Invention Guides

Roughly how many inventions came into being in the 20th century?

World-wide that is. I know it is hard to segregate inventions from new innovations on a pre-existing theme, but whatever interpretation you put will give me an idea. I am assuming that the 20th century was the century of the greatest number of new inventions; ie the computer modern car, radio, TV, the very many distinct items that go into a car , mobile phone, transistor, electronics,microwave oven, fridgerator,and the lesser know ones as well, eg Rubiks cube,calculator,shopping trolley, whiteboard etc.

Public Comments

1. Thousands, maybe a hundred thousand. Invention has grown exponentially in the last 100 years. Building on the knowlege of those before.
2. Approximately 5,500,000 US patents were issued in the twentieth century, and 20,734,842 inventions were made worldwide.