Inventors

Artist · 1452 – 1519

Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath — painter, inventor, anatomist and engineer — whose curiosity and genius made him the archetype of the 'Renaissance man'.

• Mona Lisa
• The Last Supper

Mathematician · 287 BC – 212 BC

Archimedes was an ancient Greek mathematician, physicist and inventor, widely regarded as the greatest mathematician of antiquity and a founder of mathematical physics and engineering.

• Archimedes' principle
• Calculating pi

Inventor · 1400 – 1468

Johannes Gutenberg was a German inventor and printer who introduced movable-type printing to Europe around 1440, an innovation that transformed the spread of knowledge and helped launch the modern world.

• The printing press
• Movable type

Inventor · 1706 – 1790

Benjamin Franklin was an American polymath — a founding father, scientist, inventor, writer and diplomat — whose work on electricity and statesmanship made him one of the most admired figures of the 18th century.

• Founding Father
• Experiments on electricity

Inventor · 1856 – 1943

Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor and electrical engineer whose pioneering work on alternating current and electromagnetism helped electrify the modern world.

• Alternating current (AC)
• The induction motor

Inventor · 1847 – 1931

Thomas Edison was an American inventor and businessman whose innovations — including a practical electric light, the phonograph and systems for distributing electricity — helped create the modern industrial world.

• Electric light bulb
• Phonograph

Inventor · 1867 – 1948

The Wright Brothers, Orville and Wilbur, were American inventors who designed, built and flew the world's first successful powered aeroplane in 1903, launching the age of human flight.

• First powered flight (1903)
• Three-axis control