June 20: 5 World War II innovations we still use today

Conflicts throughout history have had opposing sides scrambling to gain an edge—leading to innovation.

Source: History Hit
Published: September 2021

5 World War II innovations we still use today

Conflicts throughout history have had opposing sides scrambling to gain an edge—leading to innovation. Here are 5 WWII innovations that we still use today. 

Year: 1942
Innovation: Superglue
Innovator(s): Dr. Harry Coover
Story: Discovered a chemical with an intense adhesive property while designing lenses for gun sights

Year: 1939
Innovation: The jet engine
Innovator(s): Nazi Germany
Story: The first turbojet flight flew over Germany. The invention didn’t have an impact in WWII.

Year: 1940
Innovation: Radar
Innovator(s): Britain
Story: Installed along Britain’s south and east coasts, the technology afforded an early warning of imminent German attacks during the Battle of Britain.

Year: 1940
Innovation: Duct tape
Innovator(s): Vesta Stoudt (Illinois)
Story: Stoudt worked at a factory packing ammunition boxes. Concerned that the U.S. military was sealing its ammo cases with unreliable paper tape, she suggested a fix that her bosses ignored. In February 1943, she wrote President Franklin D. Roosevelt a letter explaining the problem and offering a solution. Her idea was to seal boxes with a waterproof, tearable cloth tape which she created and tested at her job. Roosevelt sent the idea to the War Production Board, who “approved with the comment that the idea is of exceptional merit.”

Year: 1945
Innovation: The atomic bomb
Innovator(s): United States
Story: The Manhattan Project was active from 1942 to 1946 and had over 125,000 workers and scientists.

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