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"Discovery" of Electricity
Benjamin Franklin conducts his famous kite experiment in Philadelphia. He successfully extracts electrical sparks from a cloud. -
First Electric Motor
Michael Faraday invents the first electric motor, and Thomas Davenport creates a version of it in the United States. -
Streetlights are lit with Gas from Coal
Baltimore, Maryland is the first city int he United States to light its street lights with fuel produced from coal. -
First Commercial Oil Well is Created
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. -
Standard Oil is Established
Standard Oil, an American oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company, was created. At the time, it was the largest oil refiner in the world -
The World's First Hydroelectric Power Plant Began Operation
The world's first hydroelectric power plant began operation on the Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin. The plant was later named the Appleton Edison Light Company. -
World's First LNG Plant Opens
The world's first Liquified Natural Gas Plant opens in West Virginia in 1912 and begins operation in 1917. -
DIscovery of the Largest Oil Field in the USA
The East Texas Oil Field is discovered. It is the largest oil field to date in the lower 48 states of the US. -
First Commercial Nuclear Power Plant
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. -
Natural Gas Act is Passed
Congress passes the Natural Gas Act, which allows the Federal Power Commission to regulate the rates for interstate natural gas sales and to restrict interstate pipeline construction.