Timeline of Science Fiction Inventions
(sorted by Publication Date)

Most of these items are linked to information about similar real-life inventions and inventors; click on an invention to learn more about it.

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1600-1899  1900-1949  1950's  1960's  1970's  1980's  1990's  2000's

Date Device Name (Novel Author)
1638 Weightlessness (Godwin) - first discovery of concept (from The Man in the Moone by Francis Godwin)
1726 Geometric Modeling - eighteenth century NURBS (from Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift)
1726 Knowledge Engine - machine-made expertise (from Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift)
1726 Bio-Energy - produce electricity from organic material (from Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift)
1867 Spashdown - the original idea (from From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne)
1867 Water-Springs (from From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne)
1867 Light Pressure Propulsion - first use of this idea (from From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne)
1867 Retro-Rockets - Verne invented them! (from From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne)
1867 Communicate with Extraterrestrials - first use of concept (from From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne)
1867 Weightlessness - true science fiction discovery (from From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne)
1867 Projectile-Vehicle - Verne's spacecraft (from From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne)
1867 Columbiad - 900 foot cannon (from From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne)
1867 Launching Facility - in Florida (from From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne)
1867 Free Return Trajectory - first mention (from From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne)
1869 Flywheel Launcher (from The Brick Moon by Edward Everett Hale)
1875 Electrify the Rail - repel boarders! (from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne)
1875 Nautilus - Captain Nemo's ride (from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne)
1875 Diving Apparatus - scuba diving in the 19th century (from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne)
1875 Leyden Ball - grandfather of the taser (from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne)
1877 Telepomp (from The Man Without a Body by Edward Page Mitchell)
1880 Apergy (Apergion) - antigravity substance (from Across the Zodiac by Percy Greg)
1888 Credit Card - why carry cash? (from Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy)
1888 Mall (Great City Bazaar) - Wal-Mart foreseen (from Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy)
1889 Phonotelephote - earliest reference to videophone (from In the Year 2889 by Jules Verne)
1889 Recorded News - Tivo for radio in 1889 (from In the Year 2889 by Jules Verne)
1889 Live News - prediction of newscasts (from In the Year 2889 by Jules Verne)
1889 Atmospheric Advertising - write it on the clouds (from In the Year 2889 by Jules Verne)
1893 Air-Ship (VTOL Airship) (from The Angel of the Revolution by George Griffith)
1893 War-Balloon (Navigable Aerostat) (from The Angel of the Revolution by George Griffith)
1893 Air-to-Surface Missile - first use of concept (from The Angel of the Revolution by George Griffith)
1894 Electric Protection-Wires (Electrified Fence) (from A Journey In Other Worlds by John Jacob Astor IV)
1894 Marine Spider (Hydrofoil) (from A Journey In Other Worlds by John Jacob Astor IV)
1894 Aeriduct (Rain Maker) - watch for showers (from A Journey In Other Worlds by John Jacob Astor IV)
1894 Global Climate Control (from A Journey In Other Worlds by John Jacob Astor IV)
1894 Magnetic Railroads (from A Journey In Other Worlds by John Jacob Astor IV)
1894 Electric Phaetons (Electric Cars) (from A Journey In Other Worlds by John Jacob Astor IV)
1894 Wind Power Generation (from A Journey In Other Worlds by John Jacob Astor IV)
1894 Rooftop Windmill - renewable energy vision (from A Journey In Other Worlds by John Jacob Astor IV)
1894 Instantaneous Kodaks (Traffic Control) (from A Journey In Other Worlds by John Jacob Astor IV)
1894 Vehicle Energy Reclamation (from A Journey In Other Worlds by John Jacob Astor IV)
1894 Magnetic Eyes (from A Journey In Other Worlds by John Jacob Astor IV)
1895 Atomic Microscopy (from The Crack of Doom by Robert Cromie)
1895 Government Lethal Chamber (from The Repairer of Reputations by Robert W. Chambers)
1895 Atomic Bomb - very early reference (from The Crack of Doom by Robert Cromie)
1895 Time Machine - the original (from The Time Machine by H.G. Wells)
1896 Monsters Manufactured - chimeras described (from The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells)
1897 Invisibility - now you see it - (from The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells)
1898 Tripod - inhuman robotic ships from Mars! (from The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells)
1898 Aerial Telegraph (from Edison's Conquest of Mars by Garrett P. Serviss)
1898 Air-Tight Dress (from Edison's Conquest of Mars by Garrett P. Serviss)
1898 Biological Warfare - first use of the concept in fiction (from The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells)
1898 Heat Ray - concept of the laser (from The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells)
1898 Disintegrator (from Edison's Conquest of Mars by Garrett P. Serviss)
1898 Steel Tentacle (from The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells)
1899 Automatic Door - like a roll top desk (from When the Sleeper Wakes by H.G. Wells)
1899 Moving Roadway - like a baggage conveyor (from When the Sleeper Wakes by H.G. Wells)
1899 Kinetiscope Appliance - like a PDA (from When the Sleeper Wakes by H.G. Wells)
1899 Automated Surface Measurement - 100 years before cgi needed it (from When the Sleeper Wakes by H.G. Wells)
1899 Moving Picture Player - like a video iPod (from When the Sleeper Wakes by H.G. Wells)
1899 Town In One Building - like an arcology (from When the Sleeper Wakes by H.G. Wells)
1899 Babble Machine - you know (from When the Sleeper Wakes by H.G. Wells)
1899 DVD/VCR (Entertainment Player) (from When the Sleeper Wakes by H.G. Wells)
1899 Networked World (from When the Sleeper Wakes by H.G. Wells)
1899 Eadhamite (from When the Sleeper Wakes by H.G. Wells)
1899 Individualized Clothing Manufacture - clothes just for you (from When the Sleeper Wakes by H.G. Wells)

1600-1899  1900-1949  1950's  1960's  1970's  1980's  1990's  2000's

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SF in the News

XNAV Steer Your Way By X-Ray Pulsar
re: George O. Smith
(5/8/2008)

Zingo Local Anesthesia Like Star Trek Hypospray
re: Gene Roddenberry
(5/7/2008)

SEMAINE Project For Sensitive Artificial Listener (SAL) Robots
re: Arthur C. Clarke
(5/7/2008)

Rag Tag Space Fleets Line Up With Magnetism
re: Various
(5/7/2008)

Pixie Dust Magical Pinkie Regeneration
re: Various
(5/6/2008)

'McSleepy' Automated Anesthesia Machine
re: Various
(5/6/2008)

Honda Walking Assist Exoskeleton Video
re: Fritz Leiber
(5/6/2008)

Robot Chef Learns By Demonstration
re: Edgar Rice Burroughs
(5/6/2008)

BAE Spider Robot Wrist Watch Monitor
re: Roger Zelazny
(5/5/2008)

'Kill Switch' Feared By Pentagon
re: Various
(5/5/2008)

Autonomous Docking Laser-Guided Robotic Wheelchair
re: Various
(5/4/2008)

Scented Text Messages - Imagine The Possibilities
re: Frederik Pohl
(5/2/2008)

Robo-Squirrel Plus Tree Climbing Robots Equals MechaSquirrel
re: Various
(5/2/2008)

Space Boomerang Toss Now On Video
re: Various
(5/1/2008)

Self-Reconfigurable Robots Get It Together
re: Various
(5/1/2008)

Scientist Web-Spinners Could Just Ask Spiderman
re: Stan Lee
(5/1/2008)

MAST Spider Robots Like Minority Report
re: Steven Spielberg
(5/1/2008)

Ticketime Concept Timepiece Ticket
re: Isaac Asimov
(4/30/2008)

Training Videogames Bought By Defense Intelligence Agency
re: Frank Herbert
(4/30/2008)

Smart Buoys Say 'Slow Down, Whale Crossing'
re: Various
(4/29/2008)

Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor (COFEE)
re: Various
(4/29/2008)

Disappearing Ink On Self-Blanking Paper
re: Various
(4/29/2008)

Vital Jacket Heart (Monitoring) Shirt Via Rudy Rucker
re: Rudy Rucker
(4/28/2008)

Keyboard Pants
re: Murray Leinster
(4/27/2008)

New Australian Bionic Eye Less Invasive
re:
(4/27/2008)

Korean Cloned Drug-Sniffing Dogs
re: Wibberly
(4/27/2008)

Gattaca Put Off A Few Years
re: Andrew Niccol
(4/27/2008)

Sports In Space
re: Robert Heinlein
(4/25/2008)

MIT 'Quickies' RFID Transmit Paper
re: Frank Herbert
(4/25/2008)

Strawberry Picking Robot In Japan
re: Philip K. Dick
(4/25/2008)

Where's My Hand Waving Gesture Recognition Interface?
re:
(4/24/2008)

NTT's Firmo Body Network Touch Communication
re: Various
(4/24/2008)

(See More Science Fiction in the News)

 

 

 
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