Inventors On Stamps

Thomas Newcomen (1664 – 1729) was an English inventor who created the atmospheric engine, the first practical fuel-burning engine in 1712. He was an ironmonger by trade and his business specialized in designing, manufacturing tools for the mining industry. His invention was featured in the Britons of Distinction series stamps issued on February 23, 2012.

Spain
Lumiere Brothers
May 12, 1995
The stamp depicts Auguste Lumiere (1862-1954) and Louis Lumiere (1864-1948) and their invention Cinématographe Lumiere, a motion picture camera which also serves as a film projector.

Liechtenstein
Johannes Gutenberg
December 6, 1999
The stamp shows Johannes Gutenberg (ca. 1400 - 1468) who invented the moveable-type printing press.

Austria
Inventors
October 13, 2002
The stamp features Carl Auer von Welsbach (1858 - 1929) who invented incandescent gas lamp and electric filament lamp.

This is a fun topic, lots of good posts.

Here is Robert H. Goddard (1882-1945) on a U.S. airmail stamp (Scott C69) issued in 1964. Goddard held more than 200 patents including for the liquid fueled rocket and the multi-stage rocket. Both those were patented in 1914, but he worked for years developing them into proven technology. So he is called the father of rocketry. Ultimately he enabled travel into space.



- Jonathan

Elmer Sperry (1860-1930) inventor of the gyroscope compass among some 400 other patents.

U.S. airmail stamp of 1985 (Sc# C114). Elmer is the older gent in the bowler. On the right is his son, Lawrence (1892-1931) who helped develop and test things like the autopilot and retractable landing gear.

James Watt (1736 – 1819) was a Scottish mechanical engineer and chemist who improved on the Newcomen steam engine (1712) with his Watt steam engine (1776). His invention significantly increased the power and efficiency of steam engines. A commemorative stamp issued by North Macedonia Post in 2011 shows a statue of James Watt and a drawing of his steam engine.

Rudolf Diesel (1858 – 1913) was a German inventor and mechanical engineer, famous for the invention of the Diesel engine. A stamp issued by Deutsche Post in 1997 marks the 100 years of the Diesel engine.

Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen [conventionally Roentgen](1845-1923) awarded the first Nobel Prize in Physics for discovery of X-Rays and inventing radiography. One could develop a collection of stamps just on Roentgen and XRays, but here is just a taste:

Sweden, 1961, Scott 603, 604, 605 celebrating Nobel winners. Roentgen is in front, and has the fiercest in this line up of beards.



India, 1995 They did not do all that well with his eyes so he looks a little crazy.



From his native Germany, 1951, Scott 686:



Finally, a nice one from Afars and Issas, 1973, Scott C84:

Alfred Nobel (1833 – 1896) was a Swedish chemist and engineer. He held 355 different patents but is best known as the inventor of dynamite. His portrait and dynamite appears on a stamp issued by La Poste Monaco in 2008.

Eugenio Barsanti (1821 – 1864) and Felice Matteucci (1808 - 1887) invented the first version of the internal combustion engine in 1853. They developed a two-cylinder 5 HP motor in 1856 and built a counter-working two-piston engine two years later. Poste italiane issued a stamp in 2003 to mark the 150th anniversary of the invention.

Henri Owen Tudor (1859 – 1928) was a Luxembourgish engineer, inventor, and industrialist. He invented improved electric accumulator which leads to the first commercially usable lead-acid battery.

Jan Matzeliger (1852 - 1889) was an American inventor of Surinamese and Dutch descent. He is best known for patenting the shoe lasting machine in 1883, which made footwear more affordable.

Josef Ressel (1793 – 1857) was an Austrian forester and inventor of Czech-German descent. He invented the first working ship screw propeller in 1827. The stamp issued by Austria in 2016 shows a portrait of Josef Ressel and his invention on display at Vienna Technical Museum.

Josef Karl Hell (1713-1789) was a Hungarian mining engineer who invented the water-pillar (water pump machine) in 1749. His first machine was able to pump water up from the depth of 212 meters. He later built pumping machines in 1749-1768 which is the theme of a stamp issued by Slovakia Post in 1999.