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The printing press -

A strong argument can be made for the Gutenberg printing press being the most important invention in modern times. For the first time in history, ideas and information could be easily and affordably reproduced and distributed for the masses.

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The printing press -

The printing press was invented by German goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg between 1436 and 1440. To test out his new invention and prove its usefulness, Gutenberg printed about 180 copies of the Catholic Bible. These Gutenberg Bibles are now some of the most important and sought-after volumes in the world.

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The flush toilet -

Perhaps the most important invention on this list, that's taken advantage of the most, is the flushing toilet. An English nobleman by the name of John Harington developed the first flushing water closet of its time at the end of the 16th century.

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The flush toilet -

The Queen of England soon caught word of Harington's invention, and commissioned one for the royal palace. Unfortunately, Harington's design didn't account for the various smells and fumes associated with toilets, and his invention didn't become commonplace until it was improved upon in the following centuries.

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The diving suit -

Leonardo da Vinci is quite possibly the most famous figure from the Renaissance. The epitome of a Renaissance man, da Vinci dabbled in nearly every school of creativity and was just as accomplished as an inventor as he was an artist.

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The diving suit -

One of his many cutting-edge inventions was the first ever diving suit. Some historians think it was developed primarily as a military tool rather than a means of marine exploration. Da Vinci was characteristically secretive about its exact specifications.

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Eyeglasses -

The early history of eyeglasses is heavily disputed these days, but for many years historians agreed that the credit went to early Italian inventor Salvino D'Armati. Since then, many historians have come forward challenging the validity of this claim, but no better or stronger option has been offered.

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Eyeglasses -

During the Renaissance, great strides were made in eyeglasses technology. Various thinkers and inventors throughout the 15th century produced spectacles of their own that could help with myopia, hyperopia, and other conditions of the eye.

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The steam engine -

Numerous instruments and contraptions that could be called steam engines have appeared during different times in history, even as early as ancient Greece. Unfortunately, even though these machines technically harnessed the power of steam, none were powerful enough to be of any use.

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The steam engine -

That is, until 1698, when Englishman Thomas Savery introduced his steam engine to the world. While still not the most economical energy source in the world, it was the most powerful iteration of the machine in history, and laid the groundwork for all modern steam engines.

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The microscope -

The microscope, since its invention in 1590, has become one of the most indispensable tools in nearly every field of science and study. Once it was developed, it gave us the chance to study the world in more intimate detail than ever before.

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The microscope -

The first microscope was in fact developed and built together by a father and son, Hans and Zacharias Janssen. Given their age difference, it's usually believed that Hans, the elder, conceived of the microscope and left the physical work of bringing the idea to fruition to his son, Zacharias.

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The telescope -

Galileo is responsible for numerous inventions and discoveries that changed the world, and firmly stood by his scientific beliefs, even when it led to his persecution and arrest at the hands of the Catholic Church.

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The telescope -

One of his most famous and influential inventions was the telescope. His first model, developed in 1609, could only magnify to the power of three, and was thus not incredibly useful for stellar observation. Eventually, he was able to magnify to the power of 30, which allowed him to discover four of Jupiter's moons, the existence of the Milky Way, and the craters of the moon.

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Pendulum clock -

Timekeeping was changed forever in 1656 when Christian Huygens introduced the world to his pendulum clock. The pendulum clock remained the gold standard for accurate timekeeping around the world for nearly 300 years.

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Pendulum clock -

Before the pendulum clock came about, time was kept with verge-and-foliot mechanisms, that couldn't account for the passing seconds and had a margin of error of one minute. The pendulum clock brought that margin of error down to 10 seconds.

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The parachute -

While Leonardo da Vinci had dedicated a short amount of time to some rough sketches of a primitive parachute, it was Italian polymath Fausto Veranzio who not only conceived of but developed and experimented with his own parachute around the year 1590.

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The parachute -

Numerous parachute experiments were documented by Veranzio himself and other scholars of the era. According to one unverified story from the time, when Veranzio was 65 years old he climbed to the top of the 323-foot (98.6-m) tall St. Mark's Campanile with his parachute, jumped off, and reached the ground unscathed.

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Matches -

While matchsticks are slowly becoming obsolete in the modern age, they were once a revolutionary tool used to ignite flames quicker than ever before. The very first iteration of matches was invented by Irish chemist Robert Boyle in 1680.

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Matches -

While Boyle is credited with inventing the first matchsticks, his were in fact incredibly dangerous and were unsuitable for use by the public. It wasn't until 200 years later than Englishman John Walker would develop and produce the first widely used phosphorus matches.

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Blood transfusions -

The evolution of medical science and technique is often a clumsy and dangerous slope. The genesis of blood transfusions is no different. While "successful" isn't exactly the right descriptor, the first blood transfusions were performed by Jean-Baptiste Denys on June 15, 1667.

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Blood transfusions -

Denys was treating a feverish patient, and decided to directly fed about 12 ounces of lamb's blood into the boy in an attempt to alleviate his ailments. This first attempt appeared to be a success, so Denys immediately performed three more transfusions with increasingly large amounts of lamb's blood, and ended up killing two of his patients. Blood transfusions were banned in France and by the Church for many years afterwards.

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Banks -

While money collection and money lending are ancient concepts, institutions like the banks we know today didn't come about until the Renaissance period in Italy. The first modern bank in history can be traced back to one of the most powerful families in Europe: the Medicis.

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Banks -

While the longest-operating bank in the world, the Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, also dates back to the Italian Renaissance, it wasn't the first to ever be founded. That distinction goes to the Bank Medici, started by Giovanni de Medici. Giovanni was one of the first of the Medici dynasty, and is often credited for kick-starting the family's rise to power.

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The submarine -

While many prefer to think of the Renaissance as a period of flourishing architecture, music, and art, a lot of that creative energy went towards the war machine and military advancements. One of these, which became of unexpectedly massive importance in the 20th century, was the submarine.

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The submarine -

Invented by Dutch engineer Cornelis Drebbel in 1620, the first submarine stunned spectators when it was showcased on the River Thames in London. While the invention impressed the King and the onlookers, the Navy leaders failed to see its practical uses and never introduced the submarine to any English fleets.

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Newspapers -

One of the major subsequent developments after the invention of the revolutionary Gutenberg press was the first widely-circulated newspaper. Now that mass production of the written word was both feasible and economic, information on current events could finally be spread throughout the masses, and the collective memory of societies became much more inclusive.

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Newspapers -

During the first years of the 17th century, a German publisher by the name of Johann Carolus starting publishing the Relation aller Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien, which translates to "Account of all distinguished and commemorable stories." The newspaper was circulated for a while around Strasbourg, but no one is sure when it officially went out of print.

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Lifting tower -

An indispensable tool for builders, architects, and city planners of the Renaissance was known as a lifting tower, and was invented by the Italian architect Domenico Fontana during the late 16th century.

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Lifting tower -

The machine garnered widespread awe and admiration in 1590 when it was used to relocate the massive 327-ton (296-tonne) Vatican Obelisk from St. Peter's Basilica, where it had stood for more than a thousand years since the reign of Caligula, to the center of St. Peter's Square, a distance of 275 yards.

Sources: (Historyplex) (Atlas Obscura) (TheCollector)

See also: Bizarre inventions throughout history

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