Greatest Engineering Achievements of the 20th Century

In 2003, the National Academy of Engineering in the United States published A Century of Innovation: Twenty Engineering Achievements that Transformed our Lives. This work detailed historical information on the following list of what the authors consider to be the top twenty engineering achievements of the 20th century, or those achievements which had the greatest impact upon life during and following this period.

The list was published as follows:

1. Electrification
2. Automobile
3. Airplane
4. Water Supply and Distribution
5. Electronics
6. Radio and Television
7. Agricultural Mechanization
8. Computers
9. Telephone
10. Air Conditioning and Refrigeration
11. Highways
12. Spacecraft
13. Internet
14. Imaging
15. Household Appliances
16. Health Technologies
17. Petroleum and Petrochemical Technologies
18. Laser and Fiber Optics
19. Nuclear Technologies
20. High-performance Materials