The apprentice of the Royal Geographer to King George III, John Spilsbury’s unique geography teaching aid would become his best known invention. Transferring a map of the world onto wood and carving out each country, students of geography learned the subject by assembling the first jigsaw puzzle.

He made his first puzzle in 1767 and went on to turn the world, continents, and countries into puzzles. The business this invention spawned was passed on to his wife after his death.