Events, launches, design landmarks
1830s
State-sponsored design school – now the Royal College of Art – opens.
1860s
William Morris’s traditional handicrafts firm founded.
1870s
Christopher Dresser’s Principles Of Design published.
1890s
First modern Olympics. Paperclip.
1900
Kodak Brownie camera.
1901
Frank Lloyd Wright’s The Art And Craft Of The Machine published.
1902
Vacuum cleaner. Torch.
1903
Wright brothers’ flight. Windscreen wipers.
1904
Congress on hygiene in the home.
1905
Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.
1907
General Motors Corp founded. Electric washing machine.
1908
Cellophane.
1910
Electricity in UK homes.
1911
Machu Picchu rediscovered.
1913
Stainless steel. Zip. Model T Ford.
1914
Panama Canal. World War 1 declared.
1915
San Francisco World Fair.Coca-Cola bottle.
1918
World War 1 ends. Jazz records.
1919
Bauhaus school. New York Daily News, first daily tabloid
1920
BBC Radio. Traffic lights.
1921
Domestic radio. Red telephone box.
1922
Electric-powered trains in Europe.
1924
First Winter Olympics.
1925
Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels.
1926
Video disc. Steam iron. Pop-up toaster.
1927
First movie with sound, The Jazz Singer.
1928
Adhesive tape. Electric razor.
1929
Wall Street crash.
1930
Aerodynamics
1931
Harry Beck’s London Underground map.
1932
Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World published.
1933
Polystyrene. Zippo lighter. Cat’s eye reflector.
1934
Anglepoise lamp.
1935
Penguin paperbacks. Nylon. Radar. Electric guitar.
1936
BBC TV. London A-Z published.
1937
Supermarket trolley.
1938
Ballpoint pen.
1939
New York World Fair. World War II declared.
1940
Domestic television. Commercial TV in US.
1941
Willys Jeep.
1942
Nuclear reaction.
1944
Council of Industrial Design - now the Design Council - founded.
1945
World War II ends. Tupperware.
1946
Bikini swimsuit.
1947
Microwave oven.
1948
Marshall Plan for postwar recovery. Polaroid camera.
1949
LEGO
1950
Silicone rubber implants.
1952
First sex change operation.
1953
DNA double helix.
1954
Routemaster bus. End of rationing.
1955
McDonald’s founded.Transistor radio.
1956
Eames lounge chair.
1957
European Common Market. Sputnik.
1958
Bank credit card. First Ikea store.
1959
Xerox photocopier. Mini. Barbie doll.
1960
Silicon chip. Doc Marten boots.
1961
E-type Jaguar.
1963
Hover mower. Kodak Instamatic camera.
1964
Sunday Times colour supplement launched.
1965
Mini-skirt. Long-distance satellite.
1966
Handheld calculator.
1967
Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
1968
Fax machine. Student uprising in Paris.
1969
Concorde. First man on the moon. Internet.
1970
Liquid crystal display. James Lovelock’s Gaia published.
1971
Victor Papanek’s Design For The Real World published.
1972
Word processor. Design Council founded.
1973
Post-it Note. Liposuction.
1975
Disposable razor. Pendolino train.
1977
George Lucas’s Star Wars.Optic fibre.
1979
Mobile phone. Laser printer. Sony Walkman.
1980
Email. The Face magazine launched.
1982
Portable computer. USA Today launched.
1983
Compact Disc.
1984
Apple Mac.
1985
Super Mario Bros.
1986
Channel Tunnel work began. Disposable camera.
1987
Shape memory polymer.
1988
Adobe Photoshop.
1989
Berlin Wall came down. Design Museum opened.
1990
Minidisc. Bluetooth technology.
1995
Playstation. Wind-up radio.
1996
Dolly the sheep cloned. Tomb Raider.
1997
Toyota Prius. First Harry Potter novel published.
1998
Viagra. Grand Auto Theft.
1999
Millennium Dome.
2000
Human Genome.
2001
iPod. Fuel cell camera.
2003
Camera phone.
2005
$100 wind-up computer.
2006
YouTube. Home wind turbines.
Stamp of approval for British Design Classics
Ten iconic British designs of the 20th Century have been made into Royal Mail’s first set of stamps for 2009.
The set of ten first class stamps features some instantly recognisable design icons: from Mary Quant’s daring mini skirt and Harry Beck’s innovative map of the London Underground, to R J Mitchell’s hero of the Battle of Britain, the Spitfire, and Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s timeless telephone box.
All these design classics feature in the design timeline on this page.
Find out more about the stamps on the Royal Mail website
Article first published in Design Council Magazine, Issue 3, Winter 2007