9 Everyday Inventions That Caused Widespread Panic

4. Light Bulbs Will Let Baddies Spy On You

You might wonder how a light bulb could possibly have corrupted the hearts and minds of the general population when it was first unleashed on the public in the 1800s, but it wasn't so much what the lightbulbs were doing, so much as what they were revealing about their owners.

As well as all of the usual worries regarding fire hazards and explosions (which, to be fair, were entirely justified in the early days of electricity), they thought that light bulbs would give peeping toms a much easier time, but illuminating the goings on of the home - particularly when just the women and children were in.

Apparently, it finally dawned on people to draw the curtains, rather than eschew a world-changing invention.