List of Italian inventions

Italy has been the source of many significant inventions. The following inventions and discoveries were made by people that lived in the geographical region of Italy or were made by Italians.

An alphabetical list of Italian inventions

A

• Amici roof prism invented by Giovan Battista Amici^[1]
• Amici prism invented by Giovan Battista Amici^[1]
• Anatomical theatre
• Anemometer developed by Leon Battista Alberti in 1450.^[2]

B

• Ballet invented and performed for the first time in Florence during the Italian Renaissance
• Ballistics the discipline of ballistics was initially studied and developed by Italian mathematician Niccolo Tartaglia^[3]
• Bank, the Bank of San Giorgio opened for business in Genoa, Italy in 1149^[4][5]
• Barometer invented by Evangelista Torricelli in 1643
• Barsanti-Matteucci engine one of the first working internal combustion engines.
• Electrochemical battery constructed by Alessandro Volta in 1800.^[6][7]
• Binishell a rapidly erected building invented by Dante Bini using airforms.^[8][9]
• Bossi-Bonomi Pedaliante - purported to be the first man powered aircraft^[10]
• Botanical garden The world's first was founded in Pisa in 1543.^[11]

C

• Caprotti valve gear a vale design used in many steam locomotives
• Carbon paper Invented by Pellegrino Turri in 1806^[12]
• Cardan suspension of a gimbal is named after the Italian inventor Gerolamo Cardano (1501–1576), who described the device in detail. This device made inertial navigation possible.
• Centrifugal Pump the first machine that could be characterized as a centrifugal pump was a mud lifting machine that appeared as early as 1475 in a treatise by the Italian Renaissance engineer Francesco di Giorgio Martini.^[13]
• Cephalosporins antibiotics. Discovered by Giuseppe Brotzu in 1948.^[14]
• Codex the precursor of modern books, invented during Roman times^[15]
• Connecting rod a device invented by Roman engineers to transform circular motion into linear motion

D

• Dentures the first dentures were developed by the Etruscans in 700 BC^[16]
• Desktop computer, the Programma 101, which some consitder the first Desktop computer, was designed by a small team led by Pier Giorgio Perotto of Olivetti, between 1962 and 1964 and launched in 1965^[17][18]
• Dipleidoscope invented by Giovan Battista Amici.^[19]
• Dollying to move a camera on a dolly, esp. toward or away from the subject being filmed or televised Giovanni Pastrone first used this method in 1914
• Doppio Borgato, a musical instrument which is a variation of the piano^[20]
• Double-entry bookkeeping system, invented in the mercantile city-states of medieval Italy and first documented by Lucas de Burgo in Venice. Perfected by Amatino Mannucci in the 14th century.^[21]
• Doxorubicin a chemotherapy agent invented by Farmitalia Spa in the 1950s.^[22]
• D-Shape a new 3D printer capable of printing entire buildings invented in 2004 by Enrico Dini ^[23]

E

• Eau de Cologne (perfume) developed by Johann Maria Farina in 1709^[24]
• Electroplating a manufacturing technique invented by Luigi Brugnatelli in 1805.^[25]
• Energy catalizer a purported cold fusion device invented by Andrea Rossi and awarded an Italian patent (#0001387256)and also US patent 9,115,913.
• Epidemiology. This discipline was created by Girolamo Fracastoro in the mid 16th century.^[26]
• Espresso machine, first prototype invented by Angelo Moriondo in 1884 in Turin.^[27]
• Espresso machine (piston driven model) invented by Achille Gaggia in 1945.^[28]
• Eyeglasses invented in Italy in 1286, inventor unknown

F

• Film festival Founded as Esposizione d’Arte Cinematografica, the Venice Film Festival was established in 1932.^[29]

G

• Galleon invented in the early 16th century by the Venetians and later spread to Iberian Peninsula.^[30]
• Giro

H

• Herbarium The first collection of plants classified under scientific methods was established in Bologna in 1534 by Luca Ghini^[31]
• Hydrofoil, developed by Enrico Forlanini in 1900
• Hyper Search a type of web search engine invented in 1997 by Massimo Marchiori, it made Google possible ^[32]

^[33]

I

• Induction motor Invented by Galileo Ferraris (Nikola Tesla developed a similar invention around the same time)^{[34][35][36][37][38][39][40]}

J

• Jacuzzi Spa, invented by Candido Jacuzzi
• Jeans First jeans originated from the City of Genoa (hence the name)
• Jumping position in horsemanship, developed by Federico Caprilli

L

• LARES (satellite) a satellite developed in Italy and launched in 2012.
• Latin alphabet derived from the Greek alphabets became the foundation of many languages worldwide.
• Lazaret (quarantine station) the first was founded by the Republic of Venice in 1403, on a small island in the Venetian lagoon.
• Liposuction, medical procedure invented by Dr Giorgio Fischer in 1974.

M

• Medical School (Schola Medica Salernitana)
• Medical thermometer invented by Sanctorius in the early 1600s
• Microscopic anatomy and histology pioneered by Marcello Malpighi in the 1660s
• Mile, a unit of distance based on the distance covered in 1,000 steps by a Roman legionnaire
• Milestone The Romans came up with this invention to measure the distances of the roads.
• Moka pot
• Montessori education developed by Maria Montessori in 1907.
• Moon Boot created in 1970 by Italian company Tecnica

N

• Newspaper, the first newspaper started circulating in Venice in 1563.
• Nitroglycerin, first synthesized by Ascanio Sobrero in 1847

O

• Ocarina a musical instrument invented by Giuseppe Donati
• Opera, the earliest opera composition was Dafne written around 1597 by Jacopo Peri
• Opera House, the first public opera house was the "Teatro San Cassiano" opened in Venice in 1637 and survived until 1800.^[41]

P

• Paddle boat, first designed by Leonardo da Vinci in the 1490s^[42]
• Pantelegraph, a device for telegraphic transmission of writing and drawing invented by Giovanni Caselli. Commercial service started in 1865. It was the first functional Fax Machine to enter commercial service^[43]
• Parachute, dates back to the Renaissance Italy
• Perspective Linear perspective was first invented by Renaissance architect Filippo Brunelleschi, in Florence, who created a system that helped show how objects shrink in size according to their distance from the eye.^[44]
• Piano, a musical instrument invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori in 1709.
• Piezoelectric surgery was developed by Tomaso Vercellotti^[45]
• Pizzeria First established in 1738 as a stand for peddlers, Antica Pizzeria Port'Alba was opened in 1830 in Naples.^[46]
• Porro prism invented by Ignazio Porro
• Polypropylene was discovered by Giulio Natta and began to be manufactured in 1957.

Q

• Quick release skewer (attaching a wheel to a bicycle) invented by Tullio Campagnolo in 1927

R

• Radio, developed as a communication medium by Guglielmo Marconi in 1895
• Reggio Emilia approach, education method
• Rifampicin an antibacterial drug discovered by a team led by Prof. Piero Sensi at Lepetit Pharmaceuticals in 1957 in Milan, Italy

S

• Science academy The first scientific society was the Academia Secretorum Naturae founded in Naples in 1560 by the polymath Giambattista della Porta^[47]
• Shopping Center The earliest example of public shopping mall was the Trajan's Market in Ancient Rome built around 100-110 AD by Apollodorus of Damascus.
• Stem cells as vectors for Gene Therapy: In 1992 Doctor Claudio Bordignon working at the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy performed the first procedure of gene therapy using hematopoietic stem cells as vectors to deliver genes intended to correct hereditary diseases^[48]
• Star fort It was first seen in the mid-15th century in Italy
• Stiletto, a type of narrow dagger which appeared in the Middle Ages

T

• Tensor calculus, invented by mathematicians Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro and Tullio Levi-Civita.^[49]
• Galileo thermometer, invented by Galileo Galilei in 1593.
• Tontine a form of life insurance developed by Lorenzo De Tonti in 1653
• Trimprob used for the electromagnetic detection of cancerous tissue was developed in 1992 by Italian engineer Clarbruno Vedruccio.
• Triumphal Arch, the first recorded triumphal arches were set up in the time of the Roman Republic.^[50]
• Typewriter - early versions were developed in Italy just after 1800.

U

• University The earliest noted University was the University of Bologna founded in 1088 and is still operating to this day.

V

• Vespa On 23 April 1946, at 12 o'clock in the central office for inventions, models and makes of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce in Florence, Piaggio e C. S.p.A. took out a patent for a "motorcycle of a rational complexity of organs and elements combined with a frame with mudguards and a casing covering the whole mechanical part". This design became one of the most popular motoscooters worldwide and is still in production.
• Vibram - Vitale Bramani is credited with inventing the first rubber lug soles for shoes in 1937
• Vibram FiveFingers a type of shoe invented in 1999 by Robert Fliri.
• Violin, four stringed, the name of the inventor is unknown, but the instrument appeared in renaissance Italy.

W

• Watermark This medieval innovation was first introduced in Fabriano, Italy, in 1282.
• Welfare The earliest form of welfare was the lex frumentaria instituted by the tribune Gaius Gracchus dating back to 122 B.C., a law that ordered Rome’s government to supply its citizens with allotments of cheaply priced grain.

Z

• Zamboni pile - early electric battery^[51]
• Ziegler-Natta catalyst, catalyst to produce polymers co-invented by Giulio Natta^[52]

Other Significant Italian Innovations

• Roman Law which is the foundation for the Law of many countries.
• Runic alphabet: the runic alphabet was based on Old Italic script.

Italian Military Innovations

• The first use of airplanes in aerial warfare, airstrike, aerial reconnaissance in an actual war occurred in the 1911 Italo-Turkish War with the Italian Army Air Corps conducting reconnaissance missions by airplane and bombing a Turkish camp at Ain Zara, Libya^[53]
• Fabian strategy. A guerrilla-warfare strategy first impelemented by Quintus Fabius Maximus "Cunctator" in 217 BC^[54]
• Girandoni Air Rifle, first repeating rifle used in combat, 50 years before the Henry repeating rifle^[55][56]
• Frogmen - The first modern frogmen were the World War II Italian commando frogmen.
• The first true paratroop drop was by Italy in November 1927

Italian contributions to music

• Italo dance a style of music popular in the 1970-1980s
• Italo disco a style of music popular in the 1980s
• Italo house a style of music popular in the late 1980s

External links

• Italian Inventions
• One Thousand Years of Science In Italy
• Italian Government: 10 Italian Inventions that changed the world
• List of italian inventions from an Italian site
• 150 years of italian inventions
• 100 great Italian inventions
• the 14 Italian inventions that changed our lives
• 30 great italian inventions

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