You might not believe that these things were invented by Hungarians!

There are many things that we use in our everyday lives in the 21st century, but many do not know that these useful things were invented by brilliant Hungarian minds. Most of us know that the Rubik’s cube is a Hungarian invention but would not be able to name any other innovation from Hungarians. Let’s take a look at our list of Hungarian inventions.

Ballpoint pen

It is not an exaggeration to say that we use ballpoint pens every day. This is one of the most widespread writing instruments in the world. The name “ballpoint” is self-explanatory, it is a pen that dispenses the ink over a metal ball’s point. However, this pen is also called a biro, named after its inventor, László Bíró.

The story says that Bíró was a newspaper editor who was fuming over how painful it was to fill up fountain pens and clean up the smudges on the paper. He was so fed up that he decided to create his own kind of pen. He allegedly asked his brother to help him with his knowledge of chemistry to work out the perfect ink formula for his pen.

Source: https://pixabay.com/photos/meeting-plan-office-note-time-2189801/

Safety match

It is safe to say that everyone has used a safety match at least once in their lives. These matches are made of a small wooden stick and one end is coated with a flammable material. It can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Usually, the matchboxes have a coated surface on their sides which provides an easy option for lighting the match. Hungarian chemist, János Irinyi, invented the ancestor of the modern safety match. He experimented with making a match that ignited safely, quietly, and smoothly.

Source: https://pixabay.com/photos/phosphor-phosphorus-matchstick-1834107/

Word, Excel, Prezi

The 21st century is surely the century of technology and IT. Everyone uses computers, mobile phones, etc. When writing your CV and applying for a job, it might come in handy that you are good with Word and Excel. But did you know that these are Hungarian inventions as well? The brilliant Hungarian American software architect, Charles Simonyi, led Microsoft’s group that developed the first versions of the Microsoft Office applications.

Talking about the world of IT, Prezi is also a Hungarian invention. Prezi is a website on which you can design unique presentations to impress your audience. The presentation software was developed by Zui Labs, led by three Hungarians: Péter Árvai, Szabolcs Somlai-Fischer and Péter Halácsy. The word “prezi” is a short word for “presentation” in Hungarian (prezentáció).

Source: https://pixabay.com/photos/ux-design-webdesign-app-mobile-789162/

Vitamin C

Vitamin C was first isolated by the famous Hungarian biochemist, Albert Imre Szent-Györgyi. He was not only the first to isolate it, but he also discovered the components and studied the reactions of the citric acid cycle. His work was so significant that he won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1937.

Source: https://pixabay.com/photos/fruit-lemon-citrus-food-ripe-7285326/

Of course, there are many more amazing things invented by Hungarians, such as the electric motor, the telephone, and the transformer. If you know other Hungarian inventions, make sure to let us know in the comments!

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3 Comments

julius z nadas says:

10/07/2023 at 22:49

You left off the MOST IMPORTANT HUNGARIAN INVENTION (in my opinion):
Ernő Rubik is a Hungarian inventor, architect, and professor of architecture. He is best known for the invention of mechanical puzzles like the Rubik’s Cube.
Joe Smith says:

25/07/2023 at 21:19

The first patent for a ballpoint pen was issued on 30 October 1888 to John J. Loud, an American. Biro was Hungarian, and worked to refine the concept to give it commercial value, but most of his work was accomplished in Argentina because he was Jewish had had to flee Hungary in 1941.

Like Biro, János Irinyi built upon earlier work to create a practical safety match, replacing potassium chlorate with lead oxide, and obtained matches that ignited quietly and smoothly.

While Albert Imre Szent-Györgyi’s surely was important, he did not “invent” Vitamin C.. Nature did that.
Eric Hofer says:

24/10/2023 at 09:14

Then why today, is Hungary no longer investing in education? Surely the country’s leaders realize that if they don’t pay teachers enough, there’ll be fewer teachers, and the teachers will have to take on additional jobs just to pay the bills while feeling unappreciated.

Being unappreciated will seep into the general attitude people have towards education which, in a decade (probably even less now), will reduce the number of educated workers on which a country’s GDP depends. Though the evidence suggests to the contrary, I cannot believe that that is what the country’s leaders want as they especially will still be in power.