The steam locomotive expanded rail travel.

3D printing (additive manufacturing) was invented in the 1980s — early machines cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Nuclear reactors generate electricity by using the heat from controlled fission chain reactions to boil water and spin turbines.

The Brooklyn Bridge was one of the first steel-wire suspension bridges.

The flashlight provided portable electric light.

The dishwasher automated dish cleaning.

The first webcam was invented to monitor a coffee pot.

Origami, the Japanese art of paper folding, has influenced engineering designs for solar panels and medical devices.

The world's first programmable computer, the Colossus, was built secretly in Britain during World War II to decode Nazi messages.