Inventors & Engineers
Builders of the tools that changed everything.
records written
Contemporary era
Cecil Chaudhry
August 27, 1947 – April 13, 2012
Pakistani academic and activist (1947–2012)
Modern era
Munir Ahmad Khan
May 20, 1926 – April 22, 1999
Pakistani physicist
Modern era
Samar Mubarakmand
b. September 17, 1942
Pakistani physicist
Modern era
Adamjee Haji Dawood
June 30, 1880 – January 27, 1948
Renowned businessman and philanthropist of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh (1880–1948)
Modern era
Bao Zheng
December 1, 1927 – October 21, 2020
Chinese engineer
Modern era
Sakamoto Ryoma
January 3, 1836 – December 10, 1867
Japanese samurai and politician (1836–1867)
Medieval era
Jang Yeong-sil
b. c. 1400
Korean mechanical engineer, scientist and inventor
Early Modern era
Jeong Yak-yong
1762 – 1836
Korean scholar and philosopher (1762 - 1836)
Modern era
Ramon Magsaysay
August 31, 1907 – March 17, 1957
President of the Philippines from 1953 to 1957
Modern era
Alberto Santos-Dumont
July 20, 1873 – July 23, 1932
Brazilian aviation pioneer (1873-1932)
Modern era
David Unaipon
September 28, 1872 – February 7, 1967
Indigenous Australian inventor and writer (1872–1967)
Medieval era
Abbas ibn Firnas
810 CE – 887 CE
9th century astronomer and physician
Medieval era
Guido of Arezzo
992 CE – 1050
11th century Italian monk, inventor of modern musical notation
Ancient era
Hemiunu
c. 2500 BCE – c. 2501 BCE
Ancient Egyptian prince and vizier
Ancient era
Ctesibius
284 BCE – 221 BCE
Greek inventor and mathematician
Ancient era
Hero of Alexandria
10 CE – 75 CE
Ancient Greek mathematician and engineer
Ancient era
Apollodorus of Damascus
50 CE – 125 CE
2nd century Syrian Roman architect and engineer
Modern era
V. O. Chidambaram Pillai
September 5, 1872 – November 18, 1936
Indian freedom fighter, lawyer, entrepreneur and writer (1872–1936)
Modern era
Jamnalal Bajaj
November 4, 1884 – February 11, 1942
Indian activist (1884-1942)
Modern era
Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya
September 15, 1860 – April 14, 1962
Indian engineer, scholar, statesman and the Diwan of Mysore (1861-1962)
Modern era
Premchand Roychand
1831 – 1906
Indian Gujarati businessperson
Modern era
Satish Dhawan
September 25, 1920 – January 3, 2002
Former ISRO Chairman
Modern era
Verghese Kurien
November 26, 1921 – September 9, 2012
Indian entrepreneur
Modern era
Ramnath Goenka
April 3, 1904 – October 5, 1991
Indian newspaper publisher (1904–1991)
Medieval era
Khadija bint Khuwaylid
c. 557 CE – 619 CE
First wife of Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ, First believer in Islam and Prophet Muhammad’s most beloved wife
Ancient era
Vitruvius
80 BCE – 15 BCE
Roman architect and engineer
Ancient era
Cai Lun
48 CE – 121 CE
Chinese official credited with inventing paper (died 121)
Modern era
Herbert Hoover
August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964
President of the United States from 1929 to 1933 (1874–1964)
Early Modern era
Paul Revere
January 1, 1735 – May 10, 1818
American silversmith and Patriot in the American Revolution (1735–1818)
Early Modern era
John Hancock
January 23, 1737 – October 8, 1793
American Patriot and statesman during the American Revolution (1737–1793)
Modern era
Neville Chamberlain
March 18, 1869 – November 9, 1940
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1937 to 1940
Contemporary era
King Charles III
b. November 14, 1948
King of the United Kingdom since 2022 (born 1948)
Contemporary era
Kate Middleton
b. January 9, 1982
Member of the British Royal Family and princess of Wales since 2022
Modern era
Yasser Arafat
August 4, 1929 – November 11, 2004
Palestinian political leader (1929-2004) and Former President of the Palestinian National Authority (1994-2004)
Modern era
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
b. October 29, 1938
24th president of Liberia
Modern era
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
October 15, 1931 – July 27, 2015
Indian scientist, president and statesman (1931–2015)
Early Modern era
Evangelista Torricelli
October 15, 1608 – October 25, 1647
Italian physicist and mathematician (1608-1647)
Early Modern era
John Harrison
March 24, 1693 – March 24, 1776
British clockworker
Modern era
G. H. Hardy
August 14, 1882 – January 9, 1966
English entomologist (1882-1966)
Modern era
Dennis Ritchie
September 9, 1941 – October 12, 2011
American computer scientist, co-inventor of the Unix operating system and the C programming language (1941–2011)
Modern era
John McCarthy
September 4, 1927 – October 24, 2011
American computer scientist and cognitive scientist (1927-2011)
Modern era
Gustav Kirchhoff
March 12, 1824 – October 17, 1887
German physicist (1824–1887)
Modern era
Leo Szilard
February 11, 1898 – May 30, 1964
Hungarian-American Jewish physicist and inventor (1898–1964)
Modern era
John Bardeen
May 23, 1908 – January 30, 1991
American physicist and engineer (1908–1991)
Modern era
Jack Kilby
November 8, 1923 – June 20, 2005
American electrical engineer (1923–2005)
Medieval era
Al-Jazari
1164 – 1206
Mathematician and engineer from Jazira, Artuqid State (1164–1206)
Modern era
Robert Bunsen
March 30, 1811 – August 16, 1899
German chemist (1811-1899)
Modern era
Mario Molina
March 19, 1943 – October 7, 2020
Mexican chemical engineer (1943–2020)
Modern era
Stephanie Kwolek
July 31, 1923 – June 18, 2014
American chemist, inventor of Kevlar (1923–2014)
Modern era
Charles Goodyear
December 29, 1800 – July 1, 1860
American inventor (1800-1860)
Modern era
Leo Baekeland
November 14, 1863 – February 23, 1944
Belgium American inventor (1863-1944)
Modern era
Vikram Sarabhai
August 12, 1919 – December 30, 1971
Father of Indian space programme (1919–1971)
Modern era
Tu Youyou
b. December 30, 1930
Chinese medical scientist
Modern era
Qian Xuesen
December 11, 1911 – October 31, 2009
Chinese rocket scientist (1911-2009)
Modern era
Yuan Longping
August 13, 1929 – May 22, 2021
Chinese biologist (1930-2021)
Modern era
Paul Ehrlich
March 14, 1854 – August 20, 1915
Jewish-German physician and scientist (1854-1915)
Modern era
Albert Sabin
August 26, 1906 – March 3, 1993
Jewish-Polish-American physician and epidemiologist who developed oral polio vaccines (1906-1993)
Modern era
Norman Borlaug
March 25, 1914 – September 12, 2009
American biologist (1914–2009)
Contemporary era
Craig Venter
October 14, 1946 – April 29, 2026
American biotechnologist and businessman (1946–2026)
Modern era
B. F. Skinner
March 20, 1904 – August 18, 1990
American behaviorist (1904–1990)