Name one thing that Americans didn't invent. You can't, can you?

Question

That's because everything was invented by Americans.

I think the average 8-year-old American is as intelligent as the average 40-year-old foreigner.

Answer 1

OMG too too funny! The one thing America did not invent was a brain for morons. You ARE serious aren't you? OMG I am laughing.

James Naismith was a Canadian physical education instructor who invented basketball in 1891.

Microscope (1595, Netherlands)
- late 11th century : astronomical lenses (Sweden)
- 13th century : experimental telescopes built by Francis Bacon (UK)
- 1595/1608 : refracting telescope (Netherlands)
- 1609 : improved by Galileo (Italy)

Radio
- Radio waves => 1874, Scotland
- Radio Transmission => 1893-96, USA

Television
- First TV => 1884, Germany
- TV tube => 1907, Russia
- Electronic TV & Broadcast => 1927, USA

Vacuum cleaner (1865, USA)

Calculator
- 1623: automatic calculator invented by Wilhelm Schickard (Germany)
- 1642: adding machine invented by Blaise Pascal (France)
- 1954: electronic calculator invented by IBM (USA)

Refrigerator
- First refrigerator invented in 1805 by Oliver Evans (USA)
- World's first practical refrigerator invented by James Harrison (Australia) in 1856.

Photography
- First photograph => 1825, France
- Silver photo => 1840, France
- Negative => 1840, UK
- Colour photography => 1861 by James Clerk Maxwell (Scotland)

Engine
- 1791: Gas turbine patented by John Barber (England).
- 1826 : Reciprocating internal combustion engine patented by Samuel Morey (USA)
- 1867 : Petrol engine developed by Nikolaus Otto (Germany)
- 1892 : Diesel engine invented by Rudolph Diesel (Germany)
- 1924-57 : Rotary engine developed by Felix Wankel (Germany)
- 1936-39 : Jet engine developed simultaneously by Frank Whittle (England) and Hans von Ohain

Tramway :
- first horse-drawn carriage on rail in 1828 in Baltimore, USA.
- first cable-car in 1868 in New York.
- first steam-powered tram in 1873
- first electric tram in 1880 in St. Petersburg, Russia, and in 1881 in Berlin, Germany.

Modern method of army surgery, field hospitals and the system of army ambulance corps invented by Dominique Jean Larrey, surgeon-in-chief of the Napoleonic armies.

Railway (1820, UK)
The idea of the railway dates back to Roman times, 2000 years ago, when horse-drawn vehicles were set on cut-stone tracks. In 1802, the first modern horse-drawn train appeared in England, and the first steam powered train was however launched in 1820, also in England.

Comic strips (1820's, Switzerland) -Swiss Rodolphe Toepffer was the first modern cartoonist.
Gas stove/cooker (1826, England) First patented and manufactured by James Sharp.

Metro/Subway (1863, Britain) The London Underground was the first rapid transit network in the world.

Wrist watch (1868, Switzerland => Patek Philippe & Co.)
Motorcycle (1885, Germany)First designed and built by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach
Car/Automobile (1886, Germany)Developed independently and simultaneously by Carl Benz in Mannheim, and Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in Stuttgart.
Animation (1892, France) First animated film created by Emile Reynaud.
Cinema (1894, France)Cinematograph invented by the Lumiere brothers.
Electric stove/cooker (1896, USA)First patented by William S. Hadaway.
Traffic lights (1914, USA)Parking meter (1935, USA)
Helicopter (1939, Russia)Developed by Igor Sikorsky
Pocket watch (1510, Germany)
Violin (Early 16th century, Italy)
Thermometer- 1593: Invented by Galileo (Italy)
1714: Mercury thermometer invented by Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (Poland/Netherlands)
Video Games (1951-58, USA/UK)Invention disputed between 3 people, 2 Americans and a Briton.
Laserdisc (1958, USA; commercialized by MCA and Philips in 1972)
Photocopier (1959, USA => Xerox)
Soft contact lenses (1961, Czech) Invented by Otto Wichterle.
Cassette tape (1967, Netherlands => Philips)
LCD screen (1968, Germany)
Quartz watch (1969, Japan => Seiko)Dishwasher (1850-1886, USA)
Steam-powered airship (1852, France)- Invented by Henri Giffard.
Video tape (1972, Netherlands - Philips, later replaced by JVC's VHS)
Walkman (1977, Germany => commercialized by the Japanese Sony from 1979)
Compact Disk (1982, Netherlands/Germany - Philips) CD-ROM (1985, Netherlands/Japan => Philips/Sony)
Minidisk (1991, Japan => Sony)
Pendulum clock (1657, Netherlands) Invented by Christiaan Huygens.
Newspaper (1605, Belgium/France/Germany)
Clarinet (1690, Germany) Invented by Johann Christoph Denner.
Steam engine (1698, UK) Invented by Thomas Savery in 1698, and improved by James Watt in 1769.
Piano (early 1700's, Italy) Invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori in Florence.
Magazine (England, 1731) The Gentleman's Magazine s the world's first general-interest magazine.
Hot air balloon (France, 1782-83) Invented by the brothers Josef and Etienne Montgolfier.
Parachute (1785, France) Invented by Jean Pierre Blanchard Submarine (1800, USA/France)
Ambulance service (early 1800's, France) Saxophone (1840's, Belgium -Invented by Adolphe Sax.
Telegraph (1844, USA)Invented by Samuel Morse
Telephone (1849, Italy) The invention of the telephone has long been credited to the Scot Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. However, the Italian Antonio Meucci is now recognized to have invented the device as early as 1849.
Cash register (1879, USA) Invented by James Ritty.
Phonograph (1877, USA)Invented by Thomas Alva Edison, although based on France-born Leon Scott's 1857 phonautograph.


INVENTIONS BY COUNTRIES:
USA
- Steam boat
- Submarine
- Refrigerator
- Telegraph
- Tramway
- Dishwasher
- Vacuum cleaner
- Radio transmission
- Phonograph
- Cash register
- Electric stove/cooker
- Electronic TV & TV Broadcast
- Microwave oven
- Atomic clock
- Charge/credit card
- Electronic calculator
- Video games
- Laserdisc
- Photocopier
- Traffic lights
- Parking meter

Australia
- Refrigerator


UK
- Magazine
- Steam engine
- Gas turbine
- Railway
- Gas stove/cooker
- Negative & color photography
- Metro/Subway
- Radio waves
- Jet engine
- Video Games

France
- Adding machine
- Hot air balloon
- Parachute
- Submarine
- Ambulance service
- Photography
- Airship
- Animation
- Cinema

Italy
- Glasses
- Viol and cello
- Mechanical clock
- Violin
- Thermometer
- Barometer
- Piano
- Telephone

Switzerland
- Comic strips
- Wrist watch

Czech Rep.
- Soft contact lenses

Germany
- Newspaper
- Clarinet
- Pocket watch
- Automated calculator
- Light bulb
- TV
- Petrol/gasoline & Diesel engines
- Automobile (+engine, differential gear...)
- Motorcycle
- Jet engine
- LCD screen
- Walkman

Netherlands
- Microscope
- Telescope
- Pendulum clock
- Mercury thermometer
- Audio tape
- Video tape
- CD
- CD-ROM

Belgium
- Newspaper
- Saxophone

Japan
- Quartz watch
- CD-ROM
- MD

Russia
- Tube TV
- Helicopter

Now we deal with your IQ idiocy.

The first # is av IQ in 2002 the second # is 2006. The US of A is far below Mongolia, Poland, the Czech Republic and FRANCE!

Hong Kong 107 108
Singapore 103 108
North Korea 105* 106*
South Korea 106 106 Japan 105 105
People's Republic of China 100 105
Republic of China 104 105
Italy 102 102
Iceland 98* 101
Mongolia 98* 101*
Switzerland 101 101
Austria 102 100
Luxembourg 101* 100*
Netherlands 102 100
Norway 98 100
United Kingdom 100 100
Belgium 100 99
Canada 97 99
Finland 97 99
Germany 102 99
New Zealand 100 99
Poland 99 99
Sweden 101 99
Andorra N/A 98*
Australia 98 98
Czech Republic 97 98
Denmark 98 98
France 98 98
Hungary 99 98
Latvia 97* 98*
Spain 99 98
United States 98 98
Belarus 96* 97*

Answer 2

Yeah, right. You forget, an awful lot of things were invented long before we came on the scene in the first place. The Chinese invented paper. Gutenberg, a German, created the movable printing press. Guns were around long before we were. We are finding out that the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians actually had prototypical odometers and even computers. And there are many more recent discoveries and inventions by non-Americans. Louis Pasteur (France) created pasteurisation. The helicopter was invented by a Russian. Medical discoveries, such as the morning after pill, were invented in other countries. It's a good thing Germany was defeated when it was--they had invented the jet engine, but hadn't put it into production yet. They also created the rocket (the V2), which was only refined in the US for the space because we imported the German scientists who created them to work for us.

If you think the average 8 year old American is as intelligent as the average 40 year old foreigner, you haven't worked with many 8 year olds lately. I grade standardized tests for schools nationwide, and even up into 10th grade, you'd be amazed at how ignorant some of the kids are. There are some exceptions, but many can't even spell. They usually know only one language, whereas most foreigners know at least 2 or 3. It sounds like you have the attitude that makes the rest of us have the reputation that we do as "Ugly Americans."

Answer 3

Gutenberg, Galileo, Da Vinci, all these were great inventors, and I seriously doubt your claim that an 8 year old American is as inteligent as an average 40 year old foreigner. Just the fact that you could not list these great inventors shows how ignorant you are, and the lack of intelligence.

Answer 4

Intelligent Government?
Democracy?

Answer 5

There are a few things invented by Americans. In fact the population of America has a lot of uneducated people like you.

Answer 6

Ha Ha Most of the "American" inventions have been by immigrants to America.
But, Ben Franklin was one really great American inventor and we still use most of his inventions today.
So hmm I don't know
Fireworks, compass, paper, (all Chinese) so that is 3 things.

Answer 7

Are you serious????
let's see if we can name just a few....
gunpowder - chinese
Printing press - German
batteries - italian
Algebra - Arab
barometer - italian
Sextant - dutch
adding machine/calculator - french
steam turbine - dutch
pendulum clock - dutch
pianos - italian
steam engine - scotland
bicycle - german
dynamite - sweden
aspirin - German
x-rays - german
radar - Britain
CD's - Dutch/japan
and let's not forget one of the greatest inventors of all time Leonardo Davinci was italian.

Answer 8

rockets, jetplanes, paper, gunpowder, ships, the wheel, fire, writing, code law, mathematics, philosophy, literature, cinematics, tanks, television, radio, ...

Bye the way, about half of those 'american' inventions you will come up with, are invented by foreign scholars in american universities, who came for the money.
The american educational system, apart from the colleges, sucks.

Answer 9

Yeah, so true. The X-Ray Machine and the Diesel Engine were invented by Germans, but life saving medical equipment and cars aren't nearly as impressive as fast food.

Answer 10

Thanks for the great information on the intelligence comparison, dan_man. I wonder what would be the average intelligence of a 24 year old American. Can we use simple extrapolation for that?

Answer 11

1. Language
2. Rockets
3. Boats