1701Jethro Tull invents the seed drill.1709Bartolomeo Cristofori invents the piano.1711Englishmen John Shore invents the tuning fork.1712Thomas Newcomen patents the atmospheric steam engine.1717Edmond Halley invents the diving bell.1722French C. Hopffer patents the fire extinguisher.1724Gabriel Fahrenheit invents the first mercury thermometer.1733John Kay invents the flying shuttle.1745E.G. von Kleist invents the leyden jar, the first electrical capacitor.1752Benjamin Franklin invents the lightening rod.1755Samuel Johnson publishes the first English language dictionary on April 15th after nine years of writing. 1757John Campbell invents the sextant.1758Dolland invents a chromatic lens.1761Englishmen John Harrison invents the navigational clock or marine chronometer for measuring longitude.1764James Hargreaves invents the spinning jenny.1767Joseph Priestley invents carbonated water or soda water.1768Richard Arkwright patents the spinning frame.