1790 First U.S. patent is issued to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process.
1794 Eli Whitney is granted a patent for the cotton gin.
1809 Mary Kies becomes the first woman awarded a U.S. patent, for a technique of weaving straw with silk and thread.
1824 Joseph Aspdin patents Portland cement.
1836 Samuel Colt is granted an United States patent for the Colt revolver.
1839 William Otis receives a patent for the steam shovel.
1844 Charles Goodyear receives a patent for vulcanization, a process to strengthen rubber.
1845 The rubber band is patented.
1873 Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis receive a U.S. patent for blue jeans with copper rivets.
1876 Alexander Graham Bell applies for a patent for the telephone, as does Elisha Gray.
1876 Alexander Graham Bell is granted a patent for an invention he calls the telephone beating Antonio Meucci by four hours.
1884 The American inventor, George Eastman, receives a U.S. Government patent on his new paper-strip photographic film.
1885 Gottlieb Daimler is granted a German patent for his engine design.
1885 Japan's first patent is issued to the inventor of a rust-proof paint.
1887 Herman Hollerith applies for US patent #395,791 for the 'Art of Applying Statistics' — his punched card calculator.
1889 Herman Hollerith is issued US patent #395,791 for the 'Art of Applying Statistics' — his punched card calculator.
1892 Thomas Edison receives a patent for a two-way telegraph.
1894 W.K. Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film.
1895 George B. Selden is granted the first U.S. patent for an automobile.
1896 Guglielmo Marconi applies for a patent for his newest invention: the radio.
1903 The Wright Brothers apply for a patent on their invention of one of the first successful airplanes.
1910 The first US patent for inventing the traffic lights system is issued to Ernest E. Sirrine.
1930 Patent number US1781541 is awarded to Albert Einstein and Leó Szilárd for their invention, the Einstein refrigerator.
1931 Thomas Edison submits his last patent application.
1937 Wallace H. Carothers receives a United States patent for nylon.
1959 Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments files the first patent for an integrated circuit.
1960 Arthur Leonard Schawlow and Charles Hard Townes receive the first patent for a laser.
1961 Robert Noyce is granted a patent for an integrated circuit.
1970 Douglas Engelbart receives the patent for the first computer mouse.
1973 A patent for the ATM is granted to Donald Wetzel, Tom Barnes and George Chastain.