Jethro Tull (1708)'s mechanical seed drill
Helped plant crops
Karl Benz's internal-combustion automobile engine (1885)
cars go vroom
Alfred Nobel's dynamite (1867)
First high explosive that could be safely handled. Useful for mining and clearing areas for infrastructure.
Richard Arkwright's water frame (1769)
More efficient thread spinning
Revolutionized the production of steel
Singer's first practical sewing machine (1851)
Allowed for more sewing, including at-home
Gugliemo Marconi (1901) transatlantic radio message
From Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
Samuel F. B. Morse's telegraph and Morse Code (1837)
This would allow for long-distance communication
Useful for, like, ship distress calls. Say, for example, the one the Titanic sent out.
Thomas Edison (1879)
Invented the incandescent lamp. Though he was, in general, prone to rude tendencies.
Robert Trevithick (1801)'s steam locomotive demonstration
Marc Brunel's first underwater tunnel (1826-1842)
Under the Thames
Eiffel Tower (1889)
For the World Exposition in Paris
First commercially successful (though kind of clumsy) steam engine, used to pump water out of coal mines. Big deal, since we've just unlocked a new power source.
First transatlantic cable completed
1858
According to wikipedia:
First skyscraper (10 stories tall) (in Chicago)
1883
Cathode rays discovered
1858
Made communicating across long distances much easier, but such conversations still had to be done in public, etc.,
Michael Faraday (1831)'s discovery of electromagnetic currents
Made generators and electrical engines possible
Gasoline refinement
First occurred in 1850. Gasoline is an important fuel source.
Joseph Monier (1849)
Reinforced Concrete
Brooklyn Bridge opened (1883)
Robert Fulton (1807)'s Clermont
The first successful steamboat. Like the locomotive, made trade so, so much better. For example, now the US could leverage its advantage in having the Mississippi river.
Began the first regular commercial rail service
Automated thread spinning
John Kay (1733)'s flying shuttle
Charles Babbage (1834)'s analytic engine
First ancestor of the computer
James Brindley (1761)'s Bridgewater Canal
Allowed for barges to carry coal from Worsely to Manchester
Mass slaughter is now possible, begins mechanization of warfare. Unfortunately, as some predicted, his machine gun did not prevent war — people still fought, despite these monsters being on the battlefield.
