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Reinforced Concrete-Joseph Moneir
Iron reinforced concrete invented by Joseph Montier revolutionized engineering of structures such as sky skrapers and bridges. This was beneficial to the fast development of urban cities in the northeast in the late 1800s. Monier was from France but his invention affected engineering worldwide. Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2/24/2014
www.britannica.com/technology/reinforced-concrete Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 7/20/1998
www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Monier -
Telephone-Alexander Graham Bell & Thomas Watson
The telephone revolutionized communication forever. Messaging no longer took days or weeks, now you could pick up the phone and instantly talk to someone miles apart. This is one invention that has consistently progressed over time.
Franky Abbott, The Invention of the Telephone>June 23, 2017
https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sets/the-invention-of-the-telephone/ -
Incandescent light
Incandescent light bulb changed the world around it. Many versions of the light bulb date back to 1802. Thomas Edison was first to patent the bulb. Electric light changed homes & factories in the industrial era. Factories were able to run around the clock. As consumer needs have changed so has the light bulb. There have been multiple versions to date. http://www.bulbs.com/learning/history.aspx Matulka & Wood, History of the Light Bulb, 2013
https://energy.gov/articles/history-light-bulb -
Automatic Dishwasher
The dishwasher machine was invented by a woman, Josephine Cochran in 1886. A socialite that was upset that the hired help was always chipping her good china. Her solution: a machine to wash dishes for you. After a lot of trial and error she was successful in selling her invention to hotels and restaurants first. Today, you rarely find a household without an automatic dishwasher Debbie Foulkes
https://forgottennewsmakers.com/2010/04/20/josephine-cochrane-1839-1913-invented-the-dishwasher/ -
First Car in America
Karl Benz of Germany built the first car with an internal combustible gas engine in 1885 but it was Frank Duryea that first mass produced the gas engine car in America. This car was first demonstrated in Massachusetts in 1893. Local travel became more convenient & race car driving was soon introduced as a sport. http://www.automostory.com/first-american-car.htm Biography.com, Karl Benz, April 2, 2014
https://www.biography.com/people/karl-benz-9208256 -
windsheild wipers
Mary Anderson from Alabama was visiting New York and noticed the tram drivers having to stop and wipe the snow from the windshield constantly. She then invented a squeegee on a pulley to wipe the windshield. It patented in 1903 and with a decade it had become a standard feature for cars. Molly Edmonds "Top 10 Things That Women Invented" 12 January 2011.
HowStuffWorks.com. http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/inventions/10-things-that-women-invented.htm 25 June 2017 -
First Flight
By installing a gas powered engine onto a large glider, the first flight was piloted by Orville and William Wright in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in 1903. This was the first step towards aviation travel in America. History.com Staff, Wright Brothers, 2009
http://www.history.com/topics/inventions/wright-brothers National Parks Services, 1903-The First Flight, April 14,2015
https://www.nps.gov/wrbr/learn/historyculture/thefirstflight.htm -
Monopoly Board Game
Designed by Lizzie Magie of Washington D.C., patented in 1904 first known as the Landlord's Game. Game was to teach about the financial injustices between the rich and the poor. Unfortunately, her design was copied by Charles Darrow & sold to Parker Bros. in 1935, his version is what is popular today. Mary Pilon, Smithsonian Mag, Jan. 2015
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/monopoly-was designed-teach-99-about-income-inequality-180953630/ -
Electric Clothes Washer
The first electric washing machine, the Thor, was designed by Alva Fisher in 1908 Chicago. Rotary washing machines had been common since 1878, however this was electric and didn't require manual power. Inventions like this can be credited to the evolution of motors. Mass production of the Thor began in 1908 but it wasn't patented until 1910 https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-washing-machines-1992666 http://www.american-historama.org/1913-1928-ww1-prohibition-era/inventions-in-the-1920s.htm -
Music Radio
Frank Conrad began broadcasting music on radio in Pittsburgh. Popularity led to the first radio station, KDKA, in 1920. Broadcast sport and shows for family entertainment birthed the "Golden Age of Radio". Scott, Carole. “History of the Radio Industry in the United States to 1940″. EH.Net Encyclopedia, edited by Robert Whaples. March 26, 2008. URL http://eh.net/encyclopedia/the-history-of-the-radio-industry-in-the-united-states-to-1940/ -
Drive-in Restaurants
Not all inventions were mechanical at the beginning of the century. America's first drive-in restaurant, Pig Stand, opened in Dallas, TX in October 1921. The invention of the "car-hop" came with it, a term used as the servers would "hop" on the running boards of incoming cars to take orders. Drive-ins contributed to American's fast paced life style today. Last day for Texas' celebrated Pig Stand,2009
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/last-day-for-texas-celebrated-drive-in-pig-stands -
Anesthesia
Discoveries in medical science were thriving in the 1800s. It wasn't until 1923 that ethylene-oxygen anesthetic was first administered at Presbyterian Hospital in Chicago. It provided a level of sedation to be considered as a general anesthetic for surgical procedures. BRUMBAUGH JD. EFFECTS OF ETHYLENE-OXYGEN ANESTHESIA ON THE NORMAL HUMAN BEING. 1928
http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/259017 http://www.histansoc.org.uk/timeline.html -
Talkie
"The Jazz Singer" was the first talking movie released by Warner Bros. Studios in 1927. This would be the end of silent films. Innovations in filming equipment, like the Vitaphone, allowed for sound to be recorded and dubbed to the film during editing. http://www.filmsite.org/jazz.html>June 25, 2017 -
The electric refrigerator is invented.
Jacob Perkins designed the first refrigerator with modified designs from his friend, Oliver Evans. With the new designs and the invention of Freon, families could now keep food in house without the need for ice houses. Jonathan Atteberry "Who invented the refrigerator?" 12 January 2011.
HowStuffWorks.com. http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/inventions/who-invented-the-refrigerator.htm 23 June 2017
