Imagine the skyline of a modern city if the elevator did not exist. Buildings would be limited to five or six stories. Most of the architecture of the 20th and 21st century would be impossible. Office towers, hotels and high-rise apartments would hardly stand in their present form. The need for vertical transport is as […]
Is it not remarkable to know that development of explosives has shaped man’s history in general and man’s life in particular? Traditionally, Chinese invented gunpowder before the Christian Era. But, when Europeans started using it in 14th century, its use spreaded into rest of the world.Conventional gunpowder is a mixture of potassium nitrate (saltpeter), charcoal,
Electricity has fascinated humankind since our ancestors first witnessed lightning. In ancient Greece, Thales observed that an electric charge could be generated by rubbing amber, for which the Greek word is ‘Electron’.The German physicist Otto von Guericke experimented with generating electricity in 1650. The English physicist Stephen Gray discovered electrical conductivity in 1729. The American
The first dishwasher was patented in 1850 by Joel Houghton; his machine was a hand-turned wheel that splashed water on dishes. Unfortunately, it wasn’t very effective at washing dishes. The first working automatic dishwasher was invented by Josephine Garis Cochran, of Shelbyville, Illinois, in 1889. Her dishwasher was a wooden tub with a wire basket
In 1953, Remington-Rand developed the first highspeed printer for use on the Univac computer. In 1938, Chester Carlson invented a dry printing process called electro photography commonly called a Xerox, the foundation technology for laser printers to come. The original laser printers called EARS was developed at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center in California,
Douglas Engelbart changed the way computers worked, from specialized machinery that only a trained scientist could use, to a user-friendly tool that almost anyone can use. He invented, and contributed to several interactive, use-friendly devices including the computer ‘mouse’, which revolutionized the way we use computers.The first computer mouse was invented in 1963-64 as part
An American, James T. Russell, invented the digital compact disc, now commonplace in stereos and computers. When Russell worked at the General Electric company in 1965, he envisioned a system that would record and replay sounds without physical contact between its parts. He saw that the best way to achieve such a system was to
It was a prohibition law, enacted in Atlanta in 1886, that persuaded physician and chemist Dr. John Stith Pemberton to rename and rewrite the formula for his popular nerve tonic, stimulant and headache remedy, ‘Pemberton’s French Wine Coca/ sold at that time by most, if not all, of the city’s druggists. So when the new
Cricket is believed to have originated in England in 15th century. In the old newspapers of 1700 we can see the advertisements of cricket matches. The first recorded country cricket match was played in 1719. By 1750 the pitch was fixed as 22 yards long with a two stump wicket, 22 inches high, and 6
During the early history of modern America, colonists learnt from local Red Indians how to chew the gum—like resin formed on spruce trees when the bark was cut. Lumps of spruce gum were sold in the Eastern U.S. in the early 1800’s, making it the first crude commercial chewing gum sold. Modern day gum products
Chess is called ‘the royal game’ because it is considered the king of games. It is probably the oldest game known, some people claiming that it is 5,000 years old!The name ‘chess’ is derived from the Persian word shah, meaning ‘king’. And the word ‘checkmate’ is derived from Persian shah mat, meaning ‘the king is
Cement The Assyrians and Babylonians used clay as the bonding substance or cement. The Egyptians used lime and gypsum cement. In 1756, British engineer, John Smeaton made the first modern concrete by adding pebbles as coarse aggregate and mixing powdered brick into cement. In 1824, English inventor, Joseph Aspdin invented Portland cement, which has remained
Cellular telephone is a type of short-wave analog or digital telecommunication in which a subscriber has a wireless connection from a mobile telephone to a relatively nearby transmitter. The transmitter’s span of coverage is called a cell. As the cellular telephone user moves from one cell or area of coverage to another, the telephone is
The development of the first masking tape in the early 1920s showed just how gifted American Dick Richard G. Drew was in devising practical solutions to customer needs.But Drew was not one to rest on his laurels—or to neglect the ever-changing concerns of 3M customers. Naturally, then, Drew went straight to work when he learned
Jacques Brandenberger, a Swiss textile engineer was dinning at a restaurant when he saw a bottle of wine being spilt all over the tablecloth. That was in 1908. Brandenberger thought that it would be a good idea to develop a material that he could coat over cloth to make it waterproof.He experimented, and finally came