Five great inventions that changed the world
The History Hour14 Heinä 2023

Five great inventions that changed the world

Max Pearson presents a selection of this week’s Witness History stories.

In 1999, Aibo: the world's first robot dog, hit the shops in Japan and sold out in just 20 minutes.

We hear from Toshitada Doi who spent six years on the project when he worked at Sony. Plus we hear from Dr Ella Haig about the development of artificial intelligence.

Japanese software developer Shigetaka Kurita created the first emoji in 1999.

Valerie Hunter Gordon, from England, invented disposable nappies in 1947 after the birth of her third child. We hear from Valerie’s son, Nigel Hunter Gordon.

Hungarian journalist László Bíró was sick of smudging the ink from his fountain pen and so he invented the ballpoint pen in 1938.

Finally, a Hungarian architect Ernő Rubik invented what's known as the Rubik's Cube.

Contributors:

Toshitada Doi on developing Aibo: The world's first robot dog Dr Ella Haig, Reader in Artificial Intelligence, in the School of Computing at the University of Portsmouth in the UK Japanese software developer Shigetaka Kurita, who created the first emoji Nigel Hunter Gordon, the son of Valerie Hunter Gordon, on disposable nappies Hungarian journalist László Bíró, the inventor of the ballpoint pen Hungarian architect Ernő Rubik, the inventor of the Rubik's Cube

(Photo: The original Aibo. Credit: Jun Sato/WireImage via Getty Images)

Jaksot(468)

The final days of Sri Lanka's civil war

The final days of Sri Lanka's civil war

In May 2009 the Sri Lankan army defeated the Tamil Tigers, ending a brutal 25-year civil war; also, the economists who predicted the 2008 global economic crash, plus the Nazis' stolen children, a victim of China's One Child policy, and the building of the great Karakoram Highway.Photo: Tamil civilians standing on the roadside after crossing to a government-controlled area 2kms from the front-line, 2009 (Getty Images)

18 Touko 201950min

The war on drugs

The war on drugs

US President Richard Nixon's efforts to deal with illegal drugs in 1971, the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam plus the rise of Jack Ma and his Alibaba empire in China. Also the Bauhaus movement and the global TV hit 'Strictly Come Dancing'.Photo: US President Richard Nixon (BBC)

13 Touko 201950min

The Malayan Emergency

The Malayan Emergency

Battling a communist insurgency in 1950s Malaya, the sinking of the Belgrano during the UK Argentine conflict, plus how Ellen DeGeneres came out to millions on US TV, also the African who made the Arctic his home because of his fear of snakes and the life of WW1 poet Rupert Brooke.Photo: A photograph taken by a British sergeant on patrol in the Malayan jungle.. (Copyright: Keystone/Getty Images)

4 Touko 201951min

The al Yamamah arms deals

The al Yamamah arms deals

The huge but controversial Anglo-Saudi deal, the Sri Lankan journalist who predicted his own murder, plus remembering South Africa's historic election 25 years ago, the day NATO bombed Serbian TV, and the origin of modern Veganism. Photo: Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and King Fahd in London in 1987. Credit: Tim Graham/Getty Images.

27 Huhti 201950min

The Columbine school shooting

The Columbine school shooting

The memories of the brother of one of the victims of the Columbine mass school shooting; plus the story behind 'A Raisin in the Sun' - the first play on Broadway by a black woman; the world's first space tourist, the origins of organic farming and the auto-destructive art movement of the 1960s.Photo: Students from Columbine High School run under cover from police, following a shooting spree by two masked teenagers. April 20th 1999 (Mark Leffingwell/AFP/Getty Images

18 Huhti 201950min

The rise of Hindu nationalism

The rise of Hindu nationalism

How an Indian religious rally in 1990 sparked the rise of Hindu nationalism, 100 years since the Amritsar Massacre plus the first wing-suit for base jumping, a US food scare in the 1960s and teaching Marilyn Monroe to dance.(Photo LK Advani during rath yatra 15/10/1990 Credit: Getty Image)

13 Huhti 201950min

Abolishing the army

Abolishing the army

After a brief civil war in March-April 1948, the new president of Costa Rica, Jose Figueres, took the audacious step of dissolving the Armed Forces. The Central American country is now one of just over 20 countries without a standing army - we find out more. Plus, Maya Angelou's ground-breaking memoir, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, and the remarkable story of the raising of the Swedish warship, the Vasa.Photo: Costa Rican soldiers in San Jose after the end of the civil war, April 1948 (Credit: Getty Images)

6 Huhti 201950min

Drama in the British parliament

Drama in the British parliament

Prime Minister Jim Callaghan's desperate attempts to survive a no-confidence motion in 1979, the record-breaking 20-day balloon flight around the world; plus the Nazi past of Kurt Waldheim, mindfulness and the first home pregnancy test.Picture: James Callaghan outside 10 Downing Street (Fox Photos/Getty)

30 Maalis 201949min

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