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Though a witty author, John Harington is better remembered as the inventor of the flush toilet. He was banished from the royal court for the cockiness of his language in his written works. He also earned a knighthood and later came to be known as Queen Elizabeth’s “saucy godson.”
Italian polymath Gerolamo Cardano is best known for his iconic work Ars magna, or The Great Art, which contributed immensely to the field of algebra. Throughout his illustrious life, he had been a physician, a math lecturer, and an astrologer. He was also the first to describe typhus fever clinically.
Cornelis Drebbel was a Dutch inventor and engineer credited with building the first navigable submarine. He is also credited with contributing immensely to the development of chemistry, optics, control systems, and measurement. A street called Cornelis Drebbelweg in the Netherlands has been named in his honor.
William Lee was an English inventor and clergyman who is credited with inventing the stocking frame knitting machine. Denied patent by Queen Elizabeth I, who was concerned about her hand knitters' employment security, Lee moved to France where he was granted a patent by Henry IV of France.
Flemish instrument maker Hans Ruckers, the Elder was also known as a music maker, owing to the several musical instruments he invented. He was a master of building harpsichords, including his earliest invention, the double virginal. His sons and grandson later joined their family musical instrument-making empire.
