Worked example 1
Put in order: telephone, printing press, World Wide Web.
- Printing press about 1440.
- Telephone 1876.
- World Wide Web 1989–91.
Answer: Printing press → telephone → World Wide Web
History · Intermediate
Inventions that changed the world
Some inventions changed how everyone lives. Studying them teaches chronology, cause and consequence — and that most inventions build on earlier ideas from many people.
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- 5Check your answer
Before you start
Who it's for and what to know first
Reading timelines with BC/AD dates.
Learn it
How it works
- Writing (about 3200 BC, Mesopotamia and Egypt): records, laws and literature became possible.
- Printing press with movable type (about 1440, Johannes Gutenberg in Europe; movable type existed earlier in China and Korea): books became cheaper, spreading ideas.
- Steam engine improvements (1760s–1770s, James Watt): powered factories and railways in the Industrial Revolution.
- Telephone (1876, patent by Alexander Graham Bell; others worked on similar devices): instant voice communication.
- Vaccination (1796, Edward Jenner's smallpox work): smallpox was declared eradicated in 1980.
- World Wide Web (1989–1991, Tim Berners-Lee): made the internet easy to use for everyone.
Try it online · print it · check it
Practice questions
Tips
Common mistakes
- Crediting a single person with inventions that many people developed.
- Crediting one person alone. Most inventions, such as the light bulb, built on the work of many people.
Last reviewed: 25 September 2026