20th Century Breakthrough

Green Day may own the album 20th Century Breakdown album but the 20th Century marks the beginning of conquest for higher technology for us to enjoy and for electrical contractors Toronto team to fix. So while a humble electrician in Richmond Hill troubleshoots an oven, let’s look at some of the five major inventions from 1900s to the 90’s.

First on the list is the disposable razor blade. Yes, it is not the electronic but come on! This 1909 invention of King Gillette saved women from stingy unhygienic men. Even an electrician Markham native then worked better without nuisance of hairs on his face thanks to this two-bladed shaver. This one counts.

Jumping in the future, 1947 was the year when the first mobile phone was introduced. Take note that this cellular phone was an alpha courtesy of Bell Labs at AT&T. Engineers further developed the heavy and analogue cellular phones until the 70’s. Obviously, people then felt the inconvenience of asking for an electrician Woodbridge resident or an electrician Northridge based for the some repairs. Not until early 1970s when Martin Cooper of Motorola invented the first hand-held mobile phone. By the way, Martin Cooper’s first call was for his rivals in Bell Labs.

Before all the LED TV and Plasmas in HD, the granddaddy of these high-end but expensive boxes was born in 1923 to paternal parents Vladimir Zworykin and Philo Farnsworth. They invented the first fully working television in vivid black and white. It was further enhanced, further marketed, and further advertised. Who would know TV would be one factor to shape our culture courtesy by the media.

We love speed. That means instant coffee and instant mashed potato. The invention of the microwave oven in 1945 made all instant heating a breeze. This machine is too hot a household can’t be called one without a microwave. Here’s a trivia. The almighty microwave was not invented. It was accidentally discovered. Percy Spencer noticed his chocolate bar was melting while working on a scientific project. Who would figure that one radar set that generates and sends out microwaves would enter the households? Spencer tried to cook food into the steel box and discovered that the microwaves heated the food expressly. He then built a less than 2 meter microwave in 1947 to be marketed.

We come to the last electronic device. It is used by the government to keep an eye on us or detect the President’s location when got lost. The GPS or Global Positioning System was invented and enhanced in 1993 by the US DoD. USAF 50th Space Wing maintains the US GPS’ satellites for more than $700 million annually.

So that’s just five of the best inventions of the 20th Century and more are on the list. As we enjoy and indulge on high-end devices of today, we don’t have to forget their humble beginnings.