Victorian Inventions Timeline (1837 to 1901) |
1838 |
The first photograph taken, by Louis Daguerre in France and William Henry Fox-Talbot in Britain. |
1839 |
W.H. Fox-Talbot invented light sensitive photographic paper to produce photographs. |
1839 |
A Scottish blacksmith Kirkpatrick Macmillan invented the first pedal bicycle. His machine was propelled by pedals, cranks and drive rods. |
1839 |
 The first paddle steamships by Isambard Kingdom Brunel |
1840 |
The first postage stamps (Penny Post) came into use. |
1843 |
The first Christmas card was designed by John Calcott Horsely. Find out more |
1844 |
The first Morse Code message is sent. Invented by an American called Samuel Morse in 1837. |
1845 |
Rubber tyres invented. Robert Thomson discovered that rubber tyres filled with air (pneumatic) gave a far more comfortable ride for passengers than solid tyres, but they were too expensive. |
1845 |
London Road in Nottingham became the first road to be covered with tarmac (tarmacadam). Before this people had to suffer with roads made from cobbles ( round stones) and pot holes. |
1846 |
Sewing Machine invented by Elias Howe |
1849 |
Concrete developed by Monier. Concrete was cheap to make and opened up new possibilities for building. |
1849 |
 Englishman George Cayley built the first glider to fly by a pilot. |
1850s |
The first post boxes are built |
| 1850 |
Petrol Developed |
| 1850 |
Isaac Singer produced a sewing machine which could be used at home. |
| 1851 |
Ice Cream is invented by Jacob Fussell, in the USA |
| 1852 |
The first public flushing toilet opens in London. Before the 1850s most people had to use an earth closet, which was a toilet outside the house with just soil in it and no water. |
1854 |
Henry Bessemer found a way to convert iron into steel, which was both stronger and lighter than iron. This made it possible to build huge structures such as bridges and ships. |
| 1855 |
Lunstrom's new safety match first gains recognition |
| 1856 |
Louis Pasteur found how to make food safer to eat by pasteurizing it. This killed bacteria in certain foods. |
| 1859 |
Oil discovered in the USA leads to the birth of the modern oil industry. |
| 1860 |
 The first horse-drawn tram |
| 1863 |
The world's first underground railway (the Tube) is opened in London. It is powered by steam. |
1864 |
 The world's first jelly babies were made by an Austrian called Herr Steinbeck in Lancashire. |
1872 |
 Invention of the penny-farthing bicycle. by British engineer, James Starley. The huge front wheel was almost six feet from top to bottom. and the seat was above the wheel. It had no brakes! |
1873 |
Typewriter invented by Christopher Sholes |
1875 |
The first chocolate Easter eggs were made by Fry's of Bristol. |
1876 |
 Alexander Bell, a Scotsman living in America, invented the telephone on 7 March 1876. By 10 March 10 his apparatus was so good that the first complete sentence transmitted, “Watson, come here; I want you,”was distinctly heard by his assistant. |
1877 |
The world's first recording of the human voice is heard when the inventor of the phonograph, Thomas Edison, recited 'Mary Had A Little Lamb' and played it back |
1878 |
Electric street lighting began in London, replacing the old gas lamps, which had to be lit by hand every evening. (Michael Faraday discovered electricity) |
1879 |
 The electric light bulb invented by Swan and Edison for home use. |
1885 |
Safety Bicycle invented. It had a chain, sprocket driven rear wheel and equally sized wheels. |
1883 |
First electric railway opened |
1884 |
First British electric tram network opened in the seaside town of Blackpool. |
1885 |
 First petrol motorcar built by Karl Benz. A three-wheeled vehicle powered by a one-cylinder gasoline engine.
The speed limit for cars was four miles per hour. It was increased to 20 miles per hour in 1896. |
1887 |
The invention of the gramophone by Emile Berliner |
1888 |
John Boyd Dunlop invented pneumatic tyres. |
1888 |
 Photography became even more popular with invention of the Kodak box camera by American inventor George Eastman. Eastman's invention of the film roll and camera meant that photography became popular across the world. He named his camera Kodak because he liked the letter 'K'. |
1894 |
Moving pictures (cinematograph) invented by Lumiere brothers. |
1890 |
The first electric underground train to travel on a public railway ran in London on December 18. |
1890 |
The first comic book to ever be published in Britain was printed. It was called Comic Cuts |
1891 |
The first hydro-electric power station. making electricity from fast flowing water. |
1895 |
X-rays discovered by W K Roentgen |
1895 |
Guglielmo Marconi launches the wireless (radio) |
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