So much more than getting us from A to B, but the eureka moments it took to invent the car we know today included a Scottish veterinarian, an ambitious wife, thousands of slaughtered animals and a terrifying experiment with boiling oil.
The skyscraper - the ultimate symbol of power and wealth. But, incredibly, to invent the skyscraper it took a bird in a cage, a city in flames, a chance question from a college student and the humble horse and wagon.
The mobile phone has connected the modern world, but inventing it took the most beautiful woman in the world, Frankenstein's creator, the Titanic tragedy and the ultimate stroll down 6th Avenue.
It's made our dream of flight a reality, but the moments of genius it took to invent it involved not just birds as inspiration, but bikes, a trip to the Moon and back, a pair of frozen eyeballs and two nervous breakdowns.