Inventors and Innovaters

Person Invention Date James Watt First reliable Steam Engine 1775 Eli Whitney Gin, for muskets 1793, 1798 Regular Steamboat service on the Hudson River 1807 Samuel F. B. Morse Telegraph 1836 Sewing 1844 Improves and markets Howe's Sewing Machine 1851 Cyrus Field Transatlantic Cable 1866 Telephone 1876 Phonograph, Incandescent Light Bulb 1877, 1879 Nikola Tesla Induction Electric Motor 1888 Rudolf Diesel Diesel Engine 1892 Orville and Wilbur Wright First Airplane 1903 Henry Ford Model T Ford, Assembly Line 1908, 1913 John Rockefeller Oil Cornelius Vanderbilt Railroad/Shipping George Pullman Railroad J.P. Morgan Finance John Jacob Astor Fur, real estate Steel Marshall Field Retail Levi Strauss Clothing

Instructions: Your group has been charged with the task of collecting information about one of the famous inventors of the Industrial Revolution. You need to gather information about each of the following:

 Birthplace and background of the inventor/innovator?  History of life without their creation?  What their creation was and what did it do?  How did it change our world?  What has happened to the invention/company since then (how has it evolved)?  How does their creation/company impact your life personally today?

You will prepare a 5-minute presentation with the information that you have gathered. Create a note cards summarizing your findings to use during your presentation. You may create posters, and bring in any props that you may like.