Gear

The Decades That Invented the Future, Part 2: 1911-1920

Wired is looking back over 12 decades to highlight the 12 most innovative people, places and things of their day. From the first transatlantic radio transmissions to cellphones, from vacuum tubes to microprocessors, we’ll run down the most important advancements in technology, science, sports and more. This week’s installment takes us back to 1911-1920, when machine guns on planes were synchronized with their propellers, the Model-T came off the first assembly line and three companies merged to become IBM.
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Since 2007, Wired.com’s This Day In Tech blog has reflected on important and entertaining events in the history of science and innovation, pursuing them chronologically for each day of the year. Hundreds of these essays have now been collected into a trivia book, Mad Science: Einstein’s Fridge, Dewar’s Flask, Mach’s Speed and 362 Other Inventions and Discoveries that Made Our World. It goes on sale Nov. 13, and is available for pre-order today at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other online book stores.