Museum of American Exceptionalism
← All wings

Invention

The airplane, the transistor, the internet, GPS. The modern world, made here.

1882–1978 · 8 exhibits
  1. 1876Opening soonMr. Watson, Come HereAlexander Graham Bell spoke the first words over a wire in Boston. Within a lifetime, the whole country was connected.1876first call
  2. The dynamo room at Pearl Street: Jumbo dynamos coupled straight to their steam engines, from an 1880s engraving
    1882Open nowEdison Lights New YorkEdison made a bulb that lasted, then built the power station, wires and meters to light a city with it.400lamps lit the first night
  3. First flight of the Wright Flyer, Kitty Hawk, December 17, 1903
    1903Open nowKitty HawkTwo bicycle makers from Dayton flew the first powered airplane. Every flight since started here.12seconds
  4. The first point-contact transistor (Bell Labs, 1947), on display
    1947Open nowThe TransistorBell Labs, December 1947. The switch inside every chip, phone and computer on earth.3inventors
  5. Rows of iron lungs breathe for polio patients in a hospital ward, about 1953.
    1955Open nowThe Polio VaccineJonas Salk’s vaccine was tested on nearly two million schoolchildren, declared safe and effective, and never patented.1.8Mchildren in the trial
  6. 1966Opening soonThe Green RevolutionNorman Borlaug, an Iowa farm boy, bred wheat that ended famine across much of Asia.1Blives
  7. BBN Interface Message Processor (IMP), the first ARPANET router
    1969Open nowARPANETUCLA tried to send “LOGIN” to SRI in Menlo Park. Two letters got through. That was the start of the internet.“LO”first message
  8. GPS Block IIR-M satellite in orbit (artist's impression)
    1978Open nowGPSBuilt by the Pentagon to guide ships, planes and bombs, then given to the whole world for free.24satellites