A gyroscope is a device that is used to produce a stable direction in space. Basically, it consists of a spinning wheel/ball, called a rotor, and a support system. When the rotor is set in motion, the gyroscope resists any attempt to change the direction of rotation. So, the gyroscope is used in flights and navigation instruments to determine the position and direction of the plane/ship. This device is also used in missiles, satellites and space vehicles.
The first gyroscope was developed by a German inventor G. C. Bohnenberger in 1810. In 1852, Joan Faucault, a French scientist used it to prove that the Earth rotates about its axis. It was he who gave the device its name.
Developments went on and in the 1950s was developed an electrically suspended gyroscope. Its rotor keeps suspending in vacuum and rotates by magnetic forces.
Later on, laser gyroscope was developed which uses no rotor but two laser beams that travel in opposite direction and show the required direction.