50 Things That Made the Modern Economy Episodes Available now
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![](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320x180/p04nfg56.jpg)
Compiler
Installing Windows might take 5,000 years without it
![](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320x180/p04m480l.jpg)
M-Pesa
Transferring money by text message is far safer and more convenient than cash
![](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320x180/p04m3tn7.jpg)
Lightbulb
Once too precious to use, light is now too cheap to notice
![](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320x180/p04xlnr1.jpg)
Banking
Warrior monks, crusaders and the mysterious origins of modern banking
![](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320x180/p04kjqf5.jpg)
Barcode
How vast mega-stores emerged with the help of a design originally drawn in the sand
![](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320x180/p04k7y46.jpg)
iPhone
How Uncle Sam played an essential role in the creation and development of the iPhone.
![](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320x180/p04xgvqn.jpg)
Concrete
It's improved health, school attendance, agricultural productivity and farm worker wages
![](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320x180/p04gqw2c.jpg)
Shipping Container
The boom in global trade was caused by a simple steel box
![](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320x180/p04fvxkv.jpg)
Haber-Bosch Process
Saving lives with thin air - by taking nitrogen from the air to make fertiliser
![](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320x180/p04f4mpd.jpg)
Diesel Engine
Rudolf Diesel died in strange circumstances after changing the world with his engine