12 Latin American inventions that changed history

We almost never stop to reflect on the tools, instruments and objects we use on a daily basis. Many of them are the result of years of research and carry, in their creation, creativity, wisdom and, above all, sweat. And, among the objects and instruments we use the most, many were invented by Latin Americans. These are ideas that, in their time, anticipated the future and therefore deserve our admiration.

Today the awesome.club brings some examples of these inventions to highlight the creative power of all peoples.

He is called the father of the Space Age, he was born in the city of Arequipa, in 1874, and, when he was still a child, he read From Earth to the Moonby Jules Verne, who served as a great inspiration for working with the idea of ​​going to Space.

Pedro received a scholarship to study at the Sorbonne University in Paris, and while he was still in France, he thought of a project to build a flying machine that would reach Space using an engine powered by liquid fuel instead of gunpowder. Paulet never saw the rocket being built, but the whole world fought over its design and its idea of ​​fuel, including Hitler, who wanted it to launch missiles, and Henry Ford, for the engine of his cars.

An example can be seen at the Aeronautical Museum of Peru.

Guillermo was born in Guadalajara, in 1917, and at a very young age he moved to Mexico City. He was a very smart boy and built his own toys (some with electric motors). His interest in engineering started at the age of 17, when he created a camera with different parts of an old radio.

The invention got him very excited to try to create a color television. At the age of 21, Guillermo made the first color broadcast in his country thanks to what he called a ‘chromoscopic adapter for television sets’.

Santos Dumont was born in Brazil and, shortly afterwards, moved with his family to Paris, where he would spend most of his life. In 1898, he started building spherical globes that flew around the city. A short time later, he realized that that format was not easy to lift. Therefore, he began to build cylindrical objects.

His numerous attempts made him a very famous man in Paris, most notably when he launched a travel service on his machines. After a few years, Santos Dumont started designing airplanes, flying 220 meters to 6 meters high with his famous 14 Bis, in 1906.

Luis was born in Nayarit, Mexico, in 1925. As a young man, he studied chemical engineering at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). He always stood out as a very intelligent person. At just 25 years old, he was already working at the Syntex laboratory where, together with his thesis advisor, Carl Djerassi, he proposed the creation of an oral contraceptive produced with steroids. A year later, Luis had already discovered the chemical compound for the pill, which was produced together with the doctor Gregory Pincus.

Vucetich was born in Croatia and emigrated to Argentina with his family. When he was 30 years old, he started working for the Buenos Aires police, where he created a system for identifying people (this happened in 1891).

Based on fingerprint research by scientist Francis Galton, Vucetich created a more reliable system for classifying people. A year later, he identified the first suspect of committing a crime: Francisca Rojas, the first person in history convicted through a fingerprint test.

Favaloro was born in La Plata, in 1923, and studied Medicine in the same city. Upon graduation, he began his profession as a doctor at the Policlinico Hospital and later moved to the rural village of Jacinto Arauz.

Some time later, he decided to specialize in chest surgery in the United States, where he devised the bypass technique to restore blood circulation in cases of blocked arteries. His invention helped save many lives, an incalculable contribution to mankind.

Roberto Landell de Moura was a gaucho Catholic priest, scientist and inventor who, in 1899, managed to transmit an audio message 7 km away without using wires. “The device transmits each word in a very natural way”, announced the Jornal do Comércio from Rio de Janeiro.

He studied Physics in Rome and was one of the first to achieve wireless transmission of sound and telegraph signals using electromagnetic waves, which would give rise to the telephone and radio. However, for some people this pioneering spirit is still a reason for controversy.

While studying medicine at the Universidad Central de Venezuela, physician Martín Vegas invited Jacinto Convit to accompany him to a home with people suffering from leprosy.

At that time, there was enormous prejudice against patients. Some even got arrested. Jacinto, on the other hand, always showed a very humane way of treating his patients. The experience inspired him to specialize in Dermatology, a decision that would not only change his trajectory, but the history of Medicine. That’s how he got the tools to create the vaccine against leprosy, after intense and long research.

José Biro was born in Hungary and lived in the country until he was 41, when he moved to Argentina. He became Argentine and became known for being the creator of the common pen and the first person to produce and market a pen with a round tip and dry ink, the ballpoint pen.

In the 1930s, Biro discovered that printing inks dried quickly. So he decided to create a nib with a similar ink. Alongside his brother, the chemist Georg, he perfected the ink formula. Shortly thereafter, his invention was patented and marketed worldwide. Ballpoint pens were first used on planes of Allied forces during World War II.

Along with Niepce, Daguerre, William Fox Talbot and Hippolythe Bayard, Florence is considered a pioneer of photography. In 1833, he invented a photographic method for reproducing images on paper. Hercules was the only one of the 5 to call creation ‘photography’.

He was born in France and came to Brazil at a very young age. In Brazilian lands, he went through some financial difficulties and, in 1860, he invented ‘polygraphy’, printing using powder. What the inventor didn’t know was that Niepce, Daguerre, William Fox Talbot and Hippolythe Bayard were researching the same thing across the ocean.

When Luis was 8 years old, he really wanted a Nintendo as a gift. Instead, his mother gave him a computer. Passionate about computers, the gift would change his life.

At just 13 years old, Luis created his first computer program. He studied at Duke and Carnegie Mellon universities. Learning helped him create a system that identifies who is human and who is a digital robot on websites. Shortly thereafter, Google bought his invention.

Julio C. Palmaz studied medicine at the Universidad Nacional de La Plata and moved to the United States to specialize in radiology at the University of Texas, where he created the stent🇧🇷 This tube-shaped expandable device reopens clogged arteries, preventing clogging of blood pathways to the heart.

His contribution is indisputable and even today there is research to think about new devices that can save more lives.

The devices we show are just a few examples that should make Latin Americans proud. If you know any other stories, share them in the comments!