French inventions

propellant used in firearms and artillery

meteorological instrumentation

color

experiment in which information about the test is masked to reduce bias

coffee brewing device

weaving loom controlled by punched cards

type of rolling-element bearing that uses balls to reduce rotational friction and support radial and axial loads

thumb|right|Bananas Foster includes a flambé. thumb|right|Roasted quails flambéed with Cognac

right|thumb|A Springfield Model 1888 rifle with its breech open. right|thumb|Schematic of various forms of locking on breechloading firearms. A breechloader is a firearm or artillery piece in which the user loads the ammunition from the breech (rear) end of the barrel. The vast majority of modern firearms are breech-loaders.

self-contained propulsion system for boats

thumb|The Frecce Tricolori, the aerobatic demonstration team of the [[Italian Air Force, with the smoke trail representing the national colours of Italy, above the Victor Emmanuel II Monument in Rome during the celebrations of the Festa della Repubblica]] thumb|right|Patty Wagstaff show at JeffCo Airport in Denver, Colorado, June 2008

copper-based fungicide

common type of radio receiver that shifts the received signal to an easily-processed intermediate frequency

system of visual communication

upright=1.5|thumb|Operating principle of an optical polarimeter. 1. Light source 2. Unpolarized light 3. Linear polarizer 4. [[Linearly polarized light 5. Sample tube containing chiral molecules under study 6. Optical rotation due to molecules 7. Rotatable linear analyzer 8. Detector]]

Minitel, officially known as TELETEL, was an interactive videotex online service accessible through telephone lines. It was the world's first and most successful mass-market online service prior to the World Wide Web. It was developed in Cesson-Sévigné, Brittany, by government-owned France Télécom.

SCART (also known as or , especially in France, 21-pin EuroSCART in marketing by Sharp in Asia, Euroconector in Spain, EuroAV or EXT, or EIA Multiport in the United States, as an EIA interface) is a French-originated standard and associated 21-pin connector for connecting audio-visual (AV) equipment. The name SCART comes from , "Radio and Television Receiver Manufacturers' Association", the French organisation that created the connector in the mid-1970s. The related European standard EN 50049 was refined and published in 1978 by CENELEC, calling it péritelevision, but it is commonly called by

Daunorubicin, also known as daunomycin, is a chemotherapy medication used to treat cancer. Specifically it is used for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), and Kaposi's sarcoma. It is administered by injection into a vein. A liposomal formulation known as liposomal daunorubicin also exists.

type of structure in coastal engineering

thumb|250px|right|An early phonautograph (1859). The barrel, for receiving sound, is made of plaster of Paris.

Mifepristone, also known by its developmental code name RU-486, is a drug typically used in combination with misoprostol to bring about a medical abortion during pregnancy. This combination is 97% effective during the first 63 days (9 weeks) of pregnancy, and is effective in the second trimester as well. It is also used on its own to treat Cushing's syndrome or in low doses as an emergency contraceptive.

furnace heated by a controlled electric arc

battery with an anode of zinc and a cathode of manganese dioxide

cyclic water pump powered by hydropower

type of safety glass

type of ammunition

300px|thumb|upright=1.6|Flintlock of an 18th-century hunting rifle, with flint missing.

pioneering five-bit character encodings

The ophicleide ( ) is a family of conical-bore keyed brass instruments invented in early 19th-century France to extend the keyed bugle into the lower range. Of these, the bass ophicleide in eight-foot (8′) C or 9′ B took root over the course of the 19th century in military bands and as the bass of orchestral brass sections throughout Western Europe, replacing the serpent and its later upright derivatives. By the end of the 19th century, however, it had been largely superseded, in bands by the euphonium and in orchestras by early forms of the modern tuba, some developed from valved ophicleides.

type of conical projectile for mid 19th century rifles

thumb|upright=1.35|Citroën P17 half-track truck of the early 1930s

engine that produces thrust by expelling reaction mass

Fipronil is a broad-spectrum insecticide that belongs to the phenylpyrazole insecticide class. Fipronil disrupts the insect central nervous system by blocking the ligand-gated ion channel of the GABAA receptor (IRAC group 2B) and glutamate-gated chloride (GluCl) channels. This causes hyperexcitation of contaminated insects' nerves and muscles. Fipronil's specificity towards insects is believed to be due to its greater binding affinity for the GABAA receptors of insects than to those of mammals, and for its action on GluCl channels, which do not exist in mammals. , there does not appear to be s

thumb|upright=1.3|Arithmomètre built by Louis Payen around 1887

Mesotherapy (from Greek mesos, "middle", and therapy from Greek therapeia) is a form of alternative medicine which involves intradermal or subcutaneous injections of pharmaceutical preparations, enzymes, hormones, plant extracts, vitamins, and/or other ingredients such as hyaluronic acid. It has no proven clinical efficacy and poor scientific backing. Mesotherapy injections allegedly target adipose fat cells, apparently by inducing lipolysis, rupture and cell death among adipocytes. The stated aim of mesotherapy is to provide the skin with essential nutrients, hydration, and other beneficial c

early electronic musical instrument

A ramekin (, ; also spelled ramequin) is a small dish used for culinary purposes.

early industrial process for producing sodium carbonate from salt

application of insect and other arthropod biology to forensics

thumb|Adapalene Gel, sold as trade name Differin in China

thumb|280px|Tourbillon movement (:File:Stuhrling Tourbillon Movement.ogv|high resolution)

variety of small blast furnace used for melting pig iron or scrap for foundry purposes

medical procedure to replace a person's face using donor tissue

thumb|right|An 1879 illustration of a praxinoscope thumb|250px|A projecting praxinoscope, 1882 right|300px|thumb|The Théâtre Optique, 1892. This ultimate elaboration of the device used long strips with hundreds of narrative images.

early color photography process

safety glass that holds together when shattered, consisting of multple layers of glass held in place by interlayers

auction which is held over the Internet

thumb|right|Jules Léotard in the garment that bears his name A leotard () is a unisex one-piece skin-tight garment that covers the torso from the crotch to the shoulder. The garment was made famous by the French acrobatic performer Jules Léotard (1838–1870). There are sleeveless, short-sleeved, and long-sleeved leotards. A variation is the unitard, which also covers the legs. It provides a degree of modesty and style while allowing for freedom of movement.

thumb|Early collotype postcard; 1882 in Nuremberg, signed by J. B. Obernetter thumb|Postcard of the "Alte Oper" in Frankfurt, about 1900.

thumb|alt=An EMV credit card|right|220x220px|An EMV credit card

18th century physiocratic economic model

thumb|Flyboarding in Merritt Island, Florida thumb|upright|Athlete Oliver Winger Flyboarding in Grand Rapids, Michigan

alt=Components of an otoscope|thumb|Components of an otoscope thumb|Anatomy of the human ear thumb|Right tympanic membrane as seen through a speculum thumb|A doctor performs an otoscopy examination. An otoscope or auriscope is a medical device used by healthcare professionals to examine the ear canal and eardrum. This may be done as part of routine physical examinations, or for evaluating specific ear complaints, such as earaches, sense of fullness in the ear, or hearing loss.

form of road pricing imposed on vehicles

proportional counter that detects charged particles and photons

small-format photographs affixed to card stock, popular in the mid-19th century

power hammer

rubber-tired people mover

thumb|A view of a Fenestron tail rotor on a Eurocopter EC120B

type of firearm cartridge where the firing pin crushes the primer located in the rim of the cartridge to fire it