Trace locations historically associated with breakthroughs that have helped define the nation’s 250-year legacy
https://www.wsj.com/us-news/mapping-18-american-inventions-that-created-the-modern-world-323e3c39
By WSJ Graphics
July 9, 2026 at 10:33 am ET
From the bustling labs of the Northeast to the remote deserts of the Southwest, American ingenuity can be found everywhere. This map traces locations historically associated with the breakthroughs that have defined the nation’s 250-year legacy.
Telephone
Assembly Line
Stock Ticker
Steel Plow
Lightbulb
Polio Vaccine
Refrigeration
Airplane Flight
Fast Food
Cotton Gin
Moon Landing
Phillips Screw
Electric Traffic Light
Smartphone
Internet
Atomic Energy
Global
Positioning System
Personal Computer
Carl Churchill/WSJ
You can bring America’s inventions to life below. Use your computer mouse to rotate each image, or even zoom in for a closer look. Or take advantage of your smartphone’s augmented reality, by tapping the “Tabletop” buttons to see each image in an indoor setting or tapping the “Outdoor” buttons in a wide-open area to explore them at a larger scale. And at the bottom of this page, there are links to see locations connected to each breakthrough.
Airplane Flight
Bicycle wheel hubPropellerRudder
View in your space using ARTabletopOutdoor
Kitty Hawk, N.C.: On the desolate dunes of the Outer Banks, the Wright brothers conquered the sky in 1903, proving that controlled, powered flight was no longer a human fantasy.
Moon Landing
Descent stage
(landing assembly)Ascent Stage
(crew quarters)
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Kennedy Space Center, Fla.: This coastal launch site served as the terrestrial gateway for humanity’s greatest leap, projecting American technological prestige into the cosmos.
Lightbulb
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Menlo Park, N.J.: Thomas Edison’s“invention factory” transformed a rural hamlet into the birthplace of the modern age, by perfecting the first commercially viable incandescent light.
Cotton Gin
BrushesHand crank
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Savannah, Ga.: Eli Whitney’s mechanical engine exponentially increased production, cementing the South’s economic power and tragically entrenching the institution of slavery.
Global Positioning System
Altitude: 20,200km
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Los Angeles: Originally a military project managed at the Los Angeles Air Force Base in the 1970s, this satellite-based system changed how the world navigates.
Personal Computer
Accessories sold separatelyOutput LEDs
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Albuquerque, N.M.: As the home of MITS, maker of the Altair 8800, Albuquerque sparked the computer revolution in the mid-1970s, drawing a young Bill Gates and Paul Allen to start Microsoft.
Phillips Screw
Slot fits Phillips screwdriver
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Portland, Ore.: By preventing the stripping of fasteners, Henry Phillips’s design enabled the use of high-speed power tools essential for World War II-era assembly lines.
Fast Food
“Castle” chimney for griddle smoke
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Wichita, Kan.: White Castle standardized the production of the 5-cent burger, establishing the business model for the modern global franchise and redefining the American diet.
Smartphone
Screen
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Las Vegas: IBM unveiled a device that merged telephony and computing in 1992 at a Las Vegas trade show, previewing the coming mobile era.
Electric Traffic Light
Powered by trolley
car lines
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Salt Lake City: Developed by Lester Wire, this innovation brought order to the chaos of the early automotive era, creating the blueprint for urban traffic management.
Internet
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Los Angeles: The first message sent between UCLA and Stanford in 1969 birthed a digital nervous system that has become the fundamental infrastructure of the 21st century.
Telephone
MouthpieceTelegraph wire
Boston: From a Boston laboratory, Alexander Graham Bell’s first successful transmission, in 1876, collapsed the barriers of distance, forever altering human interaction.
Stock Ticker
Ticker tapeInk pads
New York City: By streaming the pulse of Wall Street, this invention democratized financial information and laid the groundwork for the modern, high-speed global economy.
Refrigeration
Philadelphia: Through the pioneering designs of inventor Oliver Evans, Philadelphia became a hub for the mechanical ice-making technology that stabilized the global food-supply chain.
Polio Vaccine
Pittsburgh: Developed at the University of Pittsburgh in the 1950s, this vaccine transformed a devastating childhood disability into a preventable disease, marking a triumph in medical history.
Assembly Line
Elevated tracksRope or continuous chain
pulls chassis forward
Detroit: Henry Ford’s integration of moving parts and stationary labor in 1913 revolutionized global manufacturing, turning the automobile from a luxury into a middle-class staple.
Steel Plow
HitchCutting edge
Grand Detour, Ill.: John Deere’s “self-polishing” steel blade allowed settlers to slice through the sticky Midwest sod, unlocking the agricultural potential of the American heartland.
Atomic Energy
NeutronEnergy
Los Alamos, N.M.: Under the veil of the Manhattan Project, this remote mesa became the site of a profound scientific pivot that ended a world war and ushered in the nuclear age.
Visit the locations where history was made
Use the links below to find the approximate locations — and if you try out the monument-scale “Outdoor” AR in these spots, feel free to send us a screenshot!Table with 3 columns and 18 rows. (column headers with buttons are sortable)INVENTIONTOWNLOCATIONLightbulbMenlo Park, N.J.Thomas Edison CenterStock TickerNew York, N.Y.Western Union Telegraph BuildingAirplane FlightKill Devil Hills, N.C.Wright Brothers MemorialAssembly LineDetroit, Mich.Highland Park PlantGPSLos Angeles, Calif.Los Angeles Air Force BaseMoon LandingKennedy Space Center, Fla.Kennedy Space CenterPersonal ComputerAlbuquerque, N.M.Ed Roberts’s garageElectric Traffic LightSalt Lake City, UtahIntersectionCotton GinSavannah, Ga.Mulberry Grove PlantationPhillips ScrewPortland, Ore.Henry Phillips’ homeFast FoodWichita, Kan.First White CastleSteel PlowGrand Detour, Ill.John Deere Historic SiteAtomic EnergyLos Alamos, N.M.Manhattan Project National Historical ParkRefrigerationPhiladelphia, Pa.Oliver Evans’s ‘Mars Works’SmartphoneLas Vegas, Nev.COMDEX Trade ShowTelephoneBoston, Mass.Historical PlaqueInternetLos Angeles, Calif.Boelter Hall, UCLAPolio vaccinePittsburgh, Pa.Historical Plaque
Sources: Smithsonian Institution (Wright flyer); National Museum of American History (Telephone); The Henry Ford, CG Trader (Assembly line); ‘Courtesy of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History’ (Stock ticker); National Museum of American History (Steel plow); Utah Department of Transportation (Electric traffic light); Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History (Lightbulb and Personal computer); Salk Institute for Biological Studies (Polio vaccine); Jacob Perkins’ Ice Machine 1834 diagram from Scientific American (Refrigeration); State Library of Ohio and Ohio History Connection (Fast food); Oregon Historical Society (Phillips Screw); NASA (Moon Landing); MIT (Atomic energy); National Science Foundation (Internet); National Archives (Cotton gin); Mobile Phone Museum (Smartphone); Federal Aviation Administration (GPS). Illustration includes Noun Project elements
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