50 Things That Made the Modern Economy

How animals make us smarter – we thought you might like to hear our brand new episode. It’... more

Jump on-board a doomed mission to the Moon. Apollo 13: the extraordinary story, told by th... more

Johannes Gutenberg's printing press changed the course of human history. It created a new ... more

First developed by a toy company in the 1890s, slot machines have become one of the most p... more

In 1997, Garry Kasparov, widely regarded as the world's greatest chess player, was defeate... more

Are things only worth what people are willing to pay for them? Tim Harford explains why a ... more

From reliable water supplies to large-scale electricity generation, the benefits brought b... more

In the 1630s, the Netherlands experienced 'tulip mania' - a surge in demand for tulips fro... more

In the early 20th Century, makers of sanitary towels had to find a way to sell an item tha... more

Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward's miniature greenhouses made it far easier to successfully transpor... more

There are more than 36,000 McDonald's restaurants around the world - but if the McDonald b... more

Surveillance cameras were invented so Nazi scientists could observe rocket launches from a... more

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

Why does Father Christmas wear red and white? It's not for the reason you may think. In an... more

Women's lives were transformed by sewing machines, which made a "never-ending, ever-beginn... more

Data is a hugely profitable commodity - if you know how to process it. Tim Harford tells t... more

In theory, stock options should motivate executives to perform better by tying their pay t... more

Tim Harford goes back to the 1900s to tell the story of how charity fundraising became big... more

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication - SWIFT - solved some big ... more

Josiah Wedgwood is arguably the best-known name in the history of pottery - but it's not j... more

Spectacles have been around for centuries, and have a huge impact on many people's quality... more

In 1952, economist William Vickrey devised an innovative system of turnstiles to help solv... more

How dependent is the world on GPS - and what would happen if it stopped working? Tim Harfo... more

In 1881, James Bonsack developed a machine that made it far easier to mass-produce cigaret... more

When the US outlawed the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages, it inadvertently cre... more

Arpanet was a computer network developed in the 1960s that paved the way for today's inter... more

Developed for the military, dodging bureaucracy and fuelled by venture capital: canned foo... more

Tim Harford tells the story of how Honoré Blanc, a gun-maker in 18th-century France, trans... more

The price of oil is arguably the most important in the world economy. How did we become so... more

It's claimed that some computers can now pass the Turing test: convincing people that they... more