[Infographic] Why is Croatia innovative?

We are bringing you the list of innovations that have the origins in Croatia! Could you imagine the wordl without them?

1617: the parachute. The polymath, inventor, philosopher and lexicographer Faust Vrančić (1551–1617) was the first person to stretch fabric over a wooden frame to make a parachute, with which he made a jump in Venice in 1617. He described it in detail, along with 56 more inventions, in his work New Machines, and called the parachute Homo volans (Flying Man). He published a Dictionary of the Five Most Reputed European Languages in 1595, the first dictionary printed in Croatia.

1861: the torpedo. The naval officer and inventor Ivan Blaž Lupis (1813–75) built a prototype of an explosive weapon which could be used to attack enemy ships in 1861. After signing a contract with Lupis, a factory in Rijeka developed his invention and was the first in the world to begin mass production of torpedoes which were completely like those used today. The technical solutions of the Rijeka torpedo are used today for peaceful purposes.

1885: Alternating Current – Nikola Tesla
What can we say more about the man that illuminated the world? Tesla was renowned for his achievements and showmanship, eventually earning him a reputation in popular culture as an archetypal “mad scientist” His patents earned him a considerable amount of money, much of which was used to finance his own projects with varying degrees of success.

1887: ‘supersonic’ photography. Peter Salcher (1848–1928) was a professor of mathematics at the Naval Academy in Rijeka. He was the first person in the world to produce ultrafast photography, used to track the trajectory of a rifle bullet in flight.

1891: dactyloscopy. Ivan Vučetić (1858–1925) was a criminalist who emigrated to Argentina in 1884, where he was employed in the police force. He was one of the founders of dactyloscopy and invented a system for classifying fingerprints which he applied in solving criminal cases.

1904: the tungsten light bulb. The chemist and metallurgist Franjo Hanaman (1878–1941) developed a process for manufacturing tungsten filaments and their application in electric light bulbs, with Alexander Just, in Vienna.

1906: the ballpoint pen. The Croatian inventor Slavoljub Penkala, of Polish origin (1871–1922), patented many inventions which are still used today. The most famous was his ballpoint pen, which the Penkala factory sold in around 70 countries. He also invented the thermos flask, the rotating toothbrush, and many more devices. He built the first aeroplane in Croatia in 1910 and is considered the father of modern aircraft.

1954: the Puratić power block. Mario Puratić (1904–93) emigrated to the USA in 1929, where he invented a power block to help haul fishing nets out of the sea and on board vessels. His invention has been applied in all the world’s fishing fleets.

Ante Nižetić –  1960 –  fishing nets of synthetic material.

1981: the antibiotic azithromycin. A group of scientists from the research institute of the Pliva pharmaceutical company synthesised and patented azithromycin, a new type of wide-spectrum antibiotic which could stay in the body for long periods. Its active ingredient in Croatia is marketed as Zithromax and Sumamed.

2009: Concept One – Mate Rimac

The Rimac Concept One (also styled Concept_One) is a two-seat high-performance electric sports car designed and manufactured by Rimac automobili. With a total output of 1,088 hp, an acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.8 seconds Concept One has been described as the world’s first electric supercar[3] becoming the world’s fastest accelerating electric automobile as of 2013[4] to be only caught up with in 2015 by the Rimac Concept S. Between January 2013 and October 2014, eight cars have been manufactured and sold.[5]