by D. C. Adams

Created on: July 07, 2009

Let's agree from the start that in order to narrow mankind's greatest accomplishments to a list of ten, we should set our parameters. First, this is a list of invention, not discovery, so one shouldn't expect to find something like electricity among these achievements. Secondly, items have been printed alphabetically in an effort to dispel some of the inevitable argument that accompanies ranking. Finally, the list that follows includes inventions for which a tangible artifact can be named; that is to say, there are scores of intangible ideas invented throughout antiquity that are absent from this article (music and language, for example, along with democracy, agriculture, roads, and other skills and systems). Other controversial omissions are the result of the author either overlooking or disregarding them-let's face it, only ten are allowed in this article submitted for your discussion and enjoyment. Please discuss, therefore, and enjoy!

CALENDAR
It is fair to credit more than one inventor in this case. The calendar has gone through significant changes over time, and is subject to region and culture. From Ancient Egypt to Julius Caesar, versions of the calendar are abundant, but their influence is impossible to deny. Even today, Hollywood and bestsellers are capitalizing on the prophetic Mayan system of marking time. Regardless of how a culture marks the years, however, it is clear that from kings to prisoners, a society is equalized, bound, and governed by its calendar.

CHAIR
Hey, someone invented it! I bet you're not even standing right now.

CLOCK
Along with the calendar, the timepiece is the great equalizer. Even when humans were reading the sun, we were developing ways to mark the passage of time. Once we had a machine to keep time for us, the world would never be the same. Today, we are all subject to ticking seconds, appointments and deadlines. Even cultures that live without this technology exist in lands governed by people who do understand it and utilize it daily. We post the current time in almost every direction, and if that isn't enough, we have it on our phones, giant billboards, and strapped to our wrists.

COMPASS
It could be argued that the world's most lauded explorers might have succeeded without it, but I suspect if you asked the explorers themselves, they would speak to the credit of this navigational tool that led to discoveries of new worlds, and expansion within them.

COMPUTER
The television is on its way out. As long as we

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