List of people considered father or mother of a field facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Often, big discoveries and new ideas come from many people working together and improving things over time. But sometimes, one person stands out for making a huge difference at the very beginning of a new field or invention. These special people are often called the "father" or "mother" of that particular field or invention.

Creative Arts
Games and Fun
Military Innovations
Sports and Athletics
Technology and Inventions
Transportation
See also

Creative Arts

Some people are known for starting new styles or ways of creating art.

Cowboy Sculpture: Frederic Remington created the first bronze cowboy sculpture in 1895.
Japanese Manga and Anime: Osamu Tezuka is known as the creator of Japanese comics (Manga) and Japanese animation (Anime).

Games and Fun

Many popular games and ways to play were started by specific individuals.

Collectible Card Games: Richard Garfield created Magic: The Gathering, a very popular collectible card game.
Miniature Wargaming: H. G. Wells helped start miniature wargaming with his book Little Wars.
Modern Video Games: Ralph H. Baer created the Magnavox Odyssey, one of the first home video game consoles. Nolan Bushnell helped create Pong.
Role-Playing Games: Gary Gygax created Dungeons & Dragons, a famous role-playing game.
Stealth Games: Hideo Kojima created the Metal Gear series, which are well-known stealth-action games.
Video Game Industry: Ralph H. Baer is also known for creating the Magnavox Odyssey, the first home video game console, which helped kickstart the video game industry.
Wargaming: Charles S. Roberts designed the game Tactics.

Military Innovations

Certain individuals made significant contributions to military technology and strategies.

Atomic Bomb: Enrico Fermi, Robert Oppenheimer, and Leó Szilárd were key figures in the development of the atomic bomb.
Hydrogen Bomb: Edward Teller was a member of the Manhattan Project and played a big role in developing the hydrogen bomb.
Atomic Submarine: Hyman G. Rickover was important in creating the atomic submarine and the "nuclear navy."
Tank: Ernest Swinton (British) and Jean Baptiste Eugène Estienne (French) are credited with developing the first tanks during World War I to help break through trench warfare.

Sports and Athletics

Many sports and athletic activities have individuals who are considered their founders or major influencers.

American Football: Walter Camp established many rules, like the snap, the line of scrimmage, and having eleven players per team.
American Motocross: Edison Dye introduced motocross to riders in America.
American Road Racing: Cameron Argetsinger started the first US auto race specifically for road courses at Watkins Glen.
Angling (Fishing): Izaak Walton wrote The Compleat Angler, a famous book about fishing.
Association Football (Soccer): Ebenezer Cobb Morley helped create the rules for modern football.
Australian Rules Football: Tom Wills and H. C. A. Harrison were important in founding this sport.
Baseball: Henry Chadwick was a key figure in the early development of baseball.
Basketball: James Naismith created basketball.
Black Basketball: Edwin Henderson introduced basketball to the Black community in Washington, D.C., in the early 1900s.
BMX: Scot Breithaupt was a pioneer in Bicycle Motocross.
Brazilian Football: Charles William Miller helped bring football to Brazil.
Modern Chess: Wilhelm Steinitz was the first official world chess champion.
Drag Racing: Wally Parks founded the NHRA and organized the first official drag race. Don Garlits improved drag racing safety, and Eddie Hill was the first to break the 5-second barrier.
Drifting (Motorsport): Kunimitsu Takahashi introduced an aggressive cornering technique that became the basis for drifting.
Freestyle BMX: Bob Haro was a key figure in freestyle BMX.
Modern Gymnastics: Friedrich Ludwig Jahn is known for modern gymnastics.
Modern Handball: Karl Schelenz helped develop modern handball.
Ice Hockey: James Creighton captained one of the teams in the first indoor hockey game in 1875.
Italian Football: James Richardson Spensley and William Garbutt helped shape Italian football.
Japanese Baseball: Horace Wilson introduced baseball to Japan, and Hiroshi Hiraoka established the first baseball team.
Jogging: Jim Fixx helped popularize jogging.
Kart Racing: Art Ingels developed the world's first kart in 1956.
Kenyan Running: Colm O'Connell founded the first running camp in Kenya.
Lacrosse: William George Beers wrote down the rules for lacrosse, which came from an Indigenous American game.
Mixed Martial Arts: Edward William Barton-Wright experimented with different fighting styles, leading to Bartitsu, an early form of mixed martial arts.
Modern Bodybuilding: Eugen Sandow and Harold Zinkin (who invented modern exercise machines) are considered fathers of modern bodybuilding.
Modern Boxing: James Figg and James J.Corbett are known for modern boxing.
Modern Figure Skating: Jackson Haines is called the "Father of Figure Skating."
Modern Rodeo: Earl W. Bascom invented rodeo gear and equipment that helped make rodeo a modern sport.
Modern Tennis: Jack Kramer created the "Open"-era tournaments and the Association of Tennis Professionals.
Organized Radio-Controlled Racing: Ted Longshaw founded organizations for RC car racing in the UK, Europe, and worldwide. Roger Curtis also contributed to RC racing.
Modern Sabre Fencing: Italo Santelli developed modern sabre fencing.
Modern Surfing: Duke Kahanamoku helped popularize modern surfing.
Skateboarding: Skip Engblom, Tony Hawk, and Rodney Mullen are considered godfathers of skateboarding.
Snooker: Neville Francis Fitzgerald Chamberlain adopted the name and set the rules for snooker in India.
Snowboarding: Jake Burton Carpenter was a pioneer in snowboarding.
Stock Car Racing: Bill France Sr. founded the main organization for stock car racing.
Supercross: Mike Goodwin organized the first supercross race.
Televised Golf: Frank Chirkinian was responsible for many of the ways golf is shown on TV today.

Technology and Inventions

Many important technologies and inventions have specific inventors or pioneers.

Fields of Study

Modern Aerodynamics: Sir George Cayley is known as the father of modern aerodynamics. He was the first to identify the four forces of flight: weight, lift, drag, and thrust. Modern airplane design is based on his discoveries.
American Manufacturing: Samuel Slater is known for his contributions to American manufacturing.
American Landscape Architecture: Frederick Law Olmsted designed Central Park in New York City.
Architecture: Imhotep built the first pyramid.
Astronautics (Space Travel): Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Sergei Korolev, Robert H. Goddard, and Hermann Oberth are key figures in astronautics.
Aviation: Father Francesco Lana-Terzi described the physics of flying vessels, and Abbas ibn Firnas built the first human-carrying glider.
Clinical Trials: James Lind conducted the first controlled clinical trial in medicine, studying how citrus food could treat scurvy in 1747.
Computing: Charles Babbage invented the analytical engine, which laid the groundwork for modern computers.
Cybernetics: Norbert Wiener was a key figure in cybernetics, the study of control and communication in animals and machines.
Genetics: Gregor Johann Mendel is the founder of genetics.
Green Revolution: Norman Borlaug helped develop new types of crops that greatly increased food production worldwide.
Microscopy: Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was a pioneer in microscopy.
Information Theory: Claude Shannon developed information theory, which is about how information is measured and transmitted.
Modern Bladesmithing: William F. Moran founded the American Bladesmith Society.
Modern Knifemaking: Bob Loveless founded the Knifemakers' Guild.
Nanotechnology: Richard Smalley was a pioneer in nanotechnology.
Photography: Louis Daguerre, Nicéphore Niépce, William Henry Fox Talbot, and Thomas Wedgwood were all important in the invention of photography.
Robotics: Ismail al-Jazari invented an early programmable humanoid robot in 1206. The Banū Mūsā brothers invented an automatic flute, possibly the first programmable machine.

Computing Inventions

C (Programming Language): Dennis Ritchie created the C programming language.
Assembler: Nathaniel Rochester developed the assembler.
Compiler: John Backus introduced the first complete compiler in 1957.
Computer: Many people contributed to the computer. Charles Babbage developed early concepts. Alan Turing invented the Turing machine. John V. Atanasoff invented the digital computer. Konrad Zuse invented the first functional program-controlled computer. John von Neumann emphasized the stored-program concept. John W. Mauchly and J.Presper Eckert invented the ENIAC, the first general-purpose electronic computer.
Computer Program: Ada Lovelace is recognized as writing the world's first computer program for Babbage's Analytical Engine.
Internet: Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn developed the Internet Protocol (IP) and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), which are the core protocols of the Internet.
Microprocessor: Federico Faggin, Marcian Hoff, Stanley Mazor, and Masatoshi Shima designed the first commercial microprocessor, the Intel 4004.
Packet Switching: Paul Baran and Donald Davies independently invented the idea of digital packet switching, which is used in modern computer networks like the Internet.
Personal Computer: Chuck Peddle developed the 6502 microprocessor and early personal computers like the Commodore PET. Henry Edward "Ed" Roberts and André Truong Trong Thi also played roles.
Programmable Logic Controller: Dick Morley invented the programmable logic controller.
Python (Programming Language): Guido van Rossum created the Python programming language.
Search Engine: Alan Emtage created Archie, an early search engine that used many techniques still seen today.
Spreadsheet: Dan Bricklin invented the VisiCalc spreadsheet program, which was a "killer app" for the Apple II.
World Wide Web: Tim Berners-Lee created the World Wide Web and the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).
Wi-Fi: Vic Hayes was a key figure in the development of Wi-Fi.
XML: Jon Bosak was important in the creation of XML.

Other Inventions

AC Induction Motor: Nikola Tesla invented the AC induction motor, which is fundamental to electric power grids worldwide.
Airplane: The Wright brothers invented the first successful powered airplane.
Air Conditioning: Willis Carrier invented modern air conditioning.
Battery: Alessandro Volta invented the first electrical battery, the Voltaic pile.
Canning: Nicolas Appert invented the process of canning food.
Color Photography: Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky was a pioneer in color photography in the early 20th century.
Compact Disc: Kees Immink was a key inventor of the Compact Disc.
Electric Generator: Michael Faraday discovered electromagnetism and invented the Faraday disk, the first electric generator.
Modern Firearms: John Moses Browning revolutionized the firearm industry with his automatic rifle designs.
Helicopter: Igor Sikorsky invented the first successful helicopter.
Instant Noodle: Momofuku Ando invented the instant noodle and founded Nissin Foods.
Jet Engine: Frank Whittle and Hans von Ohain independently developed the jet engine.
Karaoke: Daisuke Inoue invented the karaoke machine.
Laser: Charles Hard Townes was a key inventor of the laser.
Lightning Prediction System: Alexander Stepanovich Popov invented the first lightning prediction system, the Lightning detector, in 1894.
Mobile Phone: Martin Cooper invented the first mobile phone.
Periodic Table: Dmitri Mendeleev arranged the elements in the periodic table we know today, based on their properties and atomic mass.
Plastics: Leo Baekeland created Bakelite, an early marketable plastic, in 1907.
Printing Press: Johannes Gutenberg invented the movable type printing press, which greatly increased literacy and the spread of knowledge.
Radio (Communication): Guglielmo Marconi developed the first form of wireless telegraphy (radio communication).
Radio (Broadcasting): Reginald Fessenden is credited with the first radio broadcast on Christmas Eve, 1906.
FM Radio: Edwin H. Armstrong obtained the first license to operate an FM station in 1939.
Telephone: Johann Philipp Reis, Antonio Meucci, and Alexander Graham Bell were all involved in the invention of the telephone.
Television: Many people contributed to television. Paul Gottlieb Nipkow invented the Nipkow disk. Philo T. Farnsworth and Vladimir Zworykin invented fully electronic forms of television. John Logie Baird invented the first working television system and the first electronic color television.
Tube Structure (Architecture): Fazlur Rahman Khan invented the tube structural system used in tall buildings like the John Hancock Center and Sears Tower.
Video Game Console: Ralph H. Baer created the Magnavox Odyssey, the first video game console.

Transportation

These individuals made significant contributions to how we travel.

Automotive Industry: Carl Benz created the Benz Patent-Motorwagen in 1885, considered the first practical modern automobile.
20th Century American Car Industry: Henry Ford made cars affordable for many Americans.
American Interstate Highway System: Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed and signed the act that created the US Interstate Highway System.
Automatic Transmission: Oscar Banker was important in developing the automatic transmission.
Bicycle Industry: James Starley developed the differential gear and the bicycle chain.
Erie Canal: De Witt Clinton was a key figure in the creation of the Erie Canal.
Electric Traction: Frank J. Sprague developed electric elevators, railways, and motors.
Flight Simulator: Edwin Albert Link developed the Link Trainer, an early flight simulator.
Full-Suspension Mountain Bike: Jon Whyte designed the first full-suspension mountain bike for Marin Bikes.
Gasoline Automobile: Carl Benz invented the gasoline automobile.
Gasoline Motorcycle: Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach created the Daimler Reitwagen, an early gasoline motorcycle.
Gasoline Truck: Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz were involved in creating the first gasoline trucks.
Maglev (Magnetic Levitation) Trains: Hermann Kemper built an early model of a linear induction motor, and Eric Laithwaite developed the first full-size working model, which were important steps for maglev trains.
Monster Truck: Bob Chandler built Bigfoot, the first monster truck capable of driving over cars.
Mountain Bike: Gary Fisher was a pioneer in the development of the mountain bike.
Railways: George Stephenson pioneered rail transport, steam locomotives, and invented the standard-gauge railway track.
Rotary Engine: Felix Wankel invented the rotary engine.
Route 66: Cyrus Avery was a key figure in the creation of Route 66.
Car Tailfin: Harley Earl introduced the car tailfin design.
Traffic Safety: William Phelps Eno was important in developing traffic safety rules.
Trolleybus: Ernst Werner von Siemens built the Electromote in 1882, an early trolleybus.
Turbocharged Petrol Engines: Paul Rosche helped develop turbocharged engines for cars, including the first European turbocharged car, the 1969 BMW 2002 TiK.
Yellow School Bus: Frank W. Cyr was instrumental in standardizing the design of the yellow school bus.