7. Television
The first still images transmitted over a wire system were done on the Pantelegraph. The Pantelegraph was invented in 1862 Abbe Giovanna Caselli. Today, over 48 million televisions are sold per year in North America alone. Television has and will continue to play a vital role in the socialization of the 21st century.

Laboratory where the first television images were transmitted.
8. Penicillin
Penicillin wasn’t really invented, it was discovered. In 1928 Alexander Fleming discovered that if Penicillium notatum was grown in the appropriate substrate, it would release a substance with antibiotic properties. Fleming admitted his discovery of penicillin was an accident. (he accidentally left a Petri dish open)

Black and white image of Alexander Fleming in his laboratory. Fleming accidentally discovered penicillin when he left a petri dish open over night. 9. Cotton Gin
The cotton gin was invented by Eli Whitney in 1793 and revolutionised the cotton industry in the United States. The machine quickly and easily separated cotton fibers from their seeds speeding the process of a once painstaking job that could only be done by hand.

Original model of Eli Whitney's cotton gin
10. Alphabet
The first signs of a written alphabet date back to the 27th century BCE in Egypt. In fact, by this time Egyptians had already developed an alphabet with 24 hieroglyphs in it that used consonants and vowels. The modern English alphabet is derived from Latin and has 26 letters. The English language was originally written in the Anglo-Saxon futhorc runic alphabet style during the 5th century.

A specimen of Proto-Sinaitic script containing a phrase. Possibly one of the first forms of written language using consonants and vowels.