What did familiar objects look like when they were first invented?

Have you ever wondered what the refrigerator or dryer we use every day looked like when their first versions were released?

1. Vacuum cleaner

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The first vacuum cleaner was introduced in 1901.

The first vacuum cleaner was patented by inventor Hubert Cecil Booth in 1901 and it was only used to blow dust. Then the next cleaner with a slimmer appearance and a new dust bag was invented in 1907 by William Henry Hoover.

2. Washing machine

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The device was officially patented in 1910.

In 1908, Alva John Fisher invented the world's first electric washing machine and introduced it by the Hurley Machine Company of Chicago, Illinois. The device was officially patented in 1910 and was called the "Thor" with rollers around to wring out wet clothes.

3. Light bulb

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Early light bulbs.

The light bulb originated in 1800, decades before Thomas Edison patented this world-changing device in 1879. The light bulb is said to have originated from the pile of electricity created by Italian inventor Alessandro Volta, who invented the electric battery.

Inventors continued to experiment with products over the next decades, and in 1879 Thomas Edison patented the first commercially successful light bulb.

4. Landline phone

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Graham Bell and his world-changing invention.

The first telephone, patented by inventor Alexander Graham Bell in 1876, was made by Alexander Graham Bell, who made the first telephone call from New York City to Chicago in 1892. His original telephone design included a transmitter to convert the vibrations from his voice into electrical current and a receiver to pick them up.

5. TV

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Early televisions had extremely small screens.

The first generation television was invented in the 1920s. The display screen size at that time was less than half the size of a credit card.

After many researches and improvements over time, the screen gradually became colored and larger in size. At this time, viewers controlled it with a manual knob and there was only one broadcast channel. Initially, viewers controlled it with a manual knob and there was only one broadcast program.

6. Car

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The wooden carriage with engine was the precursor to today's automobile.

The first electric car was designed by French engineer Gustave Trouvé in 1880 by attaching an electric motor to his tricycle. In 1881, two English engineers, William Ayrton and John Perry, built a similar electric tricycle. In the United States, it was not until 1889-1891 that William Morrison invented the first car.

7. Microwave

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The microwave oven was invented by accident during an experiment.

Invented by accident when engineer Percy Lebaron Spencer was experimenting with a magnetron generator. After Percy built a metal box around the generator and found that it could help heat food faster than an oven, he filed a patent for the oven in 1945.

Update 31 March 2025