inventions and innovations. fyi: life in the 1860s no indoor electric lights no refrigeration in...
Post on 13-Jan-2016
216 Views
Preview:
TRANSCRIPT
Inventions and Innovations
FYI: Life in the 1860s
• No indoor electric lights
• No refrigeration
• In 1860, most mail from the East Coast took ten days to reach the Midwest and three weeks to get to the West Coast. A letter from Europe to a person on the frontier could take several months to reach its destination.
FYI: Life in the 1900s• Power stations across the country
began providing electricity for lamps, fans, printing presses, and many other appliances.
• By 1900, there were 1.5 million telephones in use all over the country, and Western Union Telegraph was sending roughly 63 million messages.
Patents• License to make, use, or sell an invention
1790-1860, 36,000 issued
1860-1890, 500,000 issued
Your task is to . . .
• Identify the item that is patented.
• Decide if it is for business/industrial use or personal use.
Thomas A. Edison
• Setup research lab
• created a system for producing and distributing electrical power
Edison
• Perfected the light bulb
Edison
• Developed the phonograph
Edison
• Developed the motion
picture camera!
Edison Freaks Out the
President!• Even though President
Harrison was quite the “modern” President!
Benjamin Harrison (President 1889-1893)
George Westinghouse
• Made electricity safer and less expensive.
• More effective air brakes for trains
•Developed a way to transmit it long
distances.
Other Key Inventions• Electric sewing
machine
• Cameras (hand-held)
• Refrigerator
Meanwhile, back on the farm…• Mechanical
Reapers• Sod busting
plows• Mechanized
tractorsMeans less help was needed on
the farm
Your Turn!Let’s check out some statistics about
Inventions and Innovations
Inventions and Innovations
Part 2Making Metal for New Machinery
Making Metal for New MachineryThe Old Way:
What is happening here?
Making Metal for New Machinery• Iron Puddler was responsible for heating the iron to the proper
temperature to burn out impurities leaving wrought iron
• He has control of the final product, not the owner of the factory
The Bessemer Process - 1856
• Henry Bessemer patented the process making the production of steel easier and cheaper.
The Bessemer ProcessEQUALS
Mass Production in steel industry
Process involves injecting air into molten iron to burn off excess carbon and other impurities.
Products Made of Iron
From the Vulcan Museum,
Birmingham, AL (a huge iron producing
region)
Due to the Bessemer Process, a new age of building began to sweep the nation!
•The Brooklyn Bridge, designed with steel cables suspended from high towers, was made possible by mass production.
Skyscrapers!Strong steel (plus
elevators) mean that America’s teeming cities can now grow upwards!
Elevatorsby Elijah Otis
• It took another innovation to
begin the transformation of
cities
“Old-timer – keeping up with the boys. Many structural workers are above middle-age.” Lewis Hine
Construction worker on lunch break while building the RCA Building at Rockefeller Center, 1932
Because of SteelThe Railroad Industry
Expands!Railroads help revolutionize business
and industry several ways!
Rollin’, Rollin’, Rollin’• On May 10,
1869, the transcontinental railroad, extending from coast to coast, was finished with the hammering of a golden spike at Promontory, Utah.
Railroads and Industry1. Provided a faster and practical way to
transport goods
2. Lowered the costs of producing goods
3. Created national markets for buying goods
4. Encouraged innovation in other industries
And They Standardized Time!
• In 1883, the railroads adopted a national system of time zones to improve scheduling. a system we still use today.
top related