| 1820 | Cápsula fulminante | A small cap with a shock-sensitive compound. | Llave de chispa | |
| 1821 | Gas natural | A gaseous fossil fuel, mostly methane. | ||
| 1821 | Termopar | A junction of different metals that produces a voltage when heated (Seebeck). | ||
| 1824 | Silicio Jöns Jacob Berzelius | A chemical element, the main material of microelectronics. | ||
| 1824 | Hormigón | Artificial stone made of cement, sand and gravel. | Hormigón romano | |
| 1824 | Electroimán William Sturgeon | A core with a winding that is magnetized by current (Sturgeon). | ||
| 1824 | Termodinámica | The science of turning heat into work; the Carnot cycle. | Máquina de vapor de Watt | |
| 1825 | Escudo de túnel | Brunel’s shield for driving tunnels. | Tuneladora | |
| 1826 | Fósforo | Phosphorus matches, then safety matches. | Hacer fuego | |
| 1827 | Resistencia eléctrica | A conductor opposes current; Ohm’s law relates current and voltage. | ||
| 1827 | Turbina hidráulica | A turbine driven by flowing water (Fourneyron, Francis, Kaplan). | Rueda hidráulica | |
| 1827 | Diferencial | A gear that lets the wheels on one axle turn at different speeds. | ||
| 1829 | Caldera pirotubular | A boiler in which hot gases run through tubes in the water. | ||
| 1830 | Bogie | A pivoting frame with wheelsets. | ||
| 1830 | Calefacción central | Heating a building from one boiler through radiators. | Hipocausto | |
| 1830 | Malacate de mina | A cage on a rope. | ||
| 1831 | Inducción electromagnética Michael Faraday | A changing magnetic field induces a current in a conductor (Faraday). | Electromagnetismo | Ondas electromagnéticas, Ecuaciones de Maxwell |
| 1831 | Inductor Michael Faraday | A wire wound into a coil; stores energy in a magnetic field. | ||
| 1831 | Goteo intravenoso | Intravenous infusion of solutions (Latta). | ||
| 1834 | Motor eléctrico | A machine that turns electrical energy into rotation. Moritz von Jacobi built a practical motor. | ||
| 1834 | Cable de acero | A rope of steel wires (Albert). | Cuerda | |
| 1834 | Ciclo de compresión de vapor | A refrigerant evaporates, absorbing heat, and condenses under pressure (Perkins). | ||
| 1834 | Zoótropo William George Horner | A spinning drum with pictures that creates the illusion of motion. | Cine | |
| 1835 | Relé | A switch operated by an electromagnet (Henry). | Controlador lógico programable | |
| 1835 | Catálisis Jöns Jacob Berzelius | Speeding up a chemical reaction with a catalyst. | ||
| 1836 | Hélice | A bladed screw that drives a ship or an aircraft. | Tornillo de Arquímedes | |
| 1836 | Acetileno | A flammable gas made from calcium carbide. | ||
| 1837 | Telégrafo eléctrico | Sending messages as electrical signals over wires (Schilling, Cooke and Wheatstone, Morse). | Telégrafo óptico | Teléfono, Fonógrafo |
| 1837 | Máquina analítica de Babbage Charles Babbage | A design for a general-purpose mechanical computer programmed with punched cards. | Telar Jacquard, Máquina diferencial de Babbage | Harvard Mark I |
| 1837 | Traje de buceo | A suit with a copper helmet (Siebe). | Campana de buceo | Escafandra autónoma, Traje espacial |
| 1837 | Arado de acero | Deere’s plough with a polished steel share. | Arado | |
| 1838 | Celulosa Anselme Payen | The polymer of plant fibres; the basis of paper. | ||
| 1839 | Caucho vulcanizado Charles Goodyear | Natural rubber strengthened with sulfur (Charles Goodyear). | ||
| 1839 | Efecto fotovoltaico Antoine César Becquerel | A current arising in a material under light. | ||
| 1839 | Cámara fotográfica | A device that captures an image through a lens onto a light-sensitive medium. | Cámara oscura | Cámara del smartphone, Fotolitografía, Cámara digital |
| 1839 | Celda de combustible | Produces current directly from the reaction of hydrogen with oxygen (Grove). | ||
| 1840 | Cercha | A lattice structure of triangles (Howe, Pratt). | ||
| 1841 | Semáforo ferroviario | A signal that allows or forbids movement. | Telégrafo óptico | Semáforo |
| 1841 | Potenciómetro Johann Christian Poggendorff | A variable resistor with a sliding contact. | ||
| 1841 | Efecto Joule | A current passing through a resistance releases heat. | ||
| 1842 | Efecto Doppler Christian Dopplerr | A change in wave frequency when the source moves. | ||
| 1843 | Pastilla | A pressed dosage form (Brockedon). | ||
| 1843 | Prensa rotativa | Printing from a rotating cylinder (Hoe). | Imprenta de Gutenberg | |
| 1843 | Fax | Transmitting images over wires (Bain; telefax in the 1960s). | ||
| 1844 | Pasta de madera | The raw material for cheap paper (Keller). | ||
| 1845 | Grifo | A valve for water. | ||
| 1846 | Queroseno | A middle fraction of crude oil — fuel for lamps and jet engines. | ||
| 1846 | Máquina de coser Thomas Saint | A lockstitch machine (Howe, Singer). | Cinematógrafo, Remalladora | |
| 1847 | Conservación de la energía | Energy is neither created nor destroyed; it changes from one form to another. | ||
| 1848 | Micrómetro William Gascoigne, Christiaan Huygens | A measuring tool built on a precise screw (Palmer). | Calibre vernier | |
| 1848 | Pozo de petróleo | A well for extracting oil; drilling at Absheron and by Drake. | ||
| 1850 | Compresor | A machine that compresses gas. | ||
| 1850 | Resistencia | A component with a set resistance. | ||
| 1850 | Torre de agua | An elevated tank that provides pressure in the network. | ||
| 1851 | Máquina de hielo | A machine for making ice (Gorrie). | Refrigerador | |
| 1851 | Aritmómetro Charles Xavier Thomas | A mass-produced mechanical calculator (Thomas, Odhner). | Calculadora escalonada de Leibniz | Calculadora electrónica |
| 1852 | Giroscopio Léon Foucault | A fast-spinning rotor that keeps the orientation of its axis (Foucault). | ||
| 1852 | Ascensor | A lift with a car; Otis’s safety brake made it safe. | ||
| 1853 | Jeringa | An instrument for injections (Wood, Pravaz). | ||
| 1853 | Correo neumático | Delivering capsules through pipes by air pressure. | Hyperloop | |
| 1853 | Hormigón armado Joseph Monier | Concrete with steel reinforcement (Coignet, 1853; Monier’s patent, 1867). | ||
| 1855 | Cámara de aire | The rubber bladder of a ball or tyre (Goodyear). | ||
| 1855 | Mechero Bunsen Robert Bunsen, Peter Desaga | A laboratory gas burner. | ||
| 1856 | Acero | An alloy of iron and carbon; mass production came with the Bessemer process. | ||
| 1856 | Bomba de calor | Moves heat from cold to warm at the cost of work. | ||
| 1856 | Convertidor Bessemer Henry Bessemer | Blowing air through pig iron to make steel. | Horno Siemens-Martin | |
| 1856 | Tinte sintético William Henry Perkin | Perkin’s aniline mauveine. | Índigo | Sulfonamidas |
| 1859 | Batería de plomo-ácido | The first rechargeable battery (Gaston Planté). | Pila voltaica | Batería de iones de litio |
| 1859 | Petróleo crudo | A natural mixture of hydrocarbons; industrial extraction since the 1850s. | ||
| 1859 | Torre de perforación | A machine for drilling wells. | ||
| 1859 | Acorazado | An armoured steam warship (Gloire). | Portaaviones | |
| 1859 | Botella pulverizadora | A hand sprayer. | ||
| 1860 | Pedal | A foot rest at the end of a crank. | ||
| 1860 | Gasolina | A light fraction of crude oil — fuel for combustion engines. | ||
| 1861 | Perforadora de roca | Pneumatic drilling of rock (Sommeiller). | Martillo neumático | |
| 1861 | Teoría de los gérmenes Germ theory's key 19th century figures, Louis Pasteur | Diseases are caused by microorganisms (Pasteur, Koch). | ||
| 1863 | Velocípedo Michaux | A bicycle with pedals on the front wheel (the “boneshaker”). | Draisiana | Bicitaxi, Triciclo, Velocípedo de rueda alta, Bicicleta |
| 1864 | Centrífuga | Separating mixtures by spinning. | ||
| 1866 | Generador eléctrico | A machine that turns rotation into electric current. | ||
| 1866 | Torpedo | A self-propelled underwater projectile (Whitehead). | ||
| 1866 | Teleférico | Cabins on a suspended cable. | ||
| 1867 | Termómetro clínico | Allbutt’s thermometer for measuring body temperature. | Termómetro digital | |
| 1868 | Teclado | A set of keys for entering characters. | ||
| 1868 | Máquina de escribir Christopher Latham Sholes, Frank Haven Hall | Mechanical printing of letters with keys (Sholes and Glidden). | Línea de comandos | |
| 1868 | Helio Pierre Janssen, Norman Lockyer | An inert light gas. | ||
| 1868 | Reloj de pulsera | A watch worn on a bracelet. | Reloj de bolsillo | Smartwatch |
| 1869 | Rodamiento de bolas | A bearing in which sliding friction is replaced by rolling balls. Jules Suriray’s 1869 patent was for the bicycle. | ||
| 1869 | Freno neumático George Westinghouse | Westinghouse’s brake worked by compressed air. | Sistema antibloqueo de frenos | |
| 1870 | Radio (rueda) | A tensioned rod that connects a wheel’s rim to its hub. | ||
| 1870 | Rueda de bicicleta | A light spoked wheel with a hub on bearings and a tyre. | Rueda de radios | |
| 1870 | Celuloide | An early nitrocellulose plastic; the basis of cinema film. | ||
| 1870 | Lana mineral | A fibrous insulator. | ||
| 1870 | Asfalto | A bitumen mixture for roads. | Camino macadamizado | |
| 1870 | Velocípedo de rueda alta Eugène Meyer | A bicycle with a huge front wheel and pedals on it. | Velocípedo Michaux | Bicicleta de seguridad Rover |
| 1870 | Molino de rodillos | Grinding grain with steel rollers. | Molino harinero | |
| 1872 | Circuito de vía William Robinson | An electric circuit through the rails that detects a train (Robinson). | ||
| 1872 | Moldeo por inyección | Shaping plastic by injecting it into a mould. | ||
| 1872 | Máquina predictora de mareas | A mechanical analogue computer of tides (Kelvin). | Analizador diferencial | |
| 1874 | Semiconductor | A material whose conductivity can be controlled; the basis of the transistor. | ||
| 1874 | Rectificador | Converts alternating current into direct current. | ||
| 1874 | Raqueta de tenis | A racket with strings. | ||
| 1876 | Motor de combustión interna Rudolf Diesel, Nicolaus Otto | An engine in which fuel burns inside the cylinder (Otto’s four-stroke cycle). | Máquina de vapor de Watt | |
| 1876 | Micrófono | Turns sound vibrations into an electrical signal. | ||
| 1876 | Teléfono Johann Philipp Reis, Elisha Gray | Transmitting the voice over wires. | Telégrafo eléctrico | Teléfono móvil, Videollamada, Audífono, VoIP |
| 1876 | Cigüeñal | A shaft with cranks that turns the stroke of the pistons into rotation. | ||
| 1877 | Criogenia | Producing low temperatures; liquefying gases (Cailletet, Pictet). | ||
| 1877 | Fonógrafo Thomas Edison | Recording and playing sound on a cylinder (Edison). | Telégrafo eléctrico | Gramófono |
| 1878 | Oleoducto | Pipes for transporting oil and gas (Shukhov, the Nobels). | ||
| 1878 | Vagón frigorífico | A cooled railway car for perishable goods. | ||
| 1879 | Bombilla incandescente Thomas Edison, Joseph Swan | Light from a filament heated by current. Lodygin, Swan and Edison worked on it. | Lámpara de aceite, Lámpara de gas | Lámpara LED |
| 1879 | Autoclave Charles Chamberland | Sterilizing with steam under pressure (Chamberland). | ||
| 1879 | Locomotora eléctrica Robert Davidson | A locomotive with electric motors powered from overhead lines (Siemens). | ||
| 1879 | Caja registradora James Ritty | A machine for recording sales (Ritty). | Autoservicio de pago | |
| 1879 | Sensor Hall | Measures a magnetic field using the Hall effect; the compass in a smartphone. | ||
| 1880 | Cadena de rodillos | A chain of links with rollers; Hans Renold patented the modern design. | ||
| 1880 | Efecto piezoeléctrico Пьер Кюри, Jacques Curie | A crystal under pressure produces a voltage and vice versa (the Curie brothers). | ||
| 1880 | Pantógrafo | A linkage that collects current from the overhead wire. | ||
| 1880 | Obturador | A mechanism that lets in light for a set time. | ||
| 1880 | Ultrasonido | Sound above the threshold of hearing. | ||
| 1880 | Piñón | A toothed wheel that engages a chain or a track. | ||
| 1881 | Interferómetro | An instrument based on the interference of light (Michelson). | Teoría de la relatividad | |
| 1881 | Coche eléctrico | A car driven by an electric motor powered by an on-board battery. Trouvé’s three-wheeled electric vehicle (1881) is older than Benz’s… | Coche autónomo | |
| 1882 | Ventilador eléctrico | A fan with an electric motor. | ||
| 1882 | Red eléctrica | A system for transmitting and distributing electricity. | Red eléctrica inteligente | |
| 1882 | Central eléctrica | A plant that produces electricity; Edison’s Pearl Street. | ||
| 1882 | Planta de cogeneración | A station that produces both electricity and heat. | ||
| 1882 | Central térmica | A station where turbines are turned by steam from burning fuel. | ||
| 1882 | Medio de cultivo | Agar for growing bacteria (Hesse, Koch). | ||
| 1883 | Termostato Warren Seymour Johnson | Keeps a set temperature (bimetal, electronics). | ||
| 1883 | Máquina expendedora | A machine that dispenses goods for a coin; Heron had a prototype. | Eolípila de Herón | Parquímetro |
| 1884 | Turbina | A bladed machine turned by a flow of steam, gas or water. | Eolípila de Herón, Rueda hidráulica | |
| 1884 | Turbina de vapor | Parsons’s turbine, driven by steam. | Máquina de vapor de Watt | Tobera de Laval |
| 1884 | Ametralladora | Maxim’s automatic weapon. | ||
| 1884 | Pluma estilográfica | A pen with an ink reservoir (Waterman). | Bolígrafo | |
| 1884 | Disco de Nipkow | A spinning disc with holes for scanning an image. | ||
| 1884 | Pólvora sin humo | Nitrocellulose powder (Vieille). | Pólvora | |
| 1885 | Bicicleta Karl Drais, Kirkpatrick Macmillan | A two-wheeled machine with a pedal-driven chain to the rear wheel; the modern layout is Starley’s “safety bicycle”. | Draisiana, Bicicleta de seguridad Rover, Velocípedo Michaux | Motocicleta, Bicicleta eléctrica, Wright Flyer, Ciclomotor |
| 1885 | Transformador Michael Faraday | Converts the voltage of alternating current (Yablochkov, Gaulard–Gibbs, ZBD). | ||
| 1885 | Película fotográfica | A flexible film with a light-sensitive emulsion (Eastman). | ||
| 1885 | Carburador | Mixes fuel with air before it enters the cylinders. | Inyección de combustible | |
| 1885 | Motocicleta | A two-wheeled machine with an internal combustion engine. | Bicicleta | Moto con sidecar |
| 1885 | Transmisión de bicicleta | Pedals, cranks, sprockets and chain: they transfer the force of the legs to the rear wheel. | ||
| 1886 | Aluminio Hans Christian Ørsted, Humphry Davy | A light metal; cheap production came with the Hall–Héroult process. | ||
| 1886 | Automóvil Ferdinand Verbiest | A self-propelled vehicle that needs no rails; Benz’s car is considered the first practical one. | Carruaje a vapor, Carruaje | Autobús, Camión, Carro blindado |
| 1886 | Pila seca | A battery with a paste electrolyte (Gassner). | Pila voltaica | Pila alcalina |
| 1886 | Proceso Hall-Héroult | Producing aluminium by electrolysis of molten alumina. | ||
| 1886 | Germanio Clemens Winkler | The semiconductor of the first transistors. | ||
| 1886 | Corriente alterna | A current that periodically reverses direction; the Tesla–Westinghouse system. | ||
| 1887 | Placa de Petri Julius Richard Petri | A flat dish for growing microbes. | ||
| 1887 | Aerogenerador | A windmill that drives an electric generator. | Molino de viento | |
| 1887 | Gramófono | Sound recording on a flat disc (Berliner). | Fonógrafo | Disco de vinilo |
| 1888 | Ondas electromagnéticas Heinrich Hertz | Propagating oscillations of the electromagnetic field; proved experimentally by Hertz. | Inducción electromagnética | |
| 1888 | Antena | Emits and receives radio waves. | ||
| 1888 | Antena parabólica | A parabolic reflector that focuses radio waves. | ||
| 1888 | Neumático | An inflatable rubber tyre; John Dunlop created the practical design for the bicycle. | ||
| 1888 | Tobera de Laval | A converging–diverging nozzle that accelerates gas to supersonic speed. | Turbina de vapor | |
| 1888 | Electrolizador | A unit for electrolysis of water. | ||
| 1888 | Motor de inducción Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky | A motor with a rotating magnetic field (Tesla, Dolivo-Dobrovolsky). | ||
| 1888 | Velocímetro | A speed indicator (eddy-current type). | ||
| 1889 | Contador eléctrico | A device for metering electricity. | Contador inteligente | |
| 1889 | Calentador de agua | Heats water for the home. | ||
| 1890 | Elemento calefactor | A high-resistance conductor that turns current into heat. | ||
| 1890 | Tabuladora de Hollerith | An electromechanical machine for processing census data from punched cards. | Mainframe, Base de datos | |
| 1890 | Motor en buje | An electric motor built into a wheel hub. | ||
| 1891 | Ala | A surface that generates lift. | ||
| 1891 | Línea eléctrica | Wires on towers for transmitting power over distance. | ||
| 1891 | Calentador solar de agua | A collector for heating water (Kemp). | ||
| 1892 | Vaso de Dewar | A vacuum vessel for liquefied gases. | Termo | |
| 1892 | Tabla de planchar | A folding board for ironing. | ||
| 1894 | Transmisión | A set of gears that changes the ratio between engine and wheel speed. | ||
| 1894 | Volante | A wheel for steering a car. | ||
| 1895 | Radio | Transmitting signals with electromagnetic waves (Popov, Marconi). | Teléfono móvil | |
| 1895 | Proyector de cine | Projects film frames onto a screen. | Linterna mágica | Proyector digital |
| 1895 | Rayos X Wilhelm Röntgen | Penetrating radiation (Röntgen). | ||
| 1895 | Pianola | A piano that plays from a perforated roll. | Organillo | |
| 1895 | Cinematógrafo | The Lumières’ camera-projector. | Máquina de coser | |
| 1895 | Bicicleta eléctrica | A bicycle with an assisting electric motor. | Bicicleta | |
| 1895 | Autobús | A motor vehicle for carrying passengers. | Automóvil | |
| 1895 | Taladro eléctrico | An electric tool for drilling (Wilhelm Fein, 1895). | Taladro de arco | |
| 1896 | Radiactividad | The spontaneous decay of nuclei (Becquerel, the Curies). | Fisión nuclear | |
| 1896 | Camión | A motor vehicle for carrying goods (Daimler). | Automóvil | Ambulancia, Vehículo anfibio |
| 1896 | Máquina de rayos X | Images of internal organs. | Tomógrafo | |
| 1896 | Esfigmomanómetro | Measuring blood pressure (Riva-Rocci; Korotkov’s method). | Manómetro | Tensiómetro digital |
| 1897 | Motor diésel Rudolf Diesel | A combustion engine with compression ignition. | ||
| 1897 | Tubo de rayos catódicos | A picture tube in which an electron beam draws the image (Braun). | Electrón | |
| 1897 | Electrón Joseph John Thomson | An elementary negatively charged particle (Thomson). | Teoría atómica, Tubo de rayos catódicos | |
| 1897 | Mascarilla quirúrgica | A surgeon’s mask (Mikulicz). | Respirador | |
| 1897 | Mecanismo de retroceso | A hydro-pneumatic recoil brake (the French 75 mm gun). | ||
| 1897 | Pastilla de freno Bertha Benz | A brake’s friction lining. | ||
| 1900 | Aislamiento térmico | Materials that reduce heat loss. | ||
| 1900 | Suspensión | Springs and shock absorbers between the wheels and the body. | Ballesta (suspensión) | |
| 1900 | Patinete | Two wheels, a deck and handlebars; moves when you push off with a foot. | Patinete eléctrico | |
| 1900 | Carbón activado | Porous carbon that absorbs impurities. | ||
| 1900 | Surfboard | A board for riding waves. | Snowboard | |
| 1900 | Torniquete de acceso | A rotating entry mechanism. |