What invention is this man famous for? Know what's going on. Leonardo da Vinci
About people. Remember how people lived in the USSR, what they wore, what they ate and what they believed.
1.What did every Soviet person dream of buying?
apartment, car, cottage
furniture, chandelier, complete works of Lenin
good relationship between mother-in-law and district police officer
refrigerator, TV, iron
2.What evening TV show have all the children of the Soviet Union fallen asleep to since 1964?
“A dream comes to visit”
“Visiting a fairy tale”
“ABVGDeeyka”
"GOOG night kids!"
3.What cost one penny?
glass of sparkling water
bag of seeds
mug of beer
ice cream 'seal'
4.What tax really existed in the USSR?
housewife tax
school tax
tax on home library owners
singles tax
5.Which abbreviation was NOT born in the USSR?
earplugs
moped
samizdat
educational program
6. Find the incorrect correspondence between the subculture and the time of its heyday in the USSR.
1980s - disco
1970s - hippies
1950s - dudes
1960s - dandy
7.During the Soviet years, were parasites really contemptuously called black marketeers?
Yes
No
8.What was the name of the main artistic method in Soviet art?
commercial realism
neorealism
socialist realism
proletkult
9.Which day of the week was declared “fish day”?
Thursday
Tuesday
Saturday
Monday
10. What could not be seen on the streets of Soviet cities until perestroika?
Mercedes car
people wearing jeans
girls in miniskirts
billboard advertising Coca-Cola
Right answers
Back to USSR
1. apartment, car, dacha
The famous triad of coveted objects - an apartment, a car, a dacha - was in the USSR the pinnacle of consumer ideals of the population of almost the entire Union. Statistics that know everything confirm this fact!
2. ‘Good night, kids!’
Not a single self-respecting child fell asleep without a cheerful and instructive conversation between Fili, Piggy, Stepasha, Karkusha and Aunt Valya, the obligatory cartoon and a lullaby. “Tired toys are sleeping, books are sleeping...” remember?
3. glass of sparkling water
Regular soda could be bought for just a penny, and for three you got a glass of soda with syrup. For a long time matches cost one penny.
4. tax on bachelors
The tax on bachelors, single and small-family citizens actually existed from 1941 until the collapse of the Union. It is interesting that it was introduced as a temporary measure to increase the birth rate, but, as often happens, what was temporary became permanent...
5.earplugs
Earplugs - “take care of your ears” - plugs invented back in the 19th century, samizdat - a way to distribute written texts, usually illegal, educational program - the elimination of illiteracy, moped - motorcycle and bicycle - a favorite pastime of Soviet youths.
6.1960s – dandy
Dandies were called fashionistas of the 19th century who were overly conscious of their appearance, clothing and image in general. Over time, the term has become hopelessly outdated, but the phenomenon remains - today they are metrosexuals.
7.No
Fartsovschiki were called speculators (resellers) who traded “firm”, that is, foreign goods that were not available for free sale.
8.socialist realism
The main purpose of art in those years was considered to be the promotion of true Soviet values. It was based on three principles - nationality, ideology and concreteness. Socialist realism took shape already in the 30s!
9. Thursday
On this day, catering establishments offered a “wide” selection of dishes, mainly from pollock and hake, although the menu varied significantly in different regions of the country.
10.billboard advertising Coca-Cola
Jeans, miniskirts, and even Mercedes appeared in the USSR much earlier (for example, Vladimir Vysotsky had a Mercedes). And there was advertising in the USSR, but, of course, not Coca-Cola. A wonderful drink appeared in Moscow for the Olympics, Gabriel Garcia Marquez wrote: “USSR: 22,400,000 sq. km - and not a single Coca-Cola advertisement!”
What cost how much
1 kop.
Matchbox
glass of sparkling water without syrup
pencil
a piece of bread in the dining room
2 kopecks
payphone call
3 kopecks
glass of sparkling water with syrup
a glass of kvass from a barrel
travel by tram
newspapers
glass of tea in a cafe
notebook
For 5 kopecks?
(bun, travel on the subway, bus, trolleybus)
How much did the tram fare cost? (3 kopecks)
What could you afford for 10 kopecks?
(milk ice cream, haircut)
For 22 kopecks? (popsicle, cake)
For 30 kopecks? (lottery ticket)
How could you spend 56 kopecks?
(to buy an American dollar - it cost so much, but you were imprisoned for buying it, i.e. you couldn’t buy it)
96 kopecks it was worth... (wine “Autumn Garden”)
1 rub. 50 kopecks paid for ... (application to the registry office)
2 rub. 82 kopecks? (vodka)
120 rub. was (engineer's salary)
For 5000 rubles. it was possible to buy... ("Zhiguli")
For 10,000 rubles? ("Volga")
Radio, television, the first artificial satellite, color photography and much more are inscribed in the history of Russian inventions. These discoveries laid the foundation for the phenomenal development of various fields in the field of science and technology. Of course, everyone knows some of these stories, because sometimes they become almost more famous than the inventions themselves, while others remain in the shadow of their high-profile neighbors.
1. Electric car
It is difficult to imagine the modern world without cars. Of course, more than one mind had a hand in the invention of this transport, and in improving the machine and bringing it to its present state, the number of participants increases significantly, geographically bringing together the whole world. But we will separately note Ippolit Vladimirovich Romanov, since he was responsible for the invention of the world's first electric car. In 1899, in St. Petersburg, an engineer introduced a four-wheeled carriage designed to carry two passengers. Among the features of this invention, it can be noted that the diameter of the front wheels was significantly greater than the diameter of the rear ones. The maximum speed was 39 km/h, but a very complex charging system made it possible to travel only 60 km at this speed. This electric car became the forefather of the trolleybus as we know it.
2. Monorail
And today monorails make a futuristic impression, so one can imagine how incredible by the standards of 1820 the “pole road” invented by Ivan Kirillovich Elmanov was. The horse-drawn trolley moved along a beam that was mounted on small supports. To Elmanov’s great regret, there was no philanthropist who was interested in the invention, which is why he had to abandon the idea. And only 70 years later the monorail was built in Gatchina, St. Petersburg province.
3. Electric motor
Boris Semenovich Jacobi, an architect by training, at the age of 33, while in Konigsberg, became interested in the physics of charged particles, and in 1834 he made a discovery - an electric motor operating on the principle of rotation of the working shaft. Jacobi instantly became famous in scientific circles, and among many invitations for further study and development, he chose St. Petersburg University. So, together with academician Emilius Christianovich Lentz, he continued work on the electric motor, creating two more options. The first was intended for a boat and rotated the paddle wheels. With the help of this engine, the ship easily stayed afloat, even moving against the current of the Neva River. And the second electric motor was the prototype of a modern tram and rolled a person in a cart along the rails. Among Jacobi's inventions, one can also note electroforming - a process that allows you to create perfect copies of the original object. This discovery was widely used to decorate interiors, houses and much more. The scientist’s achievements also include the creation of underground and underwater cables. Boris Jacobi became the author of about a dozen designs of telegraph apparatus, and in 1850 he invented the world's first direct-printing telegraph apparatus, which worked on the principle of synchronous movement. This device was recognized as one of the greatest achievements in electrical engineering of the mid-19th century.
4. Color photography
If previously everything that happened tried to get on paper, now all life is aimed at getting a photograph. Therefore, without this invention, which became part of the small but rich history of photography, we would not have seen such “reality”. Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorsky developed a special camera and presented his brainchild to the world in 1902. This camera was capable of taking three photographs of the same image, each of which was passed through three completely different light filters: red, green and blue. And the patent received by the inventor in 1905 can, without exaggeration, be considered the beginning of the era of color photography in Russia. This invention is much better than the developments of foreign chemists, which is an important fact in view of the massive interest in photography around the world.
5. Bicycle
It is generally accepted that all information about the invention of the bicycle before 1817 is doubtful. The story of Efim Mikheevich Artamonov also comes into play at this time. The Ural serf inventor made the first bicycle ride around 1800 from the Ural workers' Tagil factory village to Moscow, the distance was about two thousand versts. For his invention, Efim was granted freedom from serfdom. But this story remains a legend, while the patent of the German professor Baron Karl von Dres from 1818 is a historical fact.
6. Telegraph
Humanity has always been looking for ways to transfer information from one source to another as quickly as possible. Fire, smoke from a fire, and various combinations of sound signals helped people transmit distress signals and other emergency messages. The development of this process is undoubtedly one of the most important tasks facing the world. The first electromagnetic telegraph was created by the Russian scientist Pavel Lvovich Schilling in 1832, presenting it in his apartment. He came up with a certain combination of symbols, each of which corresponded to a letter of the alphabet. This combination appeared on the device as black or white circles.
7. Incandescent lamp
If you say “incandescent lamp,” then the name Edison immediately comes to mind. Yes, this invention is no less famous than the name of its inventor. However, a relatively small number of people know that Edison did not invent the lamp, but only improved it. While Alexander Nikolaevich Lodygin, being a member of the Russian Technical Society, in 1870 proposed using tungsten filaments in lamps, twisting them into a spiral. Of course, the history of the invention of the lamp is not the result of the work of one scientist - rather, it is a series of successive discoveries that were in the air and were needed by the world, but it was Alexander Lodygin’s contribution that became especially great.
8. Radio
The question of who is the inventor of radio is controversial. Almost every country has its own scientist who is credited with creating this device. So, in Russia this scientist is Alexander Stepanovich Popov, in whose favor many weighty arguments are given. On May 7, 1895, the reception and transmission of radio signals at a distance was demonstrated for the first time. And the author of this demonstration was Popov. He was not only the first to put a receiver into practice, but also the first to send a radiogram. Both events occurred before the patent of Marconi, who is considered the inventor of radio.
9. Television
The discovery and widespread use of television broadcasting has radically changed the way information is disseminated in society. Boris Lvovich Rosing was also involved in this powerful achievement, who in July 1907 filed an application for the invention of a “Method for electrically transmitting images over distances.” Boris Lvovich managed to successfully transmit and receive an accurate image on the screen of what was still a simple device, which was a prototype of the kinescope of a modern television, which the scientist called an “electric telescope.” Among those who helped Rosing with his experience was Vladimir Zvorykin, a student at the St. Petersburg Institute of Technology - it was he, and not Rosing, who would be called the father of television several decades later, although the operation of all reproducing television devices was based on the principle discovered by Boris Lvovich in 1911.
10. Parachute
Gleb Evgenievich Kotelnikov was an actor in the troupe of the People's House on the St. Petersburg side. At the same time, impressed by the death of the pilot, Kotelnikov began developing a parachute. Before Kotelnikov, pilots escaped with the help of long folded “umbrellas” attached to the plane. Their design was very unreliable, and they greatly increased the weight of the aircraft. Therefore, they were used extremely rarely. Gleb Evgenievich proposed his completed project for a backpack parachute in 1911. But, despite successful tests, the inventor did not receive a patent in Russia. The second attempt was more successful, and in 1912 in France his discovery received legal force. But this fact did not help the parachute to begin widespread production in Russia due to the fears of the head of the Russian air force, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, that at the slightest malfunction the aviators would abandon the airplane. And only in 1924 he finally received a domestic patent, and later transferred all rights to use his invention to the government.
11. Cinema camera
In 1893, working together with the physicist Lyubimov, Joseph Andreevich Timchenko created the so-called “snail” - a special mechanism with the help of which it was possible to intermittently change the sequence of frames in a strobe. This mechanism later formed the basis of the kinetoscope, which Timchenko developed together with engineer Freudenberg. The demonstration of the kinetoscope took place the following year at the congress of Russian doctors and naturalists. Two films were shown: “The Javelin Thrower” and “The Galloping Horseman”, which were filmed at the Odessa Hippodrome. There is even documentary evidence of this event. Thus, the minutes of the section meeting read: “Representatives of the meeting familiarized themselves with Mr. Timchenko’s invention with interest. And, in accordance with the proposals of the two professors, we decided to express gratitude to Mr. Timchenko.”
12. Automatic
Since 1913, inventor Vladimir Grigorievich Fedorov began work consisting of testing an automatic rifle (firing in bursts) chambered for a 6.5 mm caliber cartridge, which was the fruit of his development. Three years later, soldiers of the 189th Izmail Regiment are already being armed with such rifles. But serial production of machine guns was launched only after the end of the revolution. The designer's weapons were in service with the Russian army until 1928. But, according to some data, during the Winter War with Finland, troops still used some copies of the Fedorov assault rifle.
13. Laser
The history of the invention of the laser began with the name of Einstein, who created the theory of the interaction of radiation with matter. At the same time, Alexey Tolstoy, in his famous novel “The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin,” wrote about the same thing. Until 1955, attempts to create a laser were not successful. And only thanks to two Russian physicist engineers - N.G. Basov and A.M. Prokhorov, who developed a quantum generator, the laser began its history in practice. In 1964, Basov and Prokhorov received the Nobel Prize in Physics.
14. Artificial heart
The name of Vladimir Petrovich Demikhov is associated with more than one operation that was performed for the first time. Surprisingly, Demikhov was not a doctor - he was a biologist. In 1937, as a third-year student at the Faculty of Biology at Moscow State University, he created a mechanical heart and gave it to a dog instead of a real one. The dog lived with the prosthesis for about three hours. After the war, Demikhov got a job at the Institute of Surgery of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences and created a small experimental laboratory there, in which he began research on organ transplantation. Already in 1946, he was the first in the world to perform a heart transplant from one dog to another. That same year, he also performed the first heart and lung transplant on a dog at the same time. And most importantly, Demikhov’s dogs lived with transplanted hearts for several days. This was a real breakthrough in cardiovascular surgery.
15. Anesthesia
Since ancient times, humanity has dreamed of getting rid of pain. This was especially true for treatment, which was sometimes more painful than the illness itself. Herbs and strong drinks only dulled the symptoms, but did not allow them to perform serious actions accompanied by serious pain. This significantly hampered the development of medicine. Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov is a great Russian surgeon, to whom the world owes many important discoveries, and made a huge contribution to anesthesiology. In 1847, he summarized his experiments in a monograph on anesthesia, which was published throughout the world. Three years later, for the first time in the history of medicine, he began to operate on the wounded with ether anesthesia in the field. In total, the great surgeon performed about 10,000 operations under ether anesthesia. Nikolai Ivanovich is also the author of topographic anatomy, which has no analogues in the world.
16. Mozhaisky’s plane
Many minds around the world worked to solve the most complex problems of aircraft development. Numerous drawings, theories and even test designs did not give a practical result - the plane did not lift a person into the air. The talented Russian inventor Alexander Fedorovich Mozhaisky was the first in the world to create a life-size airplane. Having studied the works of his predecessors, he developed and supplemented them, using his theoretical knowledge and practical experience. His results fully resolved the issues of his time and, despite a very unfavorable situation, namely the lack of actual capabilities in material and technical terms, Mozhaisky was able to find the strength to complete the construction of the world's first aircraft. It was a creative feat that forever glorified our Motherland. But the surviving documentary materials, unfortunately, do not allow us to describe in the necessary detail the aircraft of A.F. Mozhaisky and its tests.
17. Aerodynamics
Nikolai Egorovich Zhukovsky developed the theoretical foundations of aviation and methods for calculating aircraft - and this was at a time when the builders of the first aircraft argued that “an airplane is not a machine, it cannot be calculated,” and most of all relied on experience, practice and their intuition. In 1904, Zhukovsky discovered the law that determines the lifting force of an airplane wing, determined the main profiles of the wings and blades of an airplane propeller; developed the vortex theory of the propeller.
18. Atomic and hydrogen bomb
Academician Igor Vasilievich Kurchatov occupies a special place in the science of the twentieth century and in the history of our country. He, an outstanding physicist, played an exceptional role in the development of scientific and scientific-technical problems of mastering nuclear energy in the Soviet Union. The solution to this most difficult task, the creation in a short time of the nuclear shield of the Motherland in one of the most dramatic periods in the history of our country, the development of problems of the peaceful use of nuclear energy was the main work of his life. It was under his leadership that the most terrible weapon of the post-war era was created and successfully tested in 1949. No room for error, otherwise - execution... And already in 1961, a group of nuclear physicists from Kurchatov’s laboratory created the most powerful explosive device in the entire history of mankind - the AN 602 hydrogen bomb, which immediately acquired a completely appropriate historical name - “Tsar Bomba” " When testing this bomb, the seismic wave resulting from the explosion circled the globe three times.
19. Rocket and space technology and practical astronautics
The name of Sergei Pavlovich Korolev characterizes one of the most striking pages in the history of our state - the era of space exploration. The first artificial satellite of the Earth, the first manned flight into space, the first spacewalk by an astronaut, the long-term operation of the orbital station and much more are directly related to the name of Academician Korolev - the first Chief Designer of rocket and space systems. From 1953 to 1961, Korolev’s every day was scheduled minute by minute: at the same time he worked on projects for a manned spacecraft, an artificial satellite and an intercontinental rocket. October 4, 1957 was a great day for world astronautics: after that, Sputnik flew through Soviet pop culture for another 30 years and was even registered in the Oxford Dictionary as “sputnik.” Well, about what happened on April 12, 1961, it’s enough to say “man in space,” because almost every one of our compatriots knows what we’re talking about.
20. Mi series helicopters
During the Great Patriotic War, Academician Mil worked in evacuation in the village of Bilimbay, mainly working on improving combat aircraft, improving their stability and controllability. His work was recognized with five government awards. In 1943, Mil defended his Ph.D. thesis “Criteria for aircraft controllability and maneuverability”; in 1945 - doctoral dissertation: “Dynamics of a rotor with articulated blades and its application to problems of stability and controllability of a gyroplane and helicopter.” In December 1947, M. L. Mil became the chief designer of an experimental helicopter design bureau. After a series of tests at the beginning of 1950, a decree was issued on the creation of an experimental series of 15 GM-1 helicopters under the designation Mi-1.
21. Airplanes of Andrei Tupolev
The design bureau of Andrei Tupolev developed more than 100 types of aircraft, 70 of which were mass-produced over the years. With the participation of his aircraft, 78 world records were set, 28 unique flights were completed, including the rescue of the crew of the Chelyuskin steamship with the participation of the ANT-4 aircraft. Non-stop flights of the crews of Valery Chkalov and Mikhail Gromov to the USA through the North Pole were carried out on ANT-25 model aircraft. ANT-25 aircraft were also used in the scientific expeditions “North Pole” by Ivan Papanin. A large number of bomber aircraft, torpedo bombers, reconnaissance aircraft designed by Tupolev (TV-1, TV-3, SB, TV-7, MTB-2, TU-2) and torpedo boats G-4, G-5 were used in combat operations in the Great Patriotic War. Patriotic War in 1941-1945. In peacetime, military and civilian aircraft developed under the leadership of Tupolev included the Tu-4 strategic bomber, the first Soviet jet bomber Tu-12, the Tu-95 turboprop strategic bomber, the Tu-16 long-range missile carrier-bomber, and the Tu-22 supersonic bomber; the first jet passenger aircraft Tu-104 (built on the basis of the Tu-16 bomber), the first turboprop intercontinental passenger airliner Tu-114, short- and medium-haul aircraft Tu-124, Tu-134, Tu-154. Together with Alexei Tupolev, the supersonic passenger aircraft Tu-144 was developed. Tupolev aircraft became the basis of the Aeroflot airline fleet, and were also operated in dozens of countries around the world.
22. Eye microsurgery
Millions of doctors, having received a diploma, are eager to help people and dream of future achievements. But most of them gradually lose their former passion: no aspirations, the same thing from year to year. Fedorov’s enthusiasm and interest in the profession only grew from year to year. Just six years after graduation, he defended his Ph.D. thesis, and in 1960, in Cheboksary, where he then worked, he performed a revolutionary operation to replace the lens of the eye with an artificial one. Similar operations were carried out abroad before, but in the USSR they were considered pure quackery, and Fedorov was fired from his job. After that, he became the head of the department of eye diseases at the Arkhangelsk Medical Institute. It was here that the “Fedorov empire” began in his biography: a team of like-minded people gathered around the irrepressible surgeon, ready for revolutionary changes in eye microsurgery. People from all over the country flocked to Arkhangelsk with the hope of regaining their lost sight - and they really did see. The innovative surgeon was also “officially” appreciated - he and his team moved to Moscow. And he began to do absolutely fantastic things: correct vision using keratotomy (special incisions on the cornea of the eye), transplant donor corneas, developed a new method of operating for glaucoma, and became a pioneer of laser eye microsurgery.
23. Tetris
Mid 80's. A time covered in legends. The idea of Tetris was born to Alexey Pajitnov in 1984 after meeting the puzzle of the American mathematician Solomon Golomb Pentomino Puzzle. The essence of this puzzle was quite simple and painfully familiar to any contemporary: from several figures it was necessary to assemble one large one. Alexey decided to make a computer version of pentominoes. Pajitnov not only took the idea, but also expanded it: in his game, you had to collect figures in a glass in real time, and the figures themselves consisted of five elements and could rotate around their own center of gravity during the fall. But the computers of the Computing Center were unable to do this - the electronic pentomino simply did not have enough resources. Then Alexey decides to reduce the number of blocks that made up the falling figures to four. This is how pentominoes became tetrominoes. Alexey calls the new game “Tetris”.
Unfortunately, we will never be able to find out who the greatest inventor was. A wheel, fire, a house, bread, a hammer, a knife - now these “inventions” seem infinitely primitive and obvious to us, but without them there would be nothing else.
But we know the names of many other inventors, without whom the modern world would look completely different. In one article we will not be able to remember even half of them, but we will try to dwell on at least the most interesting and amazing ones.
Archimedes
Having a minimal base, this most famous inventor was able to come up with a propeller, parabolic mirrors that burned enemy ships and the law. For this, all mechanics idolize him and schoolchildren hate him.
Leonardo da Vinci
Biologist, artist, physicist, mechanic, inventor... It seems that everything he started to do, he did brilliantly. So, along with breathtaking canvases, he gave the world drawings and ideas for a parachute, helicopter, tank, submarine, camera, military vehicles and much more. Most of his developments remained on paper for purely technical reasons, but modern calculations and experiments have shown that they are quite workable.
Yes, on paper Leonardo clearly saved...
Thomas Edison
This man set a kind of record by patenting more than a thousand inventions. True, along with the electric light bulb there was also an electric chair, but still, it largely determined the appearance of the modern world.
But, without detracting from his merits, it is worth noting that this scientist was distinguished by rare business acumen. He formed a company that employed various inventors. And he patented the results of their work in his own name.
Unlike Edison, Tesla worked alone, but he alone managed to create a legacy that has been used for more than a century. Alternating current, Tesla turbine, Tesla transformer, multiphase machine, as well as numerous ideas, inventions and developments with the help of which mobile phones, computers, and modern robots were invented.
But even more interesting is the almost mythological legacy that remains from this extraordinary person.
Alexander Fleming
Just think, if neat and pedantic people worked in his laboratory, who always washed test tubes after work, then the invention of penicillin could have been greatly delayed. But this monstrous, harmful and dangerous antibiotic, which has a bunch of side effects, saved millions of lives and marked the beginning of a new branch of medicine.
George Franklin
The man on the hundred dollar bill, one of the greatest US presidents, was a fairly successful inventor. Among his obvious successes are a lightning rod that protected thousands of houses from lightning strikes, and a flexible urinary catheter, which is still used today.
His inventions are worth more
But what is more interesting is that he did not patent his inventions on principle, believing that they should serve the world.
Alexander Bell
The man who gave the world the first telephone actually had no intention of doing something like this. His goal was deeper - to make the lives of hearing-impaired people easier. And the first telephone set was just a pleasant bonus of his research. But he also came up with other useful things, for example, a metal detector and a hydrofoil boat.
Not everyone knows that Nobel was an ideological pacifist, but in the memory of his descendants he remained the inventor of dynamite and the even more dangerous explosive jelly. For this, he received a lot of unpleasant nicknames from his contemporaries, such as “millionaire on blood.”
To justify himself, he founded the famous Nobel Prize, which has been rewarding other scientists for more than a century.
Mikhail Kalashnikov
In the list of the world's greatest inventions, his brainchild, the AK-47 takes an honorable third place. Therefore, we cannot help but mention it in our rating. Like many other most famous inventors, he both loved and was embarrassed by his invention, which brought him worldwide honor and fame, but at the same time a lot of pain and suffering for other people.
His two most famous inventions are vodka and the periodic table of elements. It is difficult to say how they relate to each other and whether one influenced the other.
I wonder what invention he is working on now?..
But not everyone knows that his activities did not end there. One of the most interesting inventions is a pinctometer, a device designed to measure the density of a substance.
We can continue in the same spirit for a very, very long time. You can also talk in more detail about each invention, because often even the simplest item has an interesting story behind it. But then the volume of this article will exceed all reasonable limits.
Three millennia of physics - in 40 minutes.
Inventions help humanity move forward, developing civilization. In the Soviet Union, like in any other great country, there were many talented inventors, unsurpassed engineers, and design geniuses who gave the world not only useful things, but also many breakthrough technologies that contributed to the progressive development of mankind.
Personal Computer
Despite the fact that the USA is considered to be the country where electronic computing technology and other “smart” machines were invented, the first personal computer was invented in the USSR - this is a historical fact. Long before American Steve Jobs founded the legendary Apple company, Soviet scientist Isaac Brook, together with his colleague Bashir Rameev, developed a unique project for a digital machine. In 1948, Brook presented his idea to a meeting of scientists, after which large-scale engineering and design work began to create the first computer miracle. And only in 1952, after four years of intense work by a team of scientists, a personal computer finally appeared in the USSR.
Nuclear power plant
Today, a huge percentage of energy production in the world comes from nuclear power plants. Few people know that nuclear power plants were also invented in the USSR. In 1951, the Soviet government gave Igor Kurchatov the task of engaging in research that would give humanity the opportunity to effectively use atomic energy. The scientist quickly completed his work, and within two years the world’s first nuclear power plant was operational in Obninsk, which was in operation for 48 years. April 29, 2002 at 11:31 a.m. Moscow time, the reactor of the Obninsk nuclear power plant was shut down forever, and for the last 13 years the nuclear power plant has been operating as a memorial industrial complex.
TV and broadcasting
The “information box”, which modern people sometimes cannot tear themselves away from, was invented by the Soviet physicist Vladimir Zvorykin. The scientist announced his work in 1931. A year later, the first twenty Soviet televisions were released in Leningrad. A little later it appeared, and “information boxes” began to be produced in the thousands. It is noteworthy that until 1967, the Soviet people were content with only black and white broadcasting, although Zvorykin proposed the idea of color television 35 years earlier. In memory of the great Soviet inventor, a monument to Vladimir Zvorykin and his invention - the first television - was erected near the capital's Ostankino television center.
Artificial heart
In 1936, the great transplant surgeon of the USSR invented the artificial heart. It was an electric plastic pump. Demikhov conducted an experiment on a dog, replacing its real heart with an electronic one, with which the animal lived for several hours. This was the first such experiment in world practice, which gave hope that after some time doctors will be able to treat people with heart diseases in this way. Over the decades, the scientist improved his technique, thanks to which surgeons managed to save thousands of lives. Today, all over the world, this, although very complex, but already ordinary operation of implanting artificial devices into the heart helps save sick people a full life for many years.
Soviet inventors can confidently be called one of the best in the world. And this is quite natural: the development and support of the scientific school in the USSR was one of the most important strategic priorities of the Soviet state. We, the residents of the former USSR, can only be proud of our scientists, whose discoveries made it possible to bring world civilization to a qualitatively new level. Of course, in one article it is impossible to talk about all Soviet scientists, inventors, and designers whose scientific discoveries changed the world. With this article we open a series of publications about the brilliant people of the Land of the Soviets, whose discoveries and inventions are used by all of humanity today.