We've been inventing things since prehistory, via people who lived thousands of years ago. Many of these inventions helped shape the world we live in today. More recently in history, innovations like the printing press, the automobile, antibiotics, photography, and, of course, the Internet have furthered our progress and deepened our knowledge—inventions that truly changed our world.

So, what have we to be thankful for? Click through and discover the inventions and their inventors.

The refrigerator

Scottish inventor James Harrison (1816–1893) is regarded as a pioneer in the field of mechanical refrigeration, though the first patent was issued to American inventor Albert T. Marshall, in 1899. The first widespread refrigerator was the General Electric "Monitor-Top" refrigerator of 1927. Pictured here is a model from 1934. The product offered the world new ways to preserve food, medicines, and other perishable substances.

Pasteurization

French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur (1822–1895) pioneered the world's understanding of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization. His research in the 1860s demonstrated that thermal processing would deactivate unwanted and potentially harmful microorganisms, a procedure used widely today in the dairy industry and other food processing industries to achieve food preservation and food safety.