Inventors
ÁNYOS ISTVÁN JEDLIK
(Szimõ, January 11, 1800 - Gyõr, December 13, 1895)
He invented the dynamo first - not Siemens!
A Benedictine friar, scientist and inventor, Ányos István Jedlik greatly contributed to the vivid scientific life of Hungary in the 18th century. The dynamo is the best known of his inventions, since technology profited the most from this one. But even if we ignore the soda water making machine (which he also invented), the electromotor (developed in 1828) and the first electric motor wagon, which was subsequently built using his invention in 1855, should be equally celebrated as world-famous Hungarian inventions.
JÁNOS IRINYI
(Nagyléta, May 17, 1817 - Vértes, December 17, 1895)
The inventor of the silent match
Having studied law at the famous Debrecen University, his interest turned towards chemistry, which he studied at the Vienna Polytechnikum. An unsuccessful experiment of his professor gave him the idea that if the usual compound is replaced by phosphorus, a 'silent', non-explosive match can be created. He first sold his invention, and later founded a match factory himself. He participated in the Hungarian revolution against the Hapsburgs (among other things, he helped in wording the famous 12 points demanding independence and liberty for Hungary), he was imprisoned and having served his sentence he retired from political life and lived on his farm. Everyday users of the indispensable matches probably do not imagine that it is a Hungarian invention.
OSZKÁR ASBÓTH
(Pankota, March 31, 1891 - Budapest, February 27, 1960)
Inventor of the helicopter
His sole interest was flying objects: he was designing and constructing aeroplanes at a very young age, and he was already studying propellers in a research institute in Fichamend, Austria during World War I. The helicopter equipped with a propeller designed by him lifted from the ground perpendicularly in 1928. His genius was acknowledged by the international scientific world, even in his lifetime.
ALBERT SZENTGYÖRGYI
(Budapest, September 16, 1893 - Woods Hole, October 1986)
The discoverer of Vitamin C
The world has been 'healthier' since he produced this highly important universal vitamin from paprika (Hungarian red pepper) in 1930! After 1947, he lived in the United States, where he lectured and headed several internationally renowned research institutes. He mainly conducted research on cancer but he also made important discoveries in the areas of cell respiration, bioelectronics and biogenetics. One of the greatest Hungarian minds, he maintained close contacts with his homeland until his death.
LÁSZLÓ JÓZSEF BÍRÓ
(Budapest, September 29, 1899 - Buenos Aires, November 24, 1985)
The inventor of the ball-point pen
The ball-point pen is named 'biro' in English after him. Being a journalist and seeing ink in the printing press, he discovered that ink could be applied to paper with the help of a pipe and a ball. He started experimenting in Budapest and continued in Paris then in Argentina, that is where this seemingly simple writing device began its bright career.
JÁNOS NEUMANN
(Budapest, December 28, 1903 - Washington, February 8, 1957)
The inventor of the computer
Although he could not even have been dreaming about today's computers - since he was dealing with set theory and mathematical game theory, not to mention his research in nuclear energy - he was still the first in 1945 to study the storage of operations beyond the scope of data and information recording. He lived in Princeton in the United States after the early 1930s.
EDE TELLER
(Budapest, 1908 - Stanford, 2003)
The inventor of the hydrogen bomb
In the summer of 2003 George W. Bush decorated him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest American medal. The physicist is mainly renowned for his work in the areas of thermonuclear energy, quantum mechanics, molecular physics and astrophysics. During his adventurous life - he left Hungary in 1926, he obtained his doctorate degree in 1930, he worked at the University of Göttingen, in the stronghold of physics, then in the United States he participated in the top secret Manhattan project, having a significant role in developing the nuclear bomb - in the 1950s having taken political curves and gaining the support of several presidents, he eventually developed the hydrogen bomb, in the hope of a better future.
