Inventions that Shook the World

2011 All 1 Season

Go on a decade-by-decade voyage of discovery through life-changing inventions, like the radio that made the world smaller, the machine gun that made it more dangerous, or the parking meter that made it more expensive.

Genre: Documentary · Documentary Series · Documentary · Documentary Series

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10 Episodes

1 - The 1900s 46 min

The first decade of the 1900s ushers in inventions that help shape the rest of the century. Communication gets a boost with the invention of the radio, the vacuum cleaner changes how we do our chores, and the Wright Brothers soar through the sky.

2 - The 1910s 46 min

Saving lives and taking lives are the hallmarks of the inventions of the 1910s. From charcoal to lightly browned, the quest for perfect toast is finally realized, and the Tommy Gun unleashes the fearsome power of the machine gun.

3 - The 1920s 46 min

Mobsters, jazz, and turbulent economic times mark the 1920s. Silent film makes the transition to the talkies as sound comes to film, criminality takes a hit with the invention of the lie detector, and the Space Age is launched by a rocketeer.

4 - The 1930s 46 min

Though overshadowed by the Great Depression, ingenuity abounds in the 1930s. The two-way radio gets miniaturized, the world's first portable walkie-talkie goes on the air, the electric guitar changes music, and the parking meter is introduced.

5 - The 1940s 46 min

War is the driving force behind much of the innovation in the 1940s. The microwave is born after a self-taught inventor realizes that military equipment is responsible for melting a chocolate bar in his pocket, and a sailor invents kitty litter.

6 - The 1950s 44 min

The 1950s heralded the end of vacuum tubes and the rise of mobile technologies when Japanese inventors shrink cabinet-size radios down to something small enough to fit in your pocket, and the space race begins when the Soviet Union launches Sputnik.

7 - The 1960s 46 min

The 1960s is a decade of both cultural and technological change. The video game console is unveiled, and the United States finally wins the decade-long space race, taking a giant step for mankind by landing astronauts on the moon.

8 - The 1970s 46 min

In the 1970s, the cell phone moved from the car console to the hand, the hybrid car was born as an answer to concerns over fossil fuels thanks to a tenacious inventor and the E.P.A., and the digital camera was rather obscurely invented.

9 - The 1980s 46 min

The 1980s launch an unprecedented technological age that will continue into the next century. DNA profiling begins changing crime scene investigations, network computing gets a giant boost with the Internet, and the MIR space station takes off.

10 - The 1990s 46 min

A new telescope named Hubble lets us see even further into the universe, a young software engineer's wife gives birth to his daughter while he develops the camera phone, and Pathfinder safely bounces to a stop on Mars thanks to a new airbag system.