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1000 BCE
Coal from the Fu-shun mine in northeastern China may have been used to smelt copper as early as 1000 BCE.
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Hugh Platt discovers coke, a charcoal-like substance produced by heating coal.
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Electric Generator
Sir Issac Newton builds an electric generator consisting of a rotating glass sphere. The same year, F. Hawksbee improves the design by using a metal chain to capture the electricity generated by friction -
Offshore Oil Wells
The first offshore oil wells are drilled. -
First Wind Turbine
The first wind turbine to generate energy for an alternating current central power system was placed in service in Grandpa's Knob, Vt. -
First Nuclear Reactor
The first nuclear reactor in England goes into operation at Windscale. -
U.S.Environmental Protection Agency
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is created. -
First Flash Geothermal Plant
UNOCAL builds the country's first flash geothermal plant, generating 10 MW at Brawley, California. -
Electrical Vehicle
General Motors Corp. introduces an Electric Vehicle at the Greater LA Auto Show: the Impact (later refined into the sporty EV1, available for lease as of January 1995). -
The Navajo Tribal Utility Authority
The Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA) announces it is preparing to break ground on its first utility-scale solar plant, a 27.5-megawatt (MW) project on 300 acres in a Navajo community south of Monument Valley, Arizona -
