List of Mexican inventions and discoveries

Mexican inventions and discoveries are objects, processes or techniques invented or discovered, partially or entirely, by a person from Mexico. These also include concepts or practices introduced by Mexican people and their indigenous ancestors. Some of the objects, processes or techniques developed in the Pre-Columbian era were also invented or discovered independently in other cultures. This list shows only the ones which were introduced in present-day Mexican territory before anywhere else or those which vary significantly in concept, figure or use.

Pre-Hispanic

• Chinampa: Invented by the Aztecs around 1150 – 1350 CE
• Popcorn: First invented by the Zapotec and later introduced to Hernan Cortes by the Aztec^[1]
• Rubber ball: Before 1600 BCE by the Olmec for uncertain purposes and later used by the Mayan and Aztec for ball games.
• Mesoamerican ballgame: Played differently by the Mayan and the Aztec, it is believed to be one of the first ball games, if not the first.
• Chewing gum ancient Aztecs used chile as a base for making a gum-like substance and to stick objects together in everyday use. Women, in particular, used this type of gum as a mouth freshener.
• Processing of rubber latex as rubber. Although vulcanization with heat or sulfur was neither known nor practised, mesoamerican peoples used the juice of the morning glory vine to similarly cross-link raw rubber and make it usable.^[2]

• Balloons: Invented by the Olmec.
• Universal education: The Aztecs were the first civilization known to have introduced compulsory education for both boys and girls.^[3]
• Pulque
• Tobacco smoking^[4]
• Sauna: The temazcal was the first ever sweat lodge, used by many cultures in Mesoamerica.
• Compass (possibly): Olmec had advanced knowledge of magnets. The discovery of a hematite artifact has led many experts to believe that Olmec invented the compass 1000 years before the Chinese did, although some still are not convinced.^[5]
• Molcajete
• Metate
• Chocolate: Believed to have been invented by the Olmec from cocoa beans, both the Mayan and the Aztec drank it hot, thus creating the hot chocolate.
• Guacamole: The name comes from an Aztec dialect via Nahuatl āhuacamolli [aːwakaˈmolːi], which literally translates to "avocado puree".

Colonial

• Cajeta
• Mariachi: originated in Guadalajara.
• Mezcal
• Rodeo
• Tequila

Modern

• Guitarrón mexicano
• M1908 rifle: invented by Manuel Mondragon. It was used for a short time by the Germans in World War I.
• Sonido 13: Around 1900 by Julián Carrillo.
• Nachos: By Ignacio Anaya. Nacho is short for Ignacio.
• Margarita
• Kahlúa
• Snow cones
• Japanese peanuts: by Japanese immigrant Yoshigei Nakatani in 1945
• Early Color television: Guillermo González Camarena made one of the earliest successful color television transmission systems in 1934. Although not the one used today,Nasa used it in 1979 for a series of projects.
• AcceleGlove: invented by José Hernández-Rebollar. It is an electronic glove that translates hand movements from the American Sign Language into spoken and written words.
• GNOME: Developed by Miguel de Icaza and Federico Mena.
• Tridilosa: invented by Heberto Castillo.
• Synthesized Norethisterone: This achievement by Luis E. Miramontes allowed the development of the first three Combined oral contraceptive pill, better known as the "morning after pill". He is sometimes referred to as "the Father of the Pill".
• Padel
• Metallic silhouette shooting
• Three-card Monte^[6]
• Continuous-flow intersections
• Recurso de amparo (Writ of protection) idea which was fundamental in the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human rights.
• Election ink

Discoveries

• Ozone depletion: Mario J. Molina together with F. Sherwood Rowland discovered the CFCs role in the Ozone hole. They were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
• Vanadium: discovered in 1801 by Andres Manuel del Rio

References