2/20/2014 20 Clever Inventions You Probably Didn't Know Were Made By Indians

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20 Clever InventionsYou Probably Didn’tKnow Were Made ByIndians

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2/20/2014 20 Clever Inventions You Probably Didn't Know Were Made By Indians

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Indian inventions and discoveries

have been instrumental in shaping

the face of the current modern world.

We picked up 20 such interesting

findings out of a whole bunch that will

make you go, “I didn’t know that”.

1. Buttons

image sources 1, 2

Buttons were first used in Mohenjo-

daro for ornamental purpose rather

than for fastening. They were first

2/20/2014 20 Clever Inventions You Probably Didn't Know Were Made By Indians

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used in the Indus Valley Civilization

by 2000 BCE.

2. Chess

image sources 1, 2

Chess developed out of

Chaturanga, which is an ancient

strategy board game developed

during the Gupta Empire in India

around the 6th century AD. Now you

know why Vishwanathan Anand is

such a pro, rag rag me is tarah…

3. Prefabricated

home and movable

ENTERTAINMENT

This Guy Did Something At The

Delhi-Gurgaon Toll Plaza That

Left People Happily Surprised!

HISTORY

20 Clever Inventions You

Probably Didn’t Know Were Made

By Indians

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image source

structure

In 16th century Mughal India, during

the reign of Akbar, the first

prefabricated & movable structures

ENTERTAINMENT

“Motu Can Also Dance”

Smashing Appearance Of Akshat

From India’s Got Talent On The

Ellen Show.

LIFESTYLE

A Girl Is Looking For A Flat. A Boy

Is Looking For A Roommate.

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were invented.

4. Ruler

Rulers were first used by the Indus

Valley Civilization prior to 1500

BCE. Made of ivory, the rulers found

during excavation, reveal the

amazing accuracy of decimal

subdivisions on it.

5. Shampoo

Everything Goes Well…UNTIL…

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Heard Of. He Could Have Ended

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image source

The word ‘Shampoo’ is derived

from chāmpo (चापँो). It was initially

used as a head massage oil for the

Nawabs of Bengal during the

Mughal Empire around 1762. It

evolved into shampoo over the

years.

6. Snakes and

Ladders

CULTURE

“Is That Girl Prettier Than Me?” A

Romantic Date Takes A Hilarious

U-turn.

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The game, Snakes & Ladders, was

invented in India as a game of

morals. Later it spread to England

and eventually introduced in the USA

by game pioneer Milton Bradley in

1943.

7. Cotton

cultivation (We

clothed the world,

yay!)

2/20/2014 20 Clever Inventions You Probably Didn't Know Were Made By Indians

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The ancient Greeks used to wear

animal skins and were not even

aware of cotton. But Indians were

sort of cool and started cultivating

cotton during the 5th – 4th

millennium BCE in the Indus Valley

Civilization. The word spread to the

Mediterranean and beyond and

soon everyone was ordering one

from Flipkart. Well, pretty much.

8. Fibonacci

Numbers

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The Fibonacci numbers were first

described by Virahanka, Gopala

and Hemachandra as an outgrowth

of earlier writings by Pingala.

9. Decimal System,

Quadratic formula

and Zero!

It was in 7th century CE when

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Brahmagupta found the first general

formula for solving quadratic

equations. The decimal system (or

the Hindu number system), which

was a precursor of the Arabic

numeric system, was developed in

India between the 1st and 6th

centuries CE.

10. Suits Game

The popular game of cards

originated from India & was known

as Krida-patram (which literally

means “painted rags for playing”).

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11. Cataract

Surgery

image source

Indian physician Sushruta (6th

century BCE) had the knowledge of

performing cataract surgery. It

spread to China from India. Greek

scientists would visit India to get

operations done and also to learn

the nitty-gritties.

12. Diamond Mining

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Worldwide, India was the only

source of diamonds until the

discovery of mines in Brazil in the

18th century. Almost 5000 years

ago, diamonds were first recognized

and mined in central India.

13. Water on Moon

image source

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ISRO’s Chandrayaan-1 made the

startling discovery that our moon is

not a dry ball of rocks. The discovery

of lunar water is attributed to the

Chandrayaan mission.

14. Radio/Wireless

communication

image source

We all know that Marconi received a

Nobel Prize in Physics in 1909 for

contribution to the development of

wireless telegraphy. But the first

public demonstration of radio waves

for communication was made by Sir

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Jagdish Chandra Bose in 1895, two

years prior to Marconi’s similar

demonstration in England.

Sir Bose was posthumously credited

(more than a century later) for his

achievement. The fact remains that

this discovery truly shaped the face

of modern wireless communication.

15. Flush Toilets

Flush toilets were first used in the

Indus Valley Civilization. These

existed in most homes and were

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connected to a sophisticated

sewage mechanism. The civilization

was prominent in hydraulic

engineering.

16. Binary Code

image source

Binary numbers were first described

by Pingala (c. 200 BC). Pingala is

the traditional name of the author of

the Chandaḥśāstra, the earliest

known Sanskrit treatise on prosody.

17. Ink

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Many ancient cultures and

civilizations independently

discovered and prepared ink for

writing purposes. The source of

carbon pigment used in Indian Ink

(called musi) used in ancient India,

was India. Since 4th century BC, the

practice of writing with ink with a

sharp pointed needle was common

in South India.

18. Steel & Metal

works

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image source

Ancient Indians were pioneers in

metallurgy. High quality steel was

produced, almost two thousand

years before it was understood by

the West. One of the most

remarkable feat in metallurgy:

creating a seamless celestial globe,

was invented in Kashmir. It was

earlier considered impossible to

create a metal globe without seams.

So thanks to India, Iron Man can

wear his suit now.

19. Fiber Optics

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image sources 1, 2

Named as one of the 7 ‘Unsung

Heroes’ by Fortune Magazine, Dr.

Narinder Singh Kapany, is widely

recognized as the ‘Father of Fiber

Optics’ for his pioneering work in

Fiber Optics technology. Watch him

speak eloquently on his

entrepreneurial journey.

20. Plastic Surgery

image source

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Yes, you heard it right. Indians were

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Aditya Neelkanth · · University of Paderborn

The first Town Planners, First University, Astronomy, We always knewthe earth was round and not flat, Pi etc etc etc :D

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Manikanta Babu T · ZPHS Kandukur

Yes we did it. but we are behind every one. Thats sad.

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Rahul Luhar · · H K Commerce College

in 18th century India's share in world GDP was around 25% and wholeEurope was around 12%, Now India has gone to 4% and wholeAmerica and Europe dominates the world. Is this just a coincidence? Idon't think so... There have been organized efforts in 17th to 19thcentury to industrialization of India and Industrialization of Europe...

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2/20/2014 20 Clever Inventions You Probably Didn't Know Were Made By Indians

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century to industrialization of India and Industrialization of Europe...

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Habib Shaikh · Yeshwant Mahavidyalaya, Nanded

East Or West, Yo, India Iss The Best..

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Kite Flyer · Manager, Program Management at Sapient

Corporation

Not anymore .. be real

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Habib Shaikh · Yeshwant Mahavidyalaya, Nanded

Kite Flyer Depends..

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Pawan Gupta · · Works at Rajadhani Exports

feel good

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