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Energy Use In The United States

By shautchloe

  • First Steam Engine Invented

    First Steam Engine Invented
    Thomas Savery, an English military engineer and inventor, patented the first steam engine. He based it on Denis Papin's Digester of pressure cooker in 1679. Exact date unknown.

  • Benjamin Franklin Discovers Electricity

    Benjamin Franklin Discovers Electricity
    In 1752, on a stormy day, Benjamin Franklin raised a kite with a key tied near his hand. He could feel the electric shock of the lightning go through his body. Ben had proven and understood lightning/electricity. Later that year, he invented the lightning rod.

  • First Fuel Cell

    First Fuel Cell
    William Robert Grove developed the first fuel cell, which produced electrical by combining hydrogen and oxygen. Exact Date Unknown.

  • First Hydroelectric Power Plant

    First Hydroelectric Power Plant
    On September 30, 1882, the first hydroelectric power plant began operation on the Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin. The plant was later named the Appleton Edison Light Company and was initiated by an Appleton paper manufacturer named H.J. Rogers.

  • The Invention of the First Windmill For Generating Electricity

    The Invention of the First Windmill For Generating Electricity
    Charles F. Brush built the world’s first automatically operated wind turbine in his backyard.The turbine was built in the winter of 1887. It stood 60 feet high, weighed 80,000 pounds, and supported a rotor of 56 feet in diameter. Exact Date Unknown.

  • First Solar Cell

    First Solar Cell
    Charles Fritts constructed the first true solar cell. He coated a semiconductor material with an extremely thin layer of gold. The efficiency were only about 1%, so it couldn't be used as energy supply, but were later used as light sensors. Exact Date Unknown.

  • First Solar Powered Car

    First Solar Powered Car
    In 1955, William G. Cobb of the General Motors Corporation demonstrates his 15-inch-long "Sunmobile," the world's first solar-powered automobile, at the General Motors Powerama auto show held in Chicago, Illinois.

  • First Commercial Nuclear Power Plant

    First Commercial Nuclear Power Plant
    On May 26, 1958 the first commercial nuclear power plant in the United States, Shippingport nuclear power plant, was opened by President Dwight D. Eisenhower as part of his Atoms for Peace program.

  • First Large-scale Geothermal Plant

    First Large-scale Geothermal Plant
    The country's first large-scale geothermal electricity-generating plant begins operation. It is located at The Geysers. Pacific Gas and Electric operates the plant.

  • Geothermal Energy Assocation Formed

    Geothermal Energy Assocation Formed
    The Geothermal Energy Association is formed in 1972. The association includes U.S. companies that develop geothermal resources worldwide for electrical power generation and direct-heat uses.