The 20th century saw radical changes to the pulse and quality of its everyday life, thanks to a wave of astonishing inventions that improved virtually every aspect of daily existence. This invaluable reference presents more than 40 alphabetical categories of everyday inventions for the home and domestic life, grouped by purpose or function. Annotation. Presents short historical articles about the origins, scientific background, design, development, uses, and prospective future developments of over 40 alphabetically arranged categories of inventions that were born in the 20th century. Categories range from adhesive tapes (including band-aids, masking tape, Scotch cellophane tape, and duck tape) to bread machines, compact discs, credit cards, frozen foods, telephones, vacuum cleaners, and washing machines and dryers. Indexed and cross-referenced, with b&w illustrations and diagrams. Suitable for high school students and general readers.