There would be no guns without gunpowder, the volatile mixture of saltpetre (potassium nitrate), charcoal and sulphur that came to Europe in the 14th century... read more
In Victorian times 'computers' were people who added up rows of figures.
Now they are mechanical wonders - without them we couldn't fly planes, drive cars... read more
When Sir Frank Whittle was developing his revolutionary jet engines during the 1940s, he needed robust but lightweight airframes to attach them to. Aluminium... read more
At the time of Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson's first successful telephone transmission in 1875, the only wires strong enough to be strung over long... read more
Television would never have developed without the cathode ray tube (CRT). It was invented by a German, Karl Ferdinand Braun, in 1897. A CRT is a glass vacuum... read more
