1843 to 1989: every file on one line

1. 1840s
2. 1843
   

   Short · 2:38 · 2-min read

   Ada Lovelace

   Publishes her Notes on Babbage's Analytical Engine, often called the first computer program.

3. 1844
   

   Short · 2:26 · 2-min read

   Samuel Morse

   Sends the first public telegraph message, from the Capitol to Baltimore, on 24 May 1844.

4. 1850s
5. 1854
   

   Short · 2:07 · 2-min read

   Elisha Otis

   Shows his safety brake in New York: the rope is cut, and the platform stays put.

   Linked filesFranz ReicheltOtis built the original lifts in two of the tower's legs
6. 1860s
7. 1867
   

   Short · 2:53 · 2-min read

   Alfred Nobel

   Patents dynamite, a year after inventing it.

   Linked filesMarie CurieNobel Prize, 1903 and 1911Fritz HaberNobel Prize, 1918
8. 1870s
9. 1876
   

   Short · 2:42 · 2-min read

   Alexander Graham Bell

   Speaks the first words over the telephone on 10 March 1876: 'Mr. Watson, come here.'

   Linked filesLewis LatimerDrafted the drawings for Bell's patent
10. 1879
    

    Short · 2:44 · 3-min read

    Thomas Edison

    His lab makes a practical carbon-filament light bulb.

    Linked filesNikola TeslaTesla worked for his companyLewis LatimerJoined Edison in 1884Clarence DallyGlassblower in his lab
11. 1880s
12. 1882
    

    Short · 1:56 · 2-min read

    Lewis Latimer

    Patents a better way to make carbon filaments for light bulbs.

    Linked filesAlexander Graham BellDrafted the drawings for Bell's patentThomas EdisonJoined Edison in 1884
13. 1888
    

    Documentary · 7:09 · 4-min read

    Nikola Tesla

    Presents his alternating-current motor; Westinghouse licenses the patents.

    Linked filesThomas EdisonWorked for Edison's company in 1884
14. 1890s
15. 1897
    

    Short · 1:55

    Felix Hoffmann

    Records aspirin on 10 August 1897, and heroin eleven days later.

16. 1900s
17. 1903
    

    Short · 2:55 · 2-min read

    Marie Curie

    Becomes the first woman to win a Nobel Prize.

    Linked filesAlfred NobelThe prize named after him
18. 1903
    

    Short · 2:54 · 2-min read

    The Wright Brothers

    First powered, controlled flight at Kitty Hawk on 17 December 1903: 12 seconds, 120 feet.

19. 1904
    

    Short · 2:03 · 2-min read

    Clarence Dally

    Dies of the X-ray damage to his hands, thought to be the first American killed by radiation experiments.

    Linked filesThomas EdisonTested X-ray tubes for Edison
20. 1910s
21. 1912
    

    Short · 2:27 · 6-min read

    Franz Reichelt

    Jumps from the Eiffel Tower on 4 February 1912 to test his parachute suit.

    Linked filesElisha OtisOtis built lifts for the Eiffel Tower in 1889
22. 1913
    

    Short · 2:37 · 2-min read

    Rudolf Diesel

    Vanishes from a steamer crossing to England on the night of 29–30 September 1913.

23. 1915
    

    Short · 1:45 · 2-min read

    Fritz Haber

    Supervises the first large-scale chlorine gas attack, at Ypres on 22 April 1915.

    Linked filesAlfred NobelNobel Prize in Chemistry, 1918
24. 1916
    

    Short · 2:25 · 2-min read

    Garrett Morgan

    Wears his own safety hood into a gas-filled tunnel under Lake Erie to rescue workers.

25. 1920s
26. 1923
    

    Short · 2:35 · 2-min read

    Thomas Midgley Jr.

    Leaded petrol goes on sale; in 1923–24 at least 15 workers die at the plants that make the additive.

27. 1940s
28. 1942
    

    Short · 2:09 · 2-min read

    Hedy Lamarr

    Receives a patent for frequency hopping, with the composer George Antheil.

29. 1943
    

    Short · 2:56 · 3-min read

    Nikola Tesla

    Dies alone in room 3327 of the Hotel New Yorker, effectively bankrupt.

    Linked filesNikola TeslaHis whole life story
30. 1944
    

    Short · 2:09 · 2-min read

    Wernher von Braun

    The first V-2s are fired at cities. By the estimates, more prisoners died building them than people were killed by them.

31. 1945
    

    Short · 2:08 · 2-min read

    J. Robert Oppenheimer

    Watches the Trinity test, the first atomic explosion, on 16 July 1945.

    Linked filesLouis SlotinSlotin assembled the Trinity core
32. 1946
    

    Short · 1:48 · 2-min read

    Louis Slotin

    A screwdriver slips during a test with the 'Demon Core' on 21 May 1946.

    Linked filesJ. Robert OppenheimerWorked at Los Alamos
33. 1947
    

    Short · 1:59 · 2-min read

    Mikhail Kalashnikov

    His AK-47 rifle is developed; by 2009 about 100 million AK-family rifles had been made (an estimate).

34. 1950s
35. 1952
    

    Short · 1:52 · 2-min read

    Alan Turing

    The codebreaker who helped win the war is prosecuted for being gay.

36. 1952
    

    Short · 2:09 · 2-min read

    Rosalind Franklin

    Photo 51 is taken under her supervision and reveals the shape of DNA.

37. 1954
    

    Short · 1:55 · 2-min read

    John Paul Stapp

    Rides a rocket sled to 632 mph and stops in about 1.4 seconds: 46.2 g.

38. 1980s
39. 1989
    

    Short · 2:16 · 2-min read

    Tim Berners-Lee

    Proposes the World Wide Web at CERN. His boss writes 'Vague but exciting'.

Dates come from the fact checks on each episode page. Where a story has a legend, the episode page says so.