This document suggests uses ways of using inventions and technologies to teach history. A list of inventions and technologies can suggest topics for student research. Books about inventions and technologies are plentiful and a good source of information for students. A field trip might be helpful, or students can interview people who are in a position to know so something about a device or process. Teachers can encourage students to make value judgments about the past, present, and future usefulness or importance of an invention or technology. In another activity, teachers can ask students to think of a current need or problem. Having identified the problem, students can brainstorm for a possible invention or technological advancement to solve the problem or meet the need. Inventions and technologies can be grouped and listed three different ways: (1) according to the name of the inventor or scientist; (2) according to the type of invention or technology such as transportation, communication, energy, materials, clothing, building or tools; or (3) chronologically. The document includes a chronological list of some 94 inventions and areas of innovation from 1730 to 1973. The items listed range from the long rifle and Franklin stove to Sputnik and Skylab. Because inventions and technologies are the devices and processes that students see around them every day, the relevancy is obvious. Students have a natural curiosity for how a device or process worked, the life story of the inventor or scientist, or the relationship of one innovation to another. Inventions and technologies are a predictably interesting way to motivate students to study history. (DK)