Remembering Gallery

[SI Homepage] American Inventors and Inventions

Since 1790 the United States Patent Office has granted more than 6 million patents. The number of patents issued increased dramatically during the 19th century, stimulated by the American industrial revolution and further fueling it. The middle and late 19th century was a golden age for American invention. The technology envisioned by American inventors has improved our standard of living and linked us across physical and cultural divides.

The Smithsonian preserves thousands of the models that inventors were required to submit with patent applications before 1880.

[Telephone]
"Box" Telephone		 [Photograph]
George Washington Carver		 [Photograph]
George Washington Carver
[Light Bulb]
Light Bulb		 [Photo]
Albert Einstein		 [Javik 7]
Artificial Heart
[Telegraph Key]
Telegraph Key		 [Telegraph]
Telegraph		 [Patent Model]
Sugar Evaporation System
[Photograph]
Jonas Salk		 [Sewing Machine]
Sewing Machine		 [Computer]
Computer

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