The Georgetown Steam Plant, a surprisingly complete and operable steam power plant after a career of nearly seventy-five years, was built in the early 1900s when Seattle's inexpensive hydroelectric power attracted manufacturers. Much of the power produced at this plant operated the streetcars. It marks the beginning of the end of the reciprocating steam engine's domination in the growing field of electrical energy generation for lighting and power.
Electrical
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Image Caption: Georgetown Steam Hydro Generating PlantEra_date_from: 1906
1980
The Decew Falls Hydro-Electric Development was a pioneering project in the generation and transmission of electrical energy at higher voltages and at greater distances in Canada. On 25 August 1898 this station transmitted power at 22,500 Volts, 66 2/3 Hz, two-phase, a distance of 56 km to Hamilton, Ontario. Using the higher voltage permitted efficient transmission over that distance. The Cataract Power Company of Hamilton Limited (the predecessor to the Dominion Power and Transmission Company) was organized in 1896.
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Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/ontariopowergeneration (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: Decew Falls Hydro-Electric PlantEra_date_from: 1898
2004
On this site during the 1939-45 World War, 12,000 men and women broke the German Lorenz and Enigma ciphers, as well as Japanese and Italian codes and ciphers. They used innovative mathematical analysis and were assisted by two computing machines developed here by teams led by Alan Turing: the electro-mechanical Bombe developed with Gordon Welchman, and the electronic Colossus designed by Tommy Flowers. These achievements greatly shortened the war, thereby saving countless lives.
"SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis) was created at UC Berkeley as a class project in 1969-1970. It evolved to become the worldwide standard integrated circuit simulator. SPICE has been used to train many students in the intricacies of circuit simulation.
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Image Credit: Courtesy UCLAImage Caption: Birthplace of the SPICE Circuit Simulation ProgramEra_date_from: 1969
2011
The 1992 Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to Georges Charpak, France, for his invention and development of detectors in high energy physics. Since 1959 Charpak had worked at CERN, the European laboratory for particle physics situated in the canton of Geneva in Switzerland. Charpak invented the multi - wire proportional chamber at CERN. The pioneering work was published in 1968. Largely due to his work particle physicists have been able to focus their interest on very rare particle interactions, which often reveal the secrets of the inner parts of matter.
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Image Caption: CERN Experimental InstrumentationEra_date_from: 1968
2005
A pioneer in the development of electrical science, Nicholas Joseph Callan was born on 22 December 1799 in Darver, Ireland. He started the priesthood at Navan Seminary, and continued his studies at St. Patrick’s College Maynooth, where he studied natural and experimental philosophy under Dr. Cornelius Denvir. After his ordination as priest in 1823, Callan pursued his doctorate in divinity in Rome, where he became acquainted with Galvani and Volta’s work in the study of electricity, and recognized the potential to put it to practical and commercial use with powerful batteries.
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Image Credit: Public Domain; Produced prior to 1/1/1923Image Caption: Callan's Pioneering Contributions to Electrical Science and TechnologyEra_date_from: 1836
2006
In 1751 Benjamin Franklin published “Experiments and Observations on Electricity, Made at Philadelphia in America.”
Experiments summarized in this booklet determined the existence of positive and negative charges, and the difference between insulators and conductors. This work led to the invention of the lightning rod. Its complete construction was popularized in Poor Richard’s Almanack in 1753. This is the first practical engineering application of electricity.
A unifying theory covering static electricity, lightning, and stored charge was invented.
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Image Credit: Public Domain (Author's Choice)Image Caption: "Experiments and Observations on Electricity" by Benjamin Franklin, currently located at the American Philosophical Society LibraryEra_date_from: 1751
2009
"Benjamin Franklin, American electrician, printer, and diplomat, spent many years on Craven Street. He lived at No. 7 between 1772 and 1775 and at No. 36 from 1757-1762 and again from 1764-1772. During these years, Franklin popularized the study of electricity, performed experiments, and served as an adviser on lightning conductors."
(The plaque may be viewed at the Franklin house museum at 36 Craven St, London, England.)
Franklin, considered one of the founders of modern Physics, was already a famous scientist when he arrived at Craven Street in 1757.
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Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Elliott Brown (CC BY-SA 2.0)Image Caption: The Benjamin Franklin House on Craven Street in London, where Franklin lived for 16 years, and where he did much of his most famous work. Converted into a museum.Era_date_from: 1757
2003
The Bonneville Dam, Columbia River Power and Navigation System consists of 55 major projects on Oregon's Columbia River and is said to be the largest hydroelectric system in the world.
The Columbia River forms part of the border between Washington and Oregon and flows inland through the only waterway that crosses the Cascade Mountains. To harness the energy of the ninth longest river in North America, engineers developed unique design and construction approaches to overcome problems caused by depth of water, current velocity, and an irregularly-shaped river bottom.
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Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Ann Larie Valentine (CC BY-SA 2.0)Image Caption: The impressive power of the Bonneville DamEra_date_from: 1938
1987
This was a pioneering venture in mainline railroad electrification. It established single-phase alternating current as a technical and economical alternative to direct current. This concept exerted considerable influence over subsequent systems both in the United States and abroad. The major components of the system were developed by the engineering staffs of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad and the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company of East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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Image Credit: Courtesy of the New York Public Library.Image Caption: Alternating-Current Electrification of the New York, New Haven & Hartford RailroadEra_date_from: 1907
1982
Innovations
