Amazing Inventions

Cell phones allowed people to connect on the go, and smartphones have transformed the way we share information. From the earliest landlines to the minicomputers that link people across the world, discover the shifts in phone technology that shaped modern communication—and the people who made them happen. This history also shows the big changes in design, size, and battery life that took place before mobile phones hit the center of popular culture.

For decades, the blasts and howls of the electric guitar have been some of the defining sounds of popular music. But more than a century of effort and innovation had to happen before this instrument went electric. Learn about the master craftspeople who created the guitar as we know it, the inventors who figured out how to send guitar notes through amplifiers and give the guitar a bigger sound, and the musicians whose legendary playing put it at the center of rock 'n' roll.

Sneakers grew out of efforts to make more durable, more comfortable shoes—and became a major link between sports and fashion. Their sales rose with the popularity of tennis and exploded along with basketball, leading to celebrity endorsements, big-name brands, and continued technological breakthroughs. In the twenty-first century, sneakers are still evolving, along with "sneaker influencer" social media, smart tech, and other hot new trends.