Materials, non-Metals
Classification
Non metals include: ceramics, glass, concrete/cement, plastics, synthetic polymer fiber, latex rubber/paint, wood, petroleum, paper, fiberglass, and composites.
Inventions from the ORAL ERA Era
| Invention | Description | Year | Inventor | Country |
| Hafting | stone to glue/wood lever | 200,000 BCE | Africa | |
| Paints, pigments | red ocre, charcoal | 100,000 BCE | Africa | |
| Shell beads | jewelry | 100,000 BCE | Israel, Algeria | |
| Unbraided rope | fiber technology | 40,000 BCE | Europe | |
| Ceramic figurine | fired ceramic | 27,000 BCE | Czechoslovakia (34) | |
| Felt | unwoven wool | 20,000 BCE | Central Asia | |
| Primitive pottery | fired low temperature | 18,000 BCE | China |
Inventions from the TOKENS ERA Era
| Invention | Description | Year | Inventor | Country |
| Advanced pottery | vessels | 10,000 BCE | Japan | |
| Mud bricks | sun-dried | 9000 BCE | Israel | |
| Mortar | between bricks | 9000 BCE | Jerico, Israel | |
| Stone monument | carved stone | 9000 BCE | Gobokli, Turkey | |
| Concrete | cement when mixed with aggregate | 6500 BCE | Nabatacea (Middle East), (47 ) | |
| Carpentry | wood shaping/construction | 5000 BCE | Egypt (41) | |
| Fired bricks | kiln dried/fired | 4400 BCE | China | |
| Pottery wheel | allows round containers | 3800 BCE | Sumer Mesopotamia |
Inventions from the WRITTEN ERA Era
| Invention | Description | Year | Inventor | Country |
| Clay tablets | writing medium | 3500 BCE | Mesopotamia | |
| Plywood | layered wood | 3500 BCE | Egypt | |
| Lubricating grease | used with sledge, axles | 3500 BCE | Mesopotamia | |
| Glass | non blown glass | 3000 BCE | Lebanon, Middle East (22) | |
| Hydraulic engineering | canals, wells, dams, aqueducts, dykes | 3000 BCE | Egypt, Mesopotamia, Indus River (14) | |
| Stone ware | durable ceramic | 1400 BCE | China |
Inventions from the ALPHABET ERA Era
| Invention | Description | Year | Inventor | Country |
| Glass blowing | 100 BCE | Phoenicia, Lebanon (22) | ||
| Coarse paper | 100 BCE | China (15) | ||
| Pozzolano | hydraulic concrete | 27 AD | Bay of Naples, Rome (47) | |
| Glass mirror | 50 AD | Lebanon, Middle East | ||
| Glass window | 100 AD | Rome | ||
| Fine paper | similar to papyrus (Egypt 3000 BCE) | 100 AD | Chi Luin | China (15) |
Inventions from the NUMBERS ERA Era
| Invention | Description | Year | Inventor | Country |
| Clear glass | windows, lenses | 500 AD | Angelo Barovier | Italy |
| Toilet paper | improved hygiene | 589 AD | China | |
| Porcelain | high quality ceramic | 700 AD | China | |
| Eyeglasses | corrective optics | 1000 AD | China | |
| Magnifying glass | optics | 1250 AD | Roger Bacon | England (UK) |
Inventions from the PRINT ERA Era
| Invention | Description | Year | Inventor | Country |
| Latex, rubber, paint | vulcanized rubber, synthetic latex paint | 1500, 1844 | Charles Goodyear | Latin America/USA (92) |
| Microscope | compound | 1600 AD | Zacharias Jansen | Netherlands |
| Telescope | optical | 1608 AD | Hans Lippershey | Netherlands |
| Bifocals | 2 stacked lenses | 1784 AD | Benjamin Franklin | USA |
Inventions from the WIRED ERA Era
| Invention | Description | Year | Inventor | Country |
| Standard diving suit | 1837 | Augustus Siebe | Germany | |
| Vulcanized rubber | with sulfur | 1839 | Charles Goodyear | USA |
| Modern Portland cement | 1845 | Joseph and William Aspdin, Isaac Charles Johnson | UK | |
| Rubber band | 1845 | Stephen Perry | UK | |
| Kerosene | petroleum distillate | 1848 | Abraham Gesner | Canada |
| Chemical vapor deposition | 1852 | Robert Bunsen | Germany | |
| Rubber boots | Wellington | 1852 | Hiram Hutchinson | USA/France |
| Reinforced concrete | steel in cement/concrete | 1853 | Francois Coignet | France |
| Celluloid plastic | Parkesine first plastic | 1856 | Alexander Parkes, John Wesley Hyatt | UK/USA. (43) |
| Oil refinery | 1856 | James Miller Williams, Ignancy Lukasiewicz, James Young | Poland/UK/Canada. (79) | |
| Gasoline | petroleum distillate | 1859 | Thomas Midgley | USA |
| Linoleum | flooring | 1860 | Frederick Walton | UK |
| Indigo dye | first synthetic dye | 1865 | Adolf von Baeyer | Germany |
| Paper bag | flat bottom | 1870 | Margaret Knight | USA |
| Vaseline | petroleum jelly | 1870 | Robert Chesebrough | USA |
| Modern chewing gum | 1870 | Thomas Adams | USA | |
| Cardboard | corrugated | 1871 | Albert L. Jones | USA |
| Asphalt | petroleum pavement | 1872 | Edward de Smed | Belgium/USA |
| PVC poly vinylchloride | hard plastic | 1872 | Eugen Bauman | Germany |
| Rayon | synthetic fiber | 1884 | Louis-Marie-Hilaire Bernigaud, Count of Chardonnet | France |
| Contact lenses | lenses directly on the eye | 1887 | Adolf Fick | Germany |
| Pneumatic rubber tire | air cushion | 1887 | John Boyd Dunlop | UK |
| Thermal cracking of oil | improved refining of oil | 1891 | Vladimir Shukhov | Russia |
| Glass blowing machine | 1895 | Michael Owens | USA | |
| Polyethylene | most common plastic | 1898 | Hans von Pechmann | Germany |
| Wax crayon | colored writing/drawing | 1903 | Edwin Binney, C. Harold Smith | USA |
| Laminated glass | safety glass | 1903 | Edouard Benedictus | France |
| Glass bottle making machine | automatic | 1903 | Michael Joseph Owens | USA |
| Silicone | rubbery material | 1904 | Frederic Stanley Kippinig | UK |
| Bakelite plastic | synthetic shellac | 1907 | Leo Hendrik Baekeland | Belgium/USA |
| Formica | laminate | 1912 | Daniel O'Conor, Herbert Faber | USA |
| Pyrex | boron glass | 1915 | William C. Taylor, Eugene Sullivan | USA |
Inventions from the WIRELESS ERA Era
| Invention | Description | Year | Inventor | Country |
| Isopropyl alcohol | 1920 | Standard Oil Co. | USA | |
| Facial tissue | paper disposable | 1924 | Kimberly-Clark Co. | USA |
| Tape | scotch, masking, duct | 1925,1930,1940 | Richard Gurley Drew | USA (97) |
| Vinyl | poly vinyl chloride | 1926 | Waldo Lonsbury Semon | USA |
| Aerosol spray can | 1926 | Erik Rotholm | Norway | |
| Freon refrigerant,chlorofluorocarbons | refrigerator, air conditioner | 1928 | Thomas Midgley, Jr. | USA |
| Foam rubber | 1929 | E.A. Murphy, Dunlap Latex Development lab | UK | |
| Neoprene | 1930 | Elmer K. Bolton, Wallace Carothers, Dupont | USA | |
| Paper towels | disposable | 1931 | Arthur Scott | USA |
| Saran wrap | PVDC, poly vinylidene chloride | 1932 | Ralph Wiley | USA |
| Plexiglass | clear plastic | 1933 | Otto Rohm | Germany |
| Run flat automobile tires | 1934 | Michelin | France | |
| Nylon | polymer fiber | 1935 | Wallace Carothers, DuPont | USA/UK |
| Epoxy resin adhesive | 1936 | Pierre Castan, Sylvan Greenlee | Switzerland/USA | |
| Screw on bottle cap | resealable top | 1936 | Edward Ravenscroft | USA |
| Disposable diapers | 1936 | Paulistrom Bruk, Marion O'Brien Donovan | USA | |
| Polyurethane | 1937 | Otto Bayer | Germany | |
| Fiberglass | no rot in water | 1938 | Russell Games Slayter, John Thomas, Owen Corning | USA |
| Teflon | polytetrafluoroethylene | 1938 | Roy Plunkett | USA |
| Non-reflective glass | 1938 | Katherine Blodgett | USA | |
| Polyester | Dacron fiber | 1939 | John Whinfield, James Dickson, W.H. Caruthers, DuPont | UK/USA (74) |
| Latex paint | c;leans up with water | 1941 | Sherwin Williams | USA |
| Superglue | cyanoacrylate adhesive | 1942 | Harry Coover | USA |
| Radial tires | improved performance | 1945 | Michelin | France |
| Tupperware | high performance plastic containers | 1945 | Earl Tupper | USA |
| Acrylic paint | 1947 | Leonard Bocour, Sam Golden | USA | |
| Cat litter | improved cat hygiene | 1947 | Edward Lowe | USA |
| Fracking | gas with water | 1947 | Floyd Farris, J.B. Clark, Standard Oil Co. | USA |
| Velcro | 1948 | George de Mestral | Switzerland | |
| Aerosol spray paint | convenient paint | 1949 | Ed Seymour | USA |
| Polypropylene | polymer fiber rot resistant | 1951 | Giulio Natta | Italy |
| Gorilla glass , lithium silicate | ultra strong glass | 1952 | Corning | USA/Netherlands |
| Fiber optic glass | 100% internal light reflection | 1953 | Narinder Singh Kapany | UK (57) |
| WD - 40 | spray lubricant | 1953 | Norm Larsen | USA |
| Styrofoam, polystyrene | packing material | 1954 | Ray McIntire, Dow | USA |
| Ziplock bags | resealable clear bags | 1954 | Borge Madsen | Denmark |
| Synthetic diamonds | high pressure, high temperature | 1955, 1971 | Tracy Hall, GE | USA (92) |
| Hair spray | aerosol | 1955 | Chase products | USA |
| Bubble wrap | packing material | 1957 | Alfred Fielding, Marc Chavannes | USA/Switzerland |
| Ziptie, cable tie | plastic locking closure device | 1958 | Thomas and Betts | USA |
| Carbon fiber, high performance | often a composite | 1958 | Bacon and Wesley Schalamon | USA |
| Spandex, lycra | elastic, stretch fabric | 1959 | Joseph Shivers, DuPont | USA |
| Pantyhose | 1959 | Glenn Raven Mills | USA | |
| Plastic bag | 1959 | Sten Gustaf Thulin | Sweden | |
| Photochromic glass | light darkening glass, lenses | 1962 | William Arnistead, Donald Stookey, Corning Glass | USA |
| Astroturf | synthetic grass surface for sports | 1965 | James Faria, Robert T. Wright | USA |
| Kevlar, strong polymer fiber | bullet proof vest | 1965, 1975 | Stephanie Kwolek, DuPont | USA |
| Hydroxyapatite | bioceramic, orthopedic implants | 1969 | Larry Hench | USA |
| Goretex , stretched teflon | breathable waterproof fabric | 1969 | Wilbert L. Gore, Robert W. Gore, Rowena Taylor | USA |
| Post It notes | silicone adhesive | 1970 | Arthur Fry, 3M | USA |
| Fiberoptic glass | ultra pure | 1970 | Corning | Netherlands |
| Nike waffle shoe | sportswear | 1971 | Bill Bowerman | USA |
| PET, polyethylene terephthalate | recyclable plastic | 1973 | Nathaniel Wyeth | USA |
| Touchscreen | Gorilla Glass, lithium silicate | 1975, 1987 | George Samuel Hurst | USA |
| Conductive polymers | electric conducting plastic | 1977 | Alan MacDiarmid, Hideki Shirakawa, Alan Heeger | USA |
| Polar fleece | polyester insulating fabric | 1979 | Malden Mills, Polartec | USA |
| Liquid soap, Softsoap | in pump dispenser | 1980 | Minnetonka Co. | USA |
| Chemical vapor deposition diamonds | synthetic gem quality | 1985 | William G. Eversol | USA |
| Fullerene bucky ball | 1985 | Harold W. Kroto, Richard E. Smalley, Robert F. Curl | USA | |
| High temperature ceramic superconductor | 1986 | Karl Alex Muller, Johannes Georg Gednorz | Switzerland/Germany | |
| Crosslinked polyethylene | extremely wear resistant plastic, orthopedic implants | 1988 | Thomas Engel | Germany |
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Inventions from the INTERNET ERA Era
| Invention | Description | Year | Inventor | Country |
| Carbon nanotubes | nanotechnology | 1991 | Sumio Iijima | Japan |
| Microencapsulated pesticides in paint | protects against insects | 1996 | Pilar Mateo | Spain |
| Self cleaning windows, titanium dioxide | SunClean windows | 2001 | Pilkington Glass | UK |
| D3O energy absorbing plastic | soft body armour which hardens on impact | 2001 | Richard Palmer | UK |
| Self healing polymers | repairs some types of damage | 2001 | Scott White, Nancy Sottos | USA |
| Optical camouflage | fabric which gives partial invisibility | 2002 | Susumu Tachi, Guy Kramer | Japan/USA |
| Graphene | one molecule thick graphite sheet, super material | 2004 | Andre Geim, Konstantin Novoselov | UK |
| Self repairing glass | polyether-thiourea | 2017 | U of Tokyo | Japan |
| Ultraviolet light activated bonder | Bondic | 2020 | Thomas Offerman | Germany |