Sweden has been a pioneer in innovation, entrepreneurship and technology. They have changed the lifestyle of everyone in the world. According to the Global Innovation Index, Sweden has remained in the top 3 from 2011 to 2021. Some famous inventions:
The Celsius scale, well known as the centigrade scale, as it measures the freezing water point (0ºC) and the boiling water point (100ºC), was invented by the astronomer Anders Celsius in 1742. The majority of countries in the world use a celsius thermometer.
The safety phosphor had been invented and patented by the Swedish chemist Gustaf Erik Pasch in 1844 but was too difficult to produce at the time. Johan Edvard Lundström, in 1845 worked with the safety matches in which red phosphorus, arranged on a rubbing surface, is separated from the principal oxidizing agent (potassium chlorate), which forms the head of the match along with other fuels less alive. Alexander Lagerman, a Swedish engineer who worked for the Lundström brothers, invented the first fully automatic matchmaking machine. The Lundström company became an important company in Scandinavia and one of the world's most significant match production companies because of the safety matches and the advanced machine combination.
In 1917, the company was sold to Ivar Kreuger and incorporated into Svenska Tändsticks AB, known as Swedish Match.
Dynamite is a plastic explosive resulting from absorbing nitroglycerin in a porous solid material, reducing the risk of accidents. Alfred Nobel invented it in 1866 and patented it in 1867. The family of this Swedish inventor was engaged in the manufacture of nitroglycerin. After an explosion killed one of his brothers, Nobel decided to put all his efforts into making explosives less dangerous.
The telephone Handset (the skeleton type) was developed by Lars Magnus Ericsson in 1892. Ericsson company has developed different innovative technology. In 1923, The 500 switch powered the telephone networks. In 1956 Ericofon/Cobra telephone was designed to be one-piece and easy to use. In 1997 the company developed the GS88, the world's first "smartphone". In 1998 Bluetooth technology was created for exchanging data over short distances. Ericsson developed network systems like 2g (1992), 3g (1999), 4G LTE (2008)
and 5g.
Adjustable wrench This tool is used to loosen or adjust nuts or bolts of different sizes because the head is adjustable. The first versions of the screw key are attributed to the English engineer Edwin Beard Budding (1795-1846) and the Swedish blacksmith Johan Petter Johansson, who patented them in 1892.
Gideon Sunbeh created the zipper in 1913 and patented it in 1917. Nowadays, you can find it in several types of clothes and bags.
In 1915, Alexander Samuelsson designed the famous coca-cola glass bottle. He was told to create a bottle people could recognize in the dark by touching it.
Tetra Pack is a Swedish invention for storing food for human consumption designed by engineer Erik Wallenberg. In 1952, Dr. Ruben Rausing founded the company, named like that after the tetrahedron-shaped paper packaging carton. Nowadays, they have a presence in more than 160 countries worldwide.
Ultrasound has roots in Sweden because Swedish doctor Amy Elder worked with the Austrian researcher Carl Hellmuth Hertz to develop the first ultrasound in 1953. It became the first non-invasive way to examine patient hearts, internal organs, and a baby inside a woman's body.
A peacemaker was a battery-run artificial developed by Rooney Alquist in 1958, made for a heart operation done by the surgeon Aki Sinning at the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm. The peacemaker sends electric pulses to the heart muscles to regulate heartbeats.
While working for Volvo, the manufacturing vehicles company, the three-point seat belt was developed by Nils Bohlin in 1959, saving thousands of lives due to traffic accidents.
Skype was co-developed in 2003 by a Swedish man named Nicholas Zentrum and a Danish inventor named Janos Freese, with the common objective of reducing long-distance calls. In 2011, Microsoft bought the company for eight point five billion U.S. dollars.
Spotify is one of the world's largest music streaming service provided. It was founded in 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon and was first released in 2008 after negotiations with record companies.
Markus "Notch" Persson created Minecraft and launched it in 2009. It is a famous videogame where people have different ways to play, from building a house, making an epic mansion, a castle, a fortress, or even going to other dimensions to prove your worth; it is a universe of possibilities.
Hövding is a helmet that inflates in 0.1 seconds and protects the head before impact. It is worn around the neck like a necklace, has sensors that detect erratic patterns in the rider's movements and deploys the airbag immediately when they infer there may be an accident. It was invented by Anna Haupt and Terese Alstin and launched in 2011 after years of investigation.
Candy crush was invented by a company name King Digital Entertainment in 2012. First, it was released for Facebook, and then versions for iOS, Android, and Windows followed. In 2016 King was acquired by Activision Blizzard for $5.9 billion.
Traditional engineering is still a significant source of Swedish inventions, but the pharmaceutical, electronics, and high-tech industries are gaining ground.
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