4 ms·
The wheel is an uncredited invention that almost all of humanity uses multiple times a day.
by Jeremy1026 8y ago
The wheel is an uncredited invention that almost all of humanity uses multiple times a day.
- empath75 8y agoIt might be more interesting to limit answers to historical times.
- bartread 8y agoWhy? The original question makes no mention of this, not to mention that it might be cool to think about a bunch of inventions that have been with us for so long that we entirely take them for granted.
- davidw 8y agoBecause the spirit of the question about an inventor choosing to remain anonymous, rather than being 'anonymous' because it was 5000 years ago.
- amineazariz 8y agoExactly, this how I meant it to be understood. Sorry if my original question wasn't precise enough.
- mtnGoat 8y agostairs also fall into this category.
- bartread 8y agoAlso, lots of simple tools and weapons: knives (and blades in general), hammers, bows, hand drills. Candles are almost unbelievably useful when you have no electricity, which leads nicely onto the various methods and tools for firestarting.
- pavel_lishin 8y agoA knife might fall under a discovery, rather than an invention; a piece of flint that fell and chipped just the right way was likely the first knife.
- bartread 8y agoThat was also my immediate thought, although I suspect chances are good it was invented multiple times independently.
- darkmighty 8y agoI find the bearing more significant than the wheel: without a good bearing its utility is limited. They have a rich history it seems: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bearing_(mechanical)#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bearing_(mechanical)#History
- raverbashing 8y agoTrue, but to invent the bearing you need to invent the wheel first
- starbeast 8y agoNo you don't. Rolling logs as a linear bearing for launching boats, with people carrying the logs to the front from the back as the boat passes over, almost certainly preceded the wheel.