Capture pumps either temporarily or permanently remove and store gases from a vacuum system by pumping mechanisms including chemisorption, physisorption, and particle implantation on pumping surfaces. All or only some of these pumping mechanisms might come into play depending on the type of capture pump. Momentum transfer pumps, having no inherent capacity limitation, whisk gases through their innards, compressing the gases for removal at a pump outlet. Because capture pumps retain pumped gases, they have inherent capacity limitations. Developments of capture pumps focused on improving both the capacity and throughput of these pumps. Some of the major advances in the development and use of capture pumps in the last fifty years are given. Specifically, comments are included on the developments of nonevaporable getters, sputter-ion pumps, titanium sublimation pumps, and cryopumps during this period. (C) 2003 American Vacuum Society.