50 Things That Made the Modern Economy

In the 1630s, the Netherlands experienced 'tulip mania' - a surge in demand for tulips from wealthy buyers, with some in... Read more

The boom in global trade was caused by a simple steel box. Shipping goods around the world was – for many centuries – ex... Read more

It's improved health, school attendance, agricultural productivity and farm worker wages, but concrete has a poor reputa... Read more

How vast mega-stores emerged with the help of a design originally drawn in the sand in 1948 by Joseph Woodland as he sat... Read more

Warrior monks, crusaders and the mysterious origins of modern banking. You might think banks are so central to every eco... Read more

Developed for the military, dodging bureaucracy and fuelled by venture capital: canned food blazed a trail many of today... Read more

Solar power has been harnessed by civilisations since the days of the ancient Greeks, but it's now on the verge of being... Read more

Warren Buffett is the world’s most successful investor. In a letter he wrote to his wife, advising her how to invest aft... Read more

Billions are being poured into startups working on blockchain, the technology behind Bitcoin. Supporters say it could be... Read more

As populations age, pension systems around the world are coming under strain. Governments, employers and economists are ... Read more

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication - SWIFT - solved some big problems with international fi... Read more

Revealed – the winning 51st Thing! What won the vote to be added to our list of 50? We asked for ideas for an extra “thi... Read more

It's claimed that some computers can now pass the Turing test: convincing people that they are human. Tim Harford asks h... Read more

Radio frequency identification - RFID - is the foundation on which many contactless technologies are built. But is it ge... Read more

Josiah Wedgwood is arguably the best-known name in the history of pottery - but it's not just his pots that made their m... Read more

Women's lives were transformed by sewing machines, which made a "never-ending, ever-beginning task" far less arduous and... Read more

The global supply chain that keeps perishable goods at controlled temperatures has revolutionised the food industry. It ... Read more

Spectacles have been around for centuries, and have a huge impact on many people's quality of life. So why is it estimat... Read more

Nicholas Murray Butler was one of the great thinkers of his age: philosopher; Nobel Peace Prize-winner; president of Co... Read more

The QWERTY keyboard layout has stood the test of time, from the clattering of early typewriters to the virtual keyboard ... Read more