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The secret histories of 17 world-changing inventions

Ahead of their times
The flushing toilet
The battery from Baghdad
The steam engine
Vending machines
Aircraft
Contact lenses
Computers
Solar energy cells
Electric cars
Virtual reality
Consumer camcorders
Internet browsers
Tablet computers
Social networks
Same-day delivery
Cloud computing
1 of 17
Contact lenses

Ahead of their times

Throughout history, forward-thinking companies and visionary individuals have come up with ideas that were so ahead of their time that the world just wasn't ready for them. As a result, many of the well-known inventions we take for granted today are actually much older than you think.

Read on to discover the ingenious ideas which were just a little bit too early, sometimes by several centuries. 

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lovemoney staff

21 May 2024

Features

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