Skip to main content

2000

Graham-Hoeme Chisel Plow
Society: ASABEMain Category: Agricultural & BiologicalSub Category: Equipment, TillageEra: 1930sDateCreated: 1933HookerState: OKZip: 73945Country: USAWebsite: https://www.asabe.org/awards-landmarks/asabe-historic-landmarks/graham-hoeme-chisel-plow-38.aspxCreator: Hoeme, Fred

Preventing Wind Erosion Was The Primary Objective Of Fred Hoeme, a Hooker, Oklahoma Farmer, When He Developed A Heavy-Duty Chisel Plow In 1933. Hoeme And His Sons Manufactured And Sold About 2000 Plows From Their Farmstead. In 1938, W. T. Graham Purchased The Manufacturing And Distribution Rights And Established Manufacturing In Amarillo, Texas. The Graham-Hoeme Plow, Marketed As "The Plow To Save The Plains", Was Sold Worldwide.

YearAdded:
2000
Image Caption: Graham-Hoeme Chisel Plow was the forerunner for a variety of modern chisel plow designs, such as this one.
The instrument panel of the Spirit of St. Louis
Society: AIAAMain Category: Aerospace & AviationSub Category: Frontiers of KnowledgeEra: 1920sDateCreated: 1920-19272701 Midway DrSan DiegoState: CACountry: USAWebsite: https://info.aiaa.org/tac/ETMG/HISTC/Shared%20Documents/01-0304%20Dutch%20Flats%20bro.pdfCreator: Ryan, Claude, Lindbergh, Charles

On this site, which was the Dutch Flats Airport, Charles A. Lindbergh made the first flight of his Spirit of St. Louis airplane, constructed in 60 days by dedicated employees of Ryan Airlines, Inc.  The 20-minute flight on 28 April 1927 was witnessed by those who built the aircraft. Lindbergh describes the flight:

YearAdded:
2000
Image Caption: The instrument panel of the Spirit of St. Louis
 Dr. Robert H. Goddard and a liquid oxygen-gasoline rocket at Auburn, Massachusetts.
Society: AIAAMain Category: Aerospace & AviationSub Category: AerospaceEra: 1920-1929DateCreated: 192620 Upland StreetAuburnState: MACountry: USAWebsite: https://www.aiaa.org/uploadedFiles/Education_and_Careers/STEM_K-12_Outreach/Kids_Place/Rockets_Activities/Pop%20Rockets%20Activity%5B1%5D.pdfCreator: Goddard, Dr. Robert H.

On March 16, 1926 Dr. Robert H. Goddard, also known as "the father of modern rocketry," launched the world’s first liquid propellant rocket from a point 1000 feet S.S.E. of the plaque on the property of the Asa M. Ward Family.  Erected by the American Rocket Society July 13, 1960 in recognition of this significant achievement in the evolution of astronautics.

YearAdded:
2000
Image Caption: Dr. Robert H. Goddard and a liquid oxygen-gasoline rocket at Auburn, Massachusetts
Society: IEEEMain Category: ElectricEra: 1860-1869DateCreated: 1866County KerryCountry: IrelandWebsite: http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Milestones:County_Kerry_Transatlantic_Cable_Stations,_1866
The discoveries of electricity in the latter half of the 18th Century, and its close connection with magnetism, were the products of earlier experiments, which in turn led to the invention of the electric telegraph. Telegraphy had connected the interior of the United States, and it also connected Europe together. However, connecting the Americas and Europe proved to be a challenge. Due to the electric current that ran through the cable lines, insulation and waterproofing was necessary.
YearAdded:
2000
Image Credit: Courtesy IEEEImage Caption: The County Kerry Cable StationsEra_date_from: 1866
Forth & Clyde Canal and Union Canal
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Water TransportationEra: 1750-1799DateCreated: 1768-1790Forth to Bowling on the Clyde, ScotlandGlasgowCountry: UKWebsite: http://www.asce.org/project/forth---clyde-canal/Creator: Smeaton, John

It took 22 years to complete the 35-mile waterway, as funding problems caused the work to shut down from 1777 to 1785.  

The notion of creating a canal that crossed Scotland was conceived in the 17th century during the reign of Charles II, but would not be realized for nearly 100 years.  The Forth and Clyde Canal, known as The Great Canal in its early years, was the first major transportation project in Scotland and the world's first man-made, sea-to-sea ship canal.   

YearAdded:
2000
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/Michel Van den Berghe (CC BY-SA 2.0) Image Caption: The Forth and Clyde Canal, known as The Great Canal in its early years, was the first major transportation project in Scotland and the world's first man-made, sea-to-sea ship canal. Era_date_from: 1768
Seventh Street Improvement Arches
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: BridgesEra: 1880-1889DateCreated: 1883St. PaulState: MNZip: 55117Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/project/seventh-street-improvement-arches/Creator: Truesdell, William A.

Designed by William A. Truesdell, a railroad engineer, the Seventh Street Improvement Arches celebrates the engineering application of mathematics to improve living conditions.

YearAdded:
2000
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/Elkman (CC BY-SA 3.0) Image Caption: Designed by William A. Truesdell, a railroad engineer, the Seventh Street Improvement Arches celebrates the engineering application of mathematics to improve living conditions.Era_date_from: 1883
First Aerojet Manufacturing Site
Main Category: Aerospace & AviationSub Category: AerospaceEra: 1940-1949285 W Colorado BlvdPasadenaState: CAZip: 91105Country: USAWebsite: https://info.aiaa.org/tac/ETMG/HISTC/Shared%20Documents/Historic%20Aerospace%20Sites%20(HAS)/Procedures%20and%20templates/Sites-by-state-plaque-wording.docCreator: Von Karman, Theodore

On Colorado Blvd in Pasadena in 1942, the Aerojet Engineering Company founded the first manufacturing facility for the production of rocket propulsion systems. This site was selected to be honored by AIAA because of its significance as one of the first production sites for rocket motors, laying part of the foundation for the rocket business. Production was done under the leadership of Aerojet's first president, Dr. Theodore von Karman, world-renowned scientist and engineer from the California Institute of Technology. The plant remained here until 1945.

YearAdded:
2000
Image Caption: The original Aerojet manufacturing facility no longer exists. Early rockets produced by Aerojet included the Aerobee Hi rocket, flown in 1946 to an altitude of 37 miles. It is on display and test fired the first complete Aerobee from the White Sands Proving Grounds in New Mexico in 1947. It reached an altitude of 34.7 miles.
Link C-3 Flight Trainer
Society: ASMEMain Category: Aerospace & AviationSub Category: AviationEra: 1930-1939DateCreated: 1935Roberson Museum and Science Center

BinghamtonState: NYZip: 13905Country: USAWebsite: https://www.asme.org/about-asme/who-we-are/engineering-history/landmarks/210-link-c-3-flight-trainerCreator: Link, Edwin

During the 1920s, Edwin A. Link was employed in his father's organ building and repair business. He obtained his pilot's license in 1927 and became convinced that a mechanical device could be built as an inexpensive method to teach basic piloting. Link received three patents on his flight trainer (No. 1,825,462, March 12, 1930; No. 2,244,464, June 3, 1941; and No. 2,358,016, Sept. 12, 1944).

YearAdded:
2000
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/Tony SpeerImage Caption: An early flight simulator representative of the first truly effective mechanical device used to simulate actual flight processes.Era_date_from: 1935
West Baden Springs Hotel
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: BuildingsEra: 1900-1909DateCreated: 1901West Baden SpringsOrange CountyState: INZip: 47469Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/West-Baden-Springs-Hotel/Creator: Albright, Harrison , Westcott, Oliver

The steel dome stretches 200 feet in diameter and rises 100 feet at its top. To accommodate thermal expansion, the inverted bowl-shaped structure originally rested on rollers that sat on the flat tops of six-story columns

There was a time when Americans from the Eastern seaboard braved long rail trips to southern Indiana in hopes that the water at the French Lick natural mineral springs could bring relief from alcoholism, pimples, gallstones and a host of other ailments and illnesses.

YearAdded:
2000
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Bulldog23 (CC BY-ND 2.0)Image Caption: West Baden Springs HotelEra_date_from: 1901
USS Albacore
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalSub Category: Water TransportationEra: 1950-1959DateCreated: 1953 Submarine Memorial AssociationPortsmouthState: NHCountry: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-m-z/water-transportation/-209-uss-albacore-%281953%29, https://www.asme.org/getmedia/04c57e57-f78e-461b-84c1-858a60d0be89/209-USS-Albacore-1953.aspxCreator: David Taylor Model Basin, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard

The USS Albacore (AGSS-569) represented a radical change in submarine design. The hull was designed with underwater speed as the prime requirement, and it was built with newly developed high-strength steel (HY-80). In addition to these two major innovations, the Albacore served as a test vessel for many new designs in submarine technology so that they could be refined before implementing them into the fleet. Among them was the testing of various control designs and correlation of actual sea-trial performance with that predicted in tow-tank tests.  

YearAdded:
2000
Image Caption: USS AlbacoreEra_date_from: 1953
Subscribe to 2000

Innovations

Discovery of Helium in Natural Gas

Working in Bailey Hall on December 7, 1905, Hamilton P. Cady and David F. McFarland discovered significant amounts of helium in a natural gas sample from Dexter, Kansas. Cady and McFarland subsequently analyzed more than 40 other gas samples, showing that helium, previously thought to be rare on…

Read More
Muskingum River Navigation System

Most of the locks were 184 feet long and 36 feet wide, able to handle boats up to 160 feet long. The sandstone locks (along with wood miter gates, rock-filled timber-crib dams and bypass canals with guard gates) created a slackwater navigation system stretching over 90 miles.  

Read More
Cedar Falls Water Supply

Requests for public power in Seattle began in the late 1890s and lead to the voter approval for building the Cedar Falls Water Supply hydroelectric dam plant in 1902. The first municipally developed and owned hydroelectric plant in the United States began operation in October 1904. The facility…

Read More
Between its opening in 1888 and the mid-1920s, Georgia Tech took a leading role in transforming mechanical engineering education from a shop-based, vocational program to a professional one built on rigorous academic and analytical methods. Led by John Saylor Coon (1854-1938), a founding member of… Read More
Hagia Sophia

The church of Hagia Sophia (literally "Holy Wisdom") in Constantinople, now Istanbul, was first dedicated in 360 by Emperor Constantius, son of the city's founder, Emperor Constantine. Hagia Sophia served as the cathedra, or bishop's seat, of the city. Originally called Megale Ekklesia (Great…

Read More
Discovery of Oxygen by Joseph Priestly

When Joseph Priestley discovered oxygen in 1774, he answered age-old questions of why and how things burn. An Englishman by birth, Priestley was deeply involved in politics and religion, as well as science. When his vocal support for the American and French revolutions made remaining in his…

Read More
Nucleic Acid and Protein Chemistry Research at Rockefeller University

For more than a century, scientists at Rockefeller University have enhanced our understanding of the molecular basis of life — specifically the relationship between the structure and function of nucleic acids and proteins. They showed that DNA transfers genetic information and that the sugars…

Read More
Discovery of Organic Free Radicals by Moses Gomberg

In 1900, Moses Gomberg, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Michigan, confirmed the existence of a stable, trivalent organic free radical: triphenylmethyl. In so doing, he challenged the then prevailing belief that carbon could have only four chemical bonds. Gomberg’s discovery made a…

Read More
Refrigeration Research Museum

This collection includes many examples of advances in mechanical refrigeration for residential and commercial applications, dating from about 1890 to 1960. Such devices dramatically improved food storage safety and convenience and set high standards for mechanical reliability. The RRM collection…

Read More
JR Central 700 Series Shinkansen set C40 on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen between Kakegawa and Shizuoka Station

The Tokaido Shinkansen, the world's first inter-city, high-speed railway system, began operations on its route of over 500 kilometers between Tokyo and Osaka more than thirty years ago, in 1964. After its establishment, the Tokaido Shinkansen made a major contribution to Japan's rapid post-war…

Read More
Tokaido Shinkansen

In 1964, Shinkansen (which means "new trunk line" and is also known as the bullet train) between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka became the world's first high-speed railway system, running at a maximum business speed of over 200 km/h (130-160 mph). 

The nose profile, starting with the original…

Read More
USS Albacore

The USS Albacore (AGSS-569) represented a radical change in submarine design. The hull was designed with underwater speed as the prime requirement, and it was built with newly developed high-strength steel (HY-80). In addition to these two major innovations, the Albacore served as a…

Read More
West Baden Springs Hotel

The steel dome stretches 200 feet in diameter and rises 100 feet at its top. To accommodate thermal expansion, the inverted bowl-shaped structure originally rested on rollers that sat on the flat tops of six-story columns

There was a time when Americans from the Eastern seaboard braved…

Read More
Link C-3 Flight Trainer

During the 1920s, Edwin A. Link was employed in his father's organ building and repair business. He obtained his pilot's license in 1927 and became convinced that a mechanical device could be built as an inexpensive method to teach basic piloting. Link received three patents on his flight…

Read More
First Aerojet Manufacturing Site

On Colorado Blvd in Pasadena in 1942, the Aerojet Engineering Company founded the first manufacturing facility for the production of rocket propulsion systems. This site was selected to be honored by AIAA because of its significance as one of the first production sites for rocket motors, laying…

Read More
Seventh Street Improvement Arches

Designed by William A. Truesdell, a railroad engineer, the Seventh Street Improvement Arches celebrates the engineering application of mathematics to improve living conditions.

The construction of these arches presented a number of challenges. Since Seventh Street intersected the St.…

Read More
Forth & Clyde Canal and Union Canal

It took 22 years to complete the 35-mile waterway, as funding problems caused the work to shut down from 1777 to 1785.  

The notion of creating a canal that crossed Scotland was conceived in the 17th century during the reign of Charles II, but would not be realized for nearly 100…

Read More
The discoveries of electricity in the latter half of the 18th Century, and its close connection with magnetism, were the products of earlier experiments, which in turn led to the invention of the electric telegraph. Telegraphy had connected the interior of the United States, and it also connected… Read More
 Dr. Robert H. Goddard and a liquid oxygen-gasoline rocket at Auburn, Massachusetts.

On March 16, 1926 Dr. Robert H. Goddard, also known as "the father of modern rocketry," launched the world’s first liquid propellant rocket from a point 1000 feet S.S.E. of the plaque on the property of the Asa M. Ward Family.  Erected by the American Rocket…

Read More
The instrument panel of the Spirit of St. Louis

On this site, which was the Dutch Flats Airport, Charles A. Lindbergh made the first flight of his Spirit of St. Louis airplane, constructed in 60 days by dedicated employees of Ryan Airlines, Inc.  The 20-minute flight on 28 April 1927 was witnessed by those who built the aircraft.…

Read More

We hope you enjoyed this essay.

Please support America's only magazine of the history of engineering and innovation, and the volunteers that sustain it with a donation to Invention & Technology.

Donate

Stay informed - subscribe to our newsletter.
The subscriber's email address.