The word itself started showing up at the dawn of Modern English in the 16th century, Shakespeare’s time, with Latin origins. In 1890, John Carter wrote a book with the subtitle “Architectural innovation.”

By 1972, “innovation” was already a more commonly published word than its longtime cousin “invention,” according to Google Books.

Innovation has been adopted by economic policy circles with the advent of the consumer web, but it’s had peaks before. Philadelphia, too, has had a long history with the concept.

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