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1949

(not pictured)
Society: ASMEMain Category: Civil, Electric, MechanicalEra: 1950-1959DateCreated: 1949Was located at 1715 Belle Isle Blvd, Oklahoma CityState: OKCountry: USACreator: Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company

 The Belle Isle gas turbine was installed in 1949 and was the first gas turbine built in the United States for the purpose of generating electric power. Its low cost and consistency aroused considerable interest in the electric utility industry, both here and abroad.

UC-Blackwelder Tomato Harvester
Society: ASABEMain Category: Agricultural & BiologicalEra: 1950-1959DateCreated: 1949Western Center for Agricultural EquipmentDavisState: CAZip: 95616Country: USAWebsite: https://www.asabe.org/awards-landmarks/asabe-historic-landmarks/uc-blackwelder-tomato-harvester-45.aspxCreator: Hanna, Jack

In 1942, University of California, Davis (UCD) biologist, Jack Hanna recognized the need for breeding tomato varieties that ripen uniformly and withstand the rigors of mechanical harvesting. In 1949, UCD agricultural engineer Coby Lorenzen and Hanna began developing a mechanical tomato harvester. Parallel efforts by others, notably those started in 1957 by agricultural engineer Bill Stout and horticulturist Stan Ries of Michigan State University, eventually resulted in several different harvesting mechanisms. In the late 1950s, UCD agricultural engineer Steven J.

YearAdded:
2005
paints
Society: ACSMain Category: ChemicalEra: 1940sDateCreated: 1949PhiladelphiaState: PACountry: USAWebsite: https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/acrylicemulsion.htmlCreator: Rohm and Haas [now The Dow Chemical Company]

Developed by Rohm and Haas in the 1940s, water-based acrylic emulsion technology filled a need for easy-to-use household paints for a growing suburban population in the United States following World War II. This aqueous technology required less preparation to use, was easier to clean up, had less odor, and performed better than or equal to paints made with solvents. It was also a leap forward in acrylic chemistry.

YearAdded:
2008
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/United Soybean Board (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: From plastics to paints it changed our world
Greens Bayou Generator Plant
Society: ASMEMain Category: Electric, MechanicalSub Category: SteamEra: 1940-1949DateCreated: 194913300 West Bellfort AvenueHoustonState: TXZip: 77099Country: USAWebsite: https://www.asme.org/about-asme/who-we-are/engineering-history/landmarks/154-greens-bayou-generator-plantCreator: Sinton, Walton

On April 21, 1949, a completely outdoor turbine-generator was placed into commercial operation at the Greens Bayou electric power plant--the first fully outdoor unit to operate in the United States. The demand for unprecedented quantities of electricity after World War II pressed utilities to provide addition power quickly. The outdoor design, unlike the traditional large turbine hall, resulted in significant reductions in the cost per kilowatt to build the plant.

YearAdded:
1991
Image Credit: Courtesy ASMEImage Caption: Greens Bayou Generator PlantEra_date_from: 1949
Garfield Thomas Water Tunnel
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalSub Category: Research and DevelopmentEra: 1940-1949DateCreated: 1949Applied Research LaboratoryState CollegeState: PAZip: 16801Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-m-z/mechanical-power-production-water/-188-garfield-thomas-water-tunnel-%281949%29Creator: U.S. Navy

The Garfield Thomas Water Tunnel is a unique experimental facility for hydrodynamic research and testing. The 48-inch (1.2-meter) diameter water tunnel enables the research staff to conduct basic and applied investigations in the fields of cavitation, hydroacoustics, turbulence, transition, hydrodynamic drag, and hydraulic and subsonic turbomachinery. Instrumentation and testing methods have been developed to study noise, vibration, vehicle dynamics, and the interaction between the propulsor and vehicle body.

YearAdded:
1996
Image Credit: Courtesy WikiCommons/CyberXRef (CC BY-SA 3.0)Image Caption: Entrance to the Garfield Thomas Water TunnelEra_date_from: 1949
Society: ASMEMain Category: Electric, MechanicalSub Category: SteamEra: 1940-1949DateCreated: 1949 Plant of General Electric CoSchenectadyState: NYZip: 12306Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-a-l/electric-power-production-steam/-100-belle-isle-gas-turbine-%281949%29, http://files.asme.org/asmeorg/Communities/History/Landmarks/5501.pdfCreator: Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company
This unit, retired from the Belle Isle Station of the Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company, was the first gas turbine to be used for electric utility power generation in the United States. It represents the transformation of the early aircraft gas turbine, in which the engines seldom ran more than ten hours at a stretch, into a long-life prime mover. This redesign was based upon creep-rupture tests of S-816 cobalt-base alloys for turbine buckets. The low-cost trouble-free service led to wide-scale adoption of the gas turbine, over 45 million kilowatt capacity (over 9 percent of U.S.
YearAdded:
1984
Image Credit: Image Courtesy of ASMEImage Caption: Belle Isle Gas Turbine on static display in Schenectady, New YorkEra_date_from: 1949
Society: ASMEEra: 1940-1949DateCreated: 1949The Maritime & Seafood Industry MuseumBiloxiState: MSZip: 39530Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-a-l/food-processing/-230-the-lapeyre-automatic-shrimp-peeling-machine-, http://files.asme.org/asmeorg/Communities/History/Landmarks/12731.pdfCreator: Lapeyre, James Martial
The growth of the shrimp processing industry and its impact on local economies along the northern Gulf of Mexico, The U.S. West Coast and in more than forty other countries is largely attributable to the “machine that peels shrimp,” invented by sixteen year old James Martial Lapeyre from Houma, Louisiana,. The current Laitram Machinery Model A Automatic Shrimp Peeler is virtually identical to the first unit that was put into commercial use in 1949. Each machine peels approximately 1,000 pounds of shrimp an hour, ranging in size from 10 to 200 count per pound.
YearAdded:
2004
Image Credit: Courtesy ASMEImage Caption: Lapeyre Automatic Shrimp Peeling MachineEra_date_from: 1949
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Innovations

The growth of the shrimp processing industry and its impact on local economies along the northern Gulf of Mexico, The U.S. West Coast and in more than forty other countries is largely attributable to the “machine that peels shrimp,” invented by sixteen year old James Martial Lapeyre from Houma,… Read More
This unit, retired from the Belle Isle Station of the Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company, was the first gas turbine to be used for electric utility power generation in the United States. It represents the transformation of the early aircraft gas turbine, in which the engines seldom ran more than… Read More
Garfield Thomas Water Tunnel

The Garfield Thomas Water Tunnel is a unique experimental facility for hydrodynamic research and testing. The 48-inch (1.2-meter) diameter water tunnel enables the research staff to conduct basic and applied investigations in the fields of cavitation, hydroacoustics, turbulence, transition,…

Read More
Greens Bayou Generator Plant

On April 21, 1949, a completely outdoor turbine-generator was placed into commercial operation at the Greens Bayou electric power plant--the first fully outdoor unit to operate in the United States. The demand for unprecedented quantities of electricity after World War II pressed utilities to…

Read More
paints

Developed by Rohm and Haas in the 1940s, water-based acrylic emulsion technology filled a need for easy-to-use household paints for a growing suburban population in the United States following World War II. This aqueous technology required less preparation to use, was easier to clean up, had…

Read More
UC-Blackwelder Tomato Harvester

In 1942, University of California, Davis (UCD) biologist, Jack Hanna recognized the need for breeding tomato varieties that ripen uniformly and withstand the rigors of mechanical harvesting. In 1949, UCD agricultural engineer Coby Lorenzen and Hanna began developing a mechanical tomato…

Read More
(not pictured)

 The Belle Isle gas turbine was installed in 1949 and was the first gas turbine built in the United States for the purpose of generating electric power. Its low cost and consistency aroused considerable interest in the electric utility industry, both here and abroad. This led ultimately to the…

Read More

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