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Hirstory of energy in the US
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First Water wheel in America
First water wheel in America was invented by John Pearson in Pennsylvania in 1643. -
Ben Franklin electricity experiment
Ben Franklin ties key to kite to act as a lightning conductor. -
First Oil well in US
FIrst oil well was discovered by settlers in Caldwell, Ohio looking for salt. They had no use for the oil. -
First Natural Gas well in US
Captain James Wilson hits a natural gas pocket and creates an explosion, in West Virginia. -
Coal is used to power steam locomotives
In Baltimore in 1836 the first steam locomotive was made in America, it ran on coal. Originally called the Andrew Jackson. -
First wind power in America
The world's first automatically operated wind turbine was built in 1888 by Charles F. Brush. It was 60 feet tall with a diameter of 56 feet, weighed 80,000 pounds and had a 12kW dynamo. -
Electric cars in America
In 1897 the first electric cars were put on the streets on New York, but eventually were beat out by gas fueled cars. -
First gasoline car
The Model T Ford was the first car to run on gas, it had a 10 gallon tank for fuel. It was in production from 1908 to 1927. -
Solar energy
The first silicon solar collector was made in 1954. -
Geothermal energy
The first commercial geothermal power plant producing power to the U.S. utility grid opened at The Geysers in California in 1960, producing eleven megawatts of net power -
Electric and Hybrid cars
Electric and Hybrid cars are now starting to make a reappearance in the last 10 years and are growing more popular.
