technology and industrial development

By miniphini

  • The Lightning Rod

    1752 Lightning Rod
    Benjamin Franklin's electricity experiments lead him to a valuable application -- the lightning rod, which when placed at the apex of a barn, church steeple, or other structure, conducts lightning bolts harmlessly into the ground.

  • Water Frame

    Richard Arkwright invented the water frame, which was powered by running water.

  • Steam Powered Textile Mill

    Arkwright built a steam powered textile mills.

  • Cotton Gin

    1794 Cotton Gin
    Eli Whitney patents his machine to comb and deseed bolls of cotton. His invention makes possible a revolution in the cotton industry and the rise of "King Cotton" as the main cash crop in the South, but will never make him rich. Instead of buying his machine, farmers built bogus versions of their own.

  • Interchangable Parts

    1797 Interchangeable Parts
    Eli Whitney contracts to manufacture 10,000 muskets for the U.S. Army. At the time, an entire musket would be made by a single person, without standardized measurements. Whitney divided the labor into several discrete steps and standardized parts to make them interchangeable.

  • Steam Powered Pumping Station

    1801 Steam-Powered Pumping Station
    The Fairmount Water Works harnesses steam power to provide water for the city of Philadelphia.

  • Coffee Pot

    1806 Coffee Pot
    Coffee drinkers the world over no longer have to chew their brew. Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, invents a coffee pot with a metal sieve to strain away the grounds

  • Steam Boat

    Robert Fulton, an American inventor, used a steam engine to power a boat. He created the seam boat called the Clermont.

  • Plough

    1814 Plough
    Farmers had furrowed the rocky soil of New England with wooden-tipped ploughs. John Jethro Woods of Poplar Ridge, New York, creates a plough with a replaceable cast-iron tip, making farming in America easier

  • Erie Canal

    Work began on the Erie Canal which would allow boats to travel from the Hudson river to Lake Erie.

  • Telegraph

    Samuel F.B. Morse invvented the telegraph. He sent electric signals over a wire. A code devised by Morse used short and long bursts of electricity to represent letters of the alaphabet.

  • Revolver Colt

    To finance the development of his "six shooter," Samuel Colt traveled the lecture circuit, giving demonstrations of laughing gas. Colt's new weapon failed to catch on, and he went bankrupt in 1842 at age 28. He reorganized and sold his first major order to the War Department during the Mexican War in 1846, and went on to become rich.

  • Sewing Machine

    Walter Hunt invents the first lock-stitch sewing machine, but loses interest and does not patent his invention. Later, Elias Howe secures patent on an original lock-stitch machine, but fails to manufacture and sell it. Still later, Isaac Singer infringes on Howe's patent to make his own machine, which makes Singer rich. Hunt also invents the safety pin, which he sells outright for $400.

  • Passenger Elevator

    1857 Passenger Elevator
    Elisha Graves Otis dramatically demonstrates his passenger elevator at the Crystal Palace Exposition in New York by cutting the elevator's cables as it ascends a 300 foot tower. Otis' unique safety braking system prevents the elevator from falling; his business prospects rise.

  • Battle of the Ironclads

    1862 Battle of the Ironclads
    For the first time, two armored ships battle each other at sea. The Union Monitor, designed from scratch by John Ericsson, features a two-cannon revolving turret and eight-inch plate armor. The Confederate Merrimac, a wooden hulled ship hastily outfitted with iron plates, holds it own against the Monitor. The two battle to a draw

  • Telephone

    1876 Telephone
    Alexander Graham Bell patents his telephone, built with the assistance of young self-trained engineer Thomas A. Watson. Elisha Gray, who developed a similar device at about the same time, will unsuccessfully challenge Bell's patent.

  • Lightbulb

    Backed by $30,000 in research funds provided by investors including J.P. Morgan and the Vanderbilts, Thomas Edison perfects an incandescent light bulb. The first commercial incandescent system will be installed at the New York printing firm of Hinds and Ketcham in January, 1881.

  • Submarine

    1898 Submarine
    The J.P. Holland torpedo boat company launches the first practical submarine, commissioned by the U.S. Navy. The test is successful. Holland gets orders for six more.