-
First coal minning in US
In 1748, the first commercial coal production began from mines around Richmond, Virginia. Coal was used to manufacture shot, shell, and other war material during the Revolutionary War. -
Fist well
In 1821, the first well specifically intended to obtain natural gas was dug in Fredonia, New York by William Hart. After noticing gas bubbles rising to the surface of a creek, Hart dug a 27-foot well to try and obtain a larger flow of gas to the surface. Hart is regarded by many as the 'father of natural gas' in America. -
First electric motor
After the patent was granted on this date in 1837, Davenport became an evangelist for electric power, attempting to build electric trains, streetcars and a model electric car — the first of its kind. -
First solar energy
Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel known as Edmond Becquerel, was a French physicist who studied the solar spectrum, magnetism, electricity and optics. He is credited with the discovery of the photovoltaic effect, the operating principle of the solar cell, in 1839. -
First oil rig drilled
On August 28, 1859, George Bissell and Edwin L. Drake made the first successful use of a drilling rig on a well drilled especially to produce oil, at a site on Oil Creek near Titusville, Pennsylvania. -
First corn oil
Corn oil came into existence in the year 1898 and was mainly used for cooking. This oil, which was first recognized as mazoil, was first extracted by Theodore and Benjamin Hudnut. -
First air conditioning
n 1902, the first modern electrical air conditioning unit was invented by Willis Carrier in Buffalo, New York. After graduating from Cornell University, Carrier, a native of Angola, New York, found a job at the Buffalo Forge Company. While there, Carrier began experimenting with air conditioning as a way to solve an application problem for the Sackett-Wilhelms Lithographing and Publishing Company in Brooklyn, New York, and the first "air conditioner", designed and built in Buffalo by Carrier, be -
Geothermal energy start
Electricity from geothermal energy had a modest startin 1904 at Larderello in the Tuscany region of northwesternItaly with an experimental 10 kW-generator. Today, this formof renewable energy has grown to 8771 MW in 25 countriesproducing an estimated 54,793 GWh/yr. -
Hoover dam opens
On this day in 1936, harnessing the power of the mighty Colorado River, Hoover Dam begins sending electricity over transmission lines spanning 266 miles of mountains and deserts to run the lights, radios, and stoves of Los Angeles. -
First nuclear power plant in US
In 1957, Shippingport, along the Ohio River in far western Pennsylvania, became home to America's first commercial nuclear power plant under President Dwight D. Eisenhower's "Atoms for Peace" program. Just two decades later, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) converted the Beaver County plant to a light water breeder reactor that successfully demonstrated the feasibility of using thorium and uranium 233 fuel to "breed" more fuel than it consumed in generating electricity.
