Explorers, Discoverers, Inventors  

Venetian who explored AsiaMarco Polo

Norse explorer who first reached GreenlandEric the Red

Norse explorer of northeast North America, Eric the Red’s sonLeif Erickson

Flemish cartographerMercator

Portuguese navigation instructorHenry the Navigator

First to go around the Cape of Good HopeBartolomeu Dias

Discoverer of the New WorldChristopher Columbus

Italian map maker, coined the term “New World”Amerigo Vespucci

Portuguese explorer and first to reach IndiaVasco da Gama

First to see the Pacific OceanVasco Nuñez de Balboa

Aztec conquerorHernando Cortez

Incan Conqueror and explorer of PeruFrancisco Pizarro

Explorer of American southwest; searched for 7 cities of CibolaFrancisco de Coronado

First to set foot on U.S. mainland (Florida)Ponce de Leon

Italian explorer who discovered NewfoundlandJohn Cabot

John Cabot’s son who explored the Rio de la PlataSebastian Cabot

Frenchman who founded MontrealJacques Cartier

Portuguese discoverer of BrazilPedro Cabral

Portuguese discoverer of CaliforniaJuan Cabrillo

Frenchman who explored the southern Mississippi RiverSieur de la Salle

Frenchmen who explored the length of Mississippi RiverMarquette & Joliet

First to sail into New York HarborGiovanni da Verrazano

Spaniard who discovered the Mississippi RiverHernando de Soto

The Father of New France, founded QuebecSamuel de Champlain

German naturalist who explored the OrinocoFriedrich Humboldt

Explorer of the Gambia and Niger riversMungo Park

His ship was the first to sail around the worldFerdinand Magellan

First Englishman to sail around the worldSir Francis Drake

Dutchman who explored the PacificAbel Tasman

Norwegian who first navigated Northwest PassageRoald Amundsen

Englishman who discovered Australia and HawaiiJames Cook

First Englishman to reach AustraliaWilliam Dampier

Danish discoverer of Alaska and namesake straitVitus Bering

Explorer of northwest Canada Alexander Mackenzie

Discovered the Great Salt Lake Jim Bridger

Englishman who discovered world’s 5th largest islandWilliam Baffin

Englishman who discovered source of the Nile (disputed)John Speke

Speke’s colleague, who spoke 29 languages Sir Richard Burton

First to reach North Pole, 1909Robert Peary & Matthew Henson

First to reach South Pole, 1911Roald Amundsen

Competitor of Amundsen, died after reaching South PoleRobert Scott

First to fly over North PoleRichard Byrd & Floyd Bennett

First to fly over South PoleRichard Byrd

British explorer of AntarcticJames Ross

Scottish medical missionary to AfricaDavid Livingstone

Man who found LivingstoneHenry Stanley

Machu Picchu discovererHiram Bingham

Explored northern Louisiana Purchase territoryLewis and Clark

Explored southern Louisiana Purchase territoryZebulon Pike

Discoverers:

Oral polio vaccineAlbert Sabin

Polio vaccineJonas Salk

Photo-electric effectAlbert Einstein

HydrostaticsArchimedes

FermentationLouis Pasteur

DNAFrancis Crick & James Watson

NeptuneJohann Galle

UranusSir William Herschel

PlutoClyde Tombaugh

Moons of JupiterGalileo

Expanding UniverseEdwin Hubble

Theory of relativityAlbert Einstein

X-ray imagingWilhelm Roentgen

RadiumMarie and Pierre Curie

PenicillinAlexander Fleming

CellsRobert Hooke

BacteriaAnton van Leeuwenhoek

OxygenJoseph Priestly

Speech center of the brainPaul Broca

Cause of tuberculosis and choleraRobert Koch

AntibodiesLouis Pasteur

Cure of  syphilisPaul Ehrlich

Cure for smallpoxEdward Jenner

Cause of yellow feverWalter Reed

Laws of geneticsGregor Mendel

InsulinBanting and Best

Electromagnetic or radio wavesHeinrich Hertz

Electrical resistance lawsGeorge Ohm

Rabies vaccineLouis Pasteur

Nucleus of the atomErnest Rutherford

Structure of the atomNeils Bohr

Inventors:

AC generatorNicola Tesla

Adding machineBlaise Pascal

Air brakesGeorge Westinghouse

Air conditionerWillis Carrier

AirplaneWright brothers

AlternatorChrysler Corporation

Aqua-lungJacques Cousteau

Artificial heartRobert Jarvik

BarometerEvangelista Torricelli

Bifocal lensBen Franklin

Blind reading systemLouis Braille

CalculusSir Isaac Newton

Contact lensesAdolf Frick

Compression-ignition engineRudolf Diesel

Computer conceiverCharles Babbage

Cotton ginEli Whitney

CyclotronErnest O. Lawrence

Cylinder locksLinus Yale

Dirigible airshipFerdinand von Zeppelin

DynamiteAlfred Nobel

DynamoMichael Faraday

Earthquake intensity deviceCharles Richter

Electric toasterGeneral Electric labs

Electric lampThomas Edison

Electric razorJacob Schick

Electric motorMichael Faraday

ElevatorElisha Otis

Eye ChartHerman Snellen

Fountain penLewis Waterman

Food freezingClarence Birdseye

Gas burnerRobert Bunsen

GeometryEuclid

Grape juiceThomas Welch

GyroscopeLeon Foucault

HamburgerJ. H. Salisbury

Helicopter (single rotor)Igor Sikorsky

Hot air balloonMontgolfier brothers

Hybrid popcornOrville Redenbacher

Ink blot testHerman Rorschach

Instant (Polaroid) camera Edwin Land

IQ testAlfred Binet

Kodak camera (hand-held)George Eastman

Lightning rodBen Franklin

Liquid-fueled rocketRobert Goddard

LoomJoseph Marie Jacquard

Machine gunRichard Gatling

Magnifying glassRoger Bacon

Mechanical grain reaperCyrus McCormick

Microscope (compound)Zacharias Janssen

Microscope (electron)Vladimir Zworykin

MimeographA. B. Dick

Motion picture machineThomas Edison

Motion picture camera Lumiere brothers

Movable typeJohann Gutenberg

Neon lightsGeorge Claude

Outboard engineOle Evinrude

Pacemaker (cardiac)Wilson Greatbatch

PaperCai Lun

PhonographThomas Edison

Photographic filmGeorge Eastman

Railroad sleeping carGeorge Pullman

Refrigerator carGustavis Swift

RevolverSamuel Colt

Rotary engineFelix Wankel

Safety razorKing Gillette

ScissorsLeonardo da Vinci

ScrewArchimedes

Sewing machineElias Howe

Spark plugAlbert Champion

Steam engineJames Watt

Steel making processSir Henry Bessemer

Storage batteryAlessandro Volta

Submachine gunJohn Thompson

TelegraphSamuel Morse

TelephoneAlexander Graham Bell

TelescopeHans Lippershey

Telescope (astronomical)Galileo

Telescope (reflecting)Sir Isaac Newton

Television iconoscopeVladimir Zworykin

Thermometer (open column)Galileo

Thermometer (mercury)Gabriel Fahrenheit

TransistorBell Telephone labs

Vulcanized rubberCharles Goodyear

WirelessGuglielmo Marconi

ZipperWhitcomb Judson