Throughout the centuries, Americans from all walks of life have been changing the world for the better. They have, in essence, been the living embodiments of the American Dream. Just take one look at these incredible inventions and innovations to come out of each of our united states. They'll certainly make you proud to be from your state — and maybe even inspire you to hit the books!
1. Alabama — Saturn rockets
Alabama played a crucial role in getting Americans into space. The Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville has been at the forefront of NASA's innovations for over 60 years — and continues to do groundbreaking work.
Visitors to Alabama had been reminded of this via the towering 168-foot Saturn 1B rocket that stood near the state line in Tennessee. The rocket was a product of the Space Flight Center and a predecessor of the Apollo program.
2. Alaska — kayak
Alaskan tribes such as the Inuit, Aleut, and Yup’ik tribes are known to have used kayaks centuries ago. The primitive boats — usually made from wooden frames and animal skins — would have been used for hunting and fishing around the Arctic.
But they were agile enough to be a means of transportation or for hauling stuff around. It's striking, too, just how closely today's kayaks resemble the crafts of old.
3. Arizona — Taser
Axon claims that its Tasers have so far saved over 279,000 lives because police officers chose them over lethal weapons. And Scottsdale, Arizona, played a vital role in the development of second-generation Tasers.
One of the men responsible for engineering the less-lethal weapon was inspired by a tragic incident in the city, and the Axon headquarters are stationed there. Fun Fact? TASER was initially an acronym for Tom A. Swift’s Electric Rifle.
4. Arkansas — Klipsch speakers
After Paul Klipsch decided he wanted to recreate the sound of live music in his own home, he built a legendary device that changed loudspeakers forever. In 1946 he built the very first Klipschorn from a small tin shed on his property in Hope, Arkansas.
The cone shape of his speaker proved to be a massive improvement over the horn-shaped speakers used at the time. These speakers are still in production today — as are dozens of other speakers bearing the Klipsch name.
5. California — Egg McMuffin
We all have California's Herb Peterson to thank for the beloved Egg McMuffin. The McDonald's franchise owner created the breakfast sandwich after getting inspired by his favorite dish: eggs Benedict.
Peterson's iconic invention first rolled out at select McDonald's in 1972 for the princely sum of 63 cents — or $4.51 in today's money. The Egg McMuffin was in McDonald's nationwide three years later... and has been delighting customers ever since.
6. Colorado — tampons
In 1929 Dr. Earle Cleveland Haas dedicated his spare time to creating the modern tampon. He was motivated after realizing his wife and patients disliked the large pads they had been using.
So the Denver, Colorado, resident set about developing a tampon with an applicator to keep things user-friendly and safe. He branded the product Tampax in 1932.
7. Connecticut — anesthesia
A dentist named Horace Wells undoubtedly changed the world for the better after he uncovered anesthesia in 1844. Well, nitrous oxide had already been discovered — but in the early 1800s it was apparently only being used as "laughing gas."
Wells realized it could have medical applications when he watched a demonstration of laughing gas in Hartford, Connecticut. He later used nitrous oxide on someone having a wisdom tooth extracted at his Hartford practice — and the rest is history.
8. Delaware — touchscreen technology
If you're reading this — or any other — article on your iPhone, it's all down to the technology first created at the University of Delaware.
According to the university's website, professor John Elias and a graduate student called Wayne Westerman were the men responsible for inventing touch-imaging technology. The pair founded FingerWorks, and their work formed the basis for the tech inside the iPhone.
9. Florida — IBM Personal Computer
We take the PC for granted these days, but the early computers from IBM were anything but personal. An original IBM computer in the 1960s would have set you back $9 million — if you had the necessary quarter-acre of space and 60 assistants to keep it working.
So it was a big deal in 1981 when Don Estridge from IBM's Boca Raton, Florida, lab announced the IBM Personal Computer for $1,565. It had been developed in Florida with a team of 12 development officers.
10. Georgia — Coca-Cola
On May 8, 1886, Coca-Cola was born in Atlanta, Georgia. The invention came courtesy of Dr. John S. Pemberton, who first tested it on the fine folks at the local Jacobs' Pharmacy.
It was an instant success — obviously — and soon started selling for just 5 cents a glass. The name and logo for Coca-Cola were dreamed up by Frank M. Robinson, Pemberton's business partner.
11. Hawaii — Hawaiian steel guitar
A teenager called Joseph Kekuku invented the steel guitar while still in high school in Hawaii. He later took the instrument — which is played on your lap — on a world tour and popularized the sound throughout the United States.
“His ingenuity resulted in the total kind of sonic transformation of the music that would become known as country, blues, and rock ’n’ roll, and other genres as well,” historian John Troutman told the Smithsonian Magazine.
12. Idaho — television
Many men were responsible for creating the TV sets that now take pride of place in our homes. But one of the earliest pioneers of the all-electric television system was Philo Farnsworth.
In the 1920s Farnsworth was a teenager living in Rigby, Idaho, when he showed his high school science teacher his ideas for what would later become television. He had moved to San Francisco by the time his ideas came to fruition — but it all began in Idaho.
13. Illinois — the cell phone
Motorola and Martin Cooper are the fathers of the cell phone — and the invention happened in Schaumburg, Illinois. The first device — the DynaTAC 8000x — was born in 1973 and weighed a hefty 2.5 pounds.
It could only give you enough power for a 20-minute chat and took ten hours to recharge, but it was still a revelation. Cooper was the leader of the communication systems division at Motorola — and was reportedly inspired by the communicators in Star Trek.
14. Indiana — gas pumps
Has there ever been a better name than Sylvanus Freelove Bowser? We'd be hard-pushed to find one! But beyond his excellent name, Bowser is actually the inventor of the kerosene pump — which later become the gas pump.
Bowser sold his first kerosene pump to a grocery store in Indiana in 1885 and patented the design in 1887. And just eight years later, Bowser's “Self-Measuring Gasoline Storage Pump” let drivers pour gas straight into their tanks.
15. Iowa — tractors
John Froelich revolutionized farming in 1892 when he constructed a tractor powered by gasoline. The Clayton County native did this by sticking an internal combustion engine on a regular tractor. His new machine then proved a success by making short work of bushels of wheat in South Dakota.
Froelich would go on to co-found the Waterloo Gasoline Traction Engine Company — which later evolved into the John Deere Tractor Works.
16. Kansas — helicopter
In 1909 two men from Goodland, Kansas, invented a rotary-winged aircraft. William Purvis and Charles Wilson were railroad mechanics who believed so much in their 20-foot-tall machine that they quit their day jobs to focus on the helicopter full-time.
And while they didn't quite manage to perfect their aircraft, the pair did get a patent from the federal government in 1912.
17. Kentucky — Louisville Slugger
The Louisville Slugger first rose to prominence in the 1880s — after being invented by a 17-year-old kid. According to legend, John A. "Bud" Hillerich crafted the lumber for Eclipse star Pete Browning while Browning was in a slump.
Browning debuted the bat to serious results, and soon every significant player in history wanted one for himself. Major League Baseball superstars such as Babe Ruth and Derek Jeter have all felt the benefit of the Louisville Slugger.
18. Louisiana — binocular microscope
Louisiana can't lay claim to the invention of the microscope — but it can be proud of one of its resident's contributions to medicine. In the 1850s, John Leonard Riddell was working as a professor of chemistry at what is now Tulane University.
While there, he invented the binocular microscope, allowing for closer examination of anything too small to see usually. The invention has naturally had an untold impact on medicine throughout the years.
19. Maine — diving suit
The next time you enjoy a trip beneath the waves, give a little thanks to Leonard Norcross. The Maine native patented the first rubber diving suit in 1834.
The suit had a water-tight helmet, leaden shoes, and an air pump — not unlike the scuba diving suits available today. Norcross was a prolific inventor, too, and also patented designs for a nail-making machine and a spinner.
20. Maryland — latex gloves
Johns Hopkins Hospital has a long and storied history — but the invention we're going to focus on here is latex surgical gloves. The man credited with creating and implementing the use of rubber gloves during surgery is the first chief of surgery at Johns Hopkins, William Stewart Halsted, in 1894.
It's interesting to note that in 2008 Johns Hopkins also claimed to be the first significant medical institution to stop using the gloves and become "latex safe."
21. Massachusetts — chocolate chip cookies
Ruth Graves Wakefield and Sue Brides created the chocolate chip cookie at the Toll House Inn in 1938. But while some people believe the delicious recipe was developed by accident, it was actually the result of insight and hard work.
Nobody had thought up the chocolate chip cookie before because chocolate had only ever been used in its melted form in desserts.
22. Michigan
Henry Ford hoped to "build a motor car for the great multitude" with his famous Model T car. And with the debut of his assembly line in 1913, he was able to do exactly that.
This industrial revolution meant that the chassis of the Model T could be made in just six hours — half the time it had taken before. Ford would go on to improve the process and in the end, a Model T chassis could be put together in just 24 seconds.
23. Minnesota — pacemaker
There are any number of inventions that could be claimed as Minnesota's greatest contribution to the world. Kids would no doubt point out that the Nerf ball and the board game Twister were invented by Minnesotans.
And parents could claim that diaper adhesives and Post-It notes — which also came from Minnesota — are the best. But we're going to go out on a limb to say that the greatest invention to come out of Minnesota is the pacemaker.
24. Mississippi — Nystatin
You may know nystatin better by the brand name Mycostatin. It is, after all, one of the most widely used treatments for fungal infections. And it was a Missippi native named Elizabeth Lee Hazen who co-discovered the powerful medication.
She and Rachel Fuller Brown made their life-changing discovery while working at the Division of Laboratories and Research of the New York State Department of Health.
25. Missouri — Mickey Mouse
We don't often associate Walt Disney with Kansas City — but this is where the world-famous animator actually conceived of Mickey Mouse! It happened in the 1920s while Disney was working at the Kansas City-based Laugh-O-Gram Studios.
The co-creator of Steamboat Willie — Mickey's first short film — was Ub Iwerks, who was born in Kansas City.
26. Montana — heart monitor
If you've ever had a diagnostic run on your heart, you may have heard of a Holter Monitor. It's a little device that can record your heart activity over a period of a day.
This data can then be examined to figure out what may or may not have been going on with your vital organ. The men who invented this life-changing monitor are Norman "Jeff" Holter and Bruce Del Mar. Holter was born in Helena, Montana.
27. Nebraska — ski lift
There are likely three states that could stake a claim for the invention of the ski lift. The railroad company Union Pacific ordered the creation of a ski lift in the 1930s — when its headquarters was in Omaha.
It was to be first installed and operated at the company's unprecedented ski resort, the Sun Valley Resort, in Ketchum, Idaho. But the man ultimately responsible for drawing up the first plans for a ski lift is James Curran — who is a native of Nebraska.
28. Nevada — blue jeans
Levi Strauss is probably most often considered the father of blue jeans — but he actually had more than a little help. The original 1873 patent for "Improvement in Fastening Pocket-Openings" — the key to the invention of blue jeans — was granted to Strauss and a Reno, Nevada, tailor called Jacob Davis.
And it was Davis who had first approached Strauss about collaborating on a new kind of work pants. The first jeans were known as "waist overalls" — and it wasn't long before they were selling up a storm.
29. New Hampshire — Concord Coaches
It seems that Concord, New Hampshire, had become an important junction for transportation in the early 19th century. And when Lewis Downing arrived in the town in the 1820s, he seemingly sensed an opportunity. He enlisted the services of J. Stephens Abbot, and together the pair conceived of the Concord Coach.
It combined the things that were good about other stagecoaches with improvements in design and suspension to become a popular form of transportation for the next 75 years.
30. New Jersey — the incandescent light bulb
Thomas Edison lived in New Jersey from 1886 until 1931— so New Jersey really has the pick of the litter when it comes to great inventions.
After all, the great inventor was known as "The Wizard of Menlo Park" and managed to patent an incredible 1,093 different inventions in his time. The incandescent light bulb is probably the one that Edison will always be remembered for — and for good reason.
31. New Mexico — the cleanroom
A clean room is what your mom wanted you to have when you were growing up. But the cleanroom is an essential invention for scientists and workers who need to operate in contamination-free zones.
The first cleanroom is credited to Willis Whitfield and was patented in 1962 by his employer, Sandia National Laboratories. Whitfield's invention would later prove vital to the semiconductor industry and inspire dozens of other cleanroom-like products.
32. New York — credit card
As the home of Wall Street, it makes sense that New York can boast an important financial invention among its best contributions to the world. A forerunner of the credit card was created by John C. Biggins in 1946.
Biggins worked at Flatbush Savings Bank in Brooklyn, and his "Charg-It" system was almost exactly the same as modern credit cards. The main difference was that the system only worked within a two-square-block radius of the bank.
33. North Carolina — VapoRub
Back in the early 20th century, medicine simply wasn't as advanced as it is today. That's why chemist Lunsford Richardson from Greensboro, North Carolina, was experimenting with home remedies when he happened upon the formula for what would become Vicks VapoRub.
He first tried the ointment on his own kids before selling it to his customers. Its success led him to form Vick Chemical Co. in 1905.
34. North Dakota — Cream of Wheat
The Grand Forks Diamond Milling Company was in financial straits at the end of the 19th century — but one invention saved its bacon. Head flour miller Tom Amidon had been enjoying breakfast porridge made from the discarded parts of wheat at home, and he suggested the company start selling it.
And after the Diamond Milling owners got on board, Cream of Wheat proved to be an instant success. It turned the company's prospects around and created a long-lasting and much-beloved brand.
35. Ohio — airplane
The very first plane flew in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina — but it was invented in Dayton, Ohio. Orville Wright was born in Dayton, and he and his brother, Wilbur, spent their careers in the state. In fact, the pair worked on their plane between 1901 and 1903 out of the bike shop they owned in Dayton. They would then shuttle between Dayton and Kitty Hawk to test the device.
Orville finally managed to fly the thing for the first time on December 17, 1903. He got the honor of being behind the wheel because he won a coin toss!
36. Oklahoma — shopping cart
Where would we be without the humble shopping cart? Slumped over from trying to carry all of our groceries, that's where! But prior to 1937, grocery store customers could only buy what would fit into their hand-held baskets. This wasn't good enough for Oklahoma store owner Sylvan Goldman, though.
So that his customers would buy more products, he invented the shopping cart — essentially just a big basket on wheels to begin with. He patented the invention in 1940, and in 1946 Orla Watson came up with the "Telescoping Shopping Cart" for better storage.
37. Oregon — computer mouse
In 1968 Oregon State University graduate Douglas Engelbart gave "the mother of all demonstrations." His demo to a San Francisco crowd included the very first unveiling of such significant computing innovations as hyperlinks, windows, graphics — and the computer mouse.
Engelbart had designed the primitive mouse — made out of wood — with fellow engineer Bill English. “I don’t know why we call it a mouse,” Engelbart said. “Sometimes I apologize. It started that way and we never did change it.”
38. Pennsylvania — bifocal glasses
Benjamin Franklin was one of the most renowned men to ever live and work in Pennsylvania. He served as — among other things — the postmaster of Philadelphia in 1937 and the president of the supreme executive council of Pennsylvania in 1785. And it was in 1785 that the prolific inventor first boasted of his creation of bifocal glasses.
In a letter to merchant George Whatlet, Franklin said he was "happy in the invention of double spectacles, which serving for distant objects as well as near ones, make my eyes as useful to me as ever they were."
39. Rhode Island — diners
Diners are an American staple — and they all started, kind of, in Providence, Rhode Island. A Cumberland native called Walter Scott decided in 1872 to make his living selling food and coffee out of the back of a horse-drawn wagon.
He would get a leg up on the competition by selling his goods at night with the freedom to move his wagon from place to place. It may not sound like much, but this innovation is the forebearer of the lunch cart and the diner.
40. South Carolina — antibody labeling agent
Bear with us on this one: it's going to get a bit sciencey. Joseph H. Burckhalter holds a U.S. patent for "Isothiocyanate Compounds for Antigen Identification." Burckhalter and Robert Seiwald synthesized fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) to quickly and correctly diagnose infectious diseases. This invention helped, among other things, to figure out what causes AIDS.
The credit for this creation goes to South Carolina because Burckhalter was born in the state and got his B.S. from the University of South Carolina.
41. South Dakota — cyclotron
Ernest Lawrence had quite the year in 1931. That was when he invented the cyclotron — a particle accelerator that is used to make radioisotopes that help combat cancer. The invention earned him a Nobel Prize in physics in 1939.
And also in 1931, South Dakotan Lawrence founded UC Radiation Laboratory, or the Berkeley Lab as it is known today. Current Berkeley Lab Director, Michael Witherell, said that Lawrence "changed the way scientists do research."
42. Tennessee — supermarket
In the early 20th century, grocery store shoppers had to ask a clerk to sort out their orders for them. But in 1916, Clarence Saunders changed that when he opened up the first Piggly Wiggly store in Memphis, Tennessee.
It was the first self-service grocery store — meaning customers got the products themselves and then paid a clerk at the end. And really, can you imagine doing it any other way now?
43. Texas — integrated circuit
Jack Kilby won the Nobel Prize in physics in 2000 — for his part in an invention made in 1958. This was the integrated circuit, and Kilby created it while working at Texas Instruments. The impact of the integrated circuit — or microchip, as you might call it — is still being felt today.
There's probably some version of one in your smart water meter at home as well as almost any electronic device you can think of.
44. Utah — hearing aid
There's a good reason why Provo-native Harvey Fletcher is known as the "father of stereophonic sound." This inventor had a hand in creating the artificial larynx as well as the evolution of sound in motion pictures.
But he is perhaps most famous for the invention of the hearing aid. He created the first one for the renowned industrialist Alfred duPont — and even later fitted Thomas Edison with one.
45. Vermont — Fairbanks Scales
Thaddeus and Erastus Fairbanks founded the E & T Fairbanks Company in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, in 1824 — just as the U.S. was entering the Industrial Age. It was a perfect time for Thaddeus to come up with a more accurate and reliable weighing machine.
He finalized his design for the Fairbanks Scales in 1830, and people were already lining up to order them. His invention played a vital part in pushing America through the Industrial Revolution and became world-renowned in just a few short years.
46. Virginia — mechanical reaper
Agricultural work has never been easy, but we can only imagine the back-breaking labor that would have been involved in the early 1800s. In 1831, though, Rockbridge County, Virginia, resident Cyrus McCormick created the mechanical reaper. The harvester brought together all of the things that other machines had been doing individually at the time.
It also halved the time it took to harvest crops and served as a forebearer to other farming innovations. McCormick patented the reaper in 1834 and went on to great success in business.
47. Washington — Backpack
Lloyd F. Nelson was hiking in Alaska in 1920 when he decided to come up with a better way to carry his possessions. The backpack he had been using was made from sticks and sealskin and proved painful. Contemporary hunters used cloth or leather versions that were also unfit for Nelson's needs.
The entrepreneur from Bremerton, Washington, finalized his design for a canvas backpack with straps in 1922 and got a patent in 1924. This proved to be the beginning outdoor-gear industry.
48. West Virginia — steamboat
Most people consider Robert Fulton the inventor of the steamboat — but that's not necessarily the case. James Rumsey first demonstrated that a steam engine could move a boat with hydraulic jet propulsion in 1787 on the Potomac River.
He even had the semi-endorsement of George Washington, who wrote that the design was "impractical, but that it might be turned to the greatest possible utility in inland navigation." Unfortunately, Rumsey died before he could get a patent.
49. Wisconsin — QWERTY keyboards
The typewriting machine Christopher Latham Sholes and his co-inventors created in 1874 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was the first practical one of its kind. Sholes and his team spent seven years on the design before it began to be sold to the public.
They continued to work on the machine, too, and at least one of their innovations is still in use today. Yup, these guys created the QWERTY keyboard layout — apparently to keep commonly used keys away from one another.
50. Wyoming — shovel handles
George Choate was granted a patent for a new kind of shovel handle in April 1870. His application claimed that the "improved shovel handle" could "be used as a tamping-iron or rammer in leveling and raising railroad-ties, in setting fence-posts and telegraph-poles, and for other purposes where a shovel and rammer are both required."
And he was right! His shovel handle is still the go-to design these days. Oh, and Choate's patent was apparently the first one given to a Wyoming resident.