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1920-1929

Riverside Laboratory
Society: ACSMain Category: ChemicalSub Category: Cradles of ChemistryEra: 1920-1929DateCreated: 1921Riverside LaboratoryMcCookState: ILCountry: USAWebsite: https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/uoplaboratory.htmlCreator: Dubbs, Carbon Petroleum (C. P.) , Halle, Hiram

This research and development complex was established by the founders of Universal Oil Products (later named UOP) to develop key products for the oil-refining industry. The processes created here profoundly affected the refining, treatment and conversion of crude oil and the development of the petroleum and petrochemical industries. Conceived as a combination of quiet academic retreat and industrial plant, Riverside attracted many of the world's leading petroleum scientists and a dedicated support team. Between 1921 and 1955, Riverside research resulted in 8,790 U.S. and foreign patents.

YearAdded:
1995
Image Credit: Courtesy ACSImage Caption: A laboratory at RiversideEra_date_from: 1921
Travel Air Airplane Manufacturing Company in Wichita
Society: AIAAMain Category: Aerospace & AviationSub Category: ManufacturingEra: 1920-1929DateCreated: 1925130 N Webb Rd
Beech Factory Landing Field
WichitaState: KSZip: 67206Country: USAWebsite: https://www.aiaa.org/HistoricAerospaceSites/Creator: Cessna, Clyde , Beech, Walter

The Travel Air Airplane Manufacturing Company served as the incubator in which Wichita Kansas’ present-day status as the world’s “Air Capital” first developed. The firm was among the first viable airplane manufacturers to be established in Wichita (1925). It also was responsible for four aviation legends firmly establishing themselves in Wichita and forming the nexus between Wichita and world aviation: Walter Beech, Olive Ann Mellor (later Olive Ann Beech), Clyde Cessna, and Lloyd Stearman.

YearAdded:
2006
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/RuthAS (CC BY 3.0)Image Caption: Travel Air Airplane Manufacturing Company in WichitaEra_date_from: 1925
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalSub Category: Minerals Extraction & RefiningEra: 1920-1929DateCreated: 1922Cameron World HeadquartersHoustonState: TXZip: 77041Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-m-z/minerals-extraction-and-refining/-227-first-ram-type-blowout-preventer-%28bop%29-%281922%29Creator: Abercrombie, James, Cameron, Harry
This mechanism allowed the manual closing of a well, saved lives and prevented surface oil accumulation at drilling sites, quickly becoming an industry standard. In the early days of oilfield operations, there was no way to control the underground pressures encountered during drilling. When an oil or gas reservoir was tapped, wells were allowed to "blow out" until pressure was reduced sufficiently to allow capping. Many inventors attempted to develop a device to control such blowouts. In 1922, oil wildcatter James Smither Abercrombie (1891-1975) and machinist Harry S.
YearAdded:
2003
Image Credit: Original Image: Flickr/Ed Schipul (CC BY-SA 2.0)Image Caption: A modern Blowout Preventer (BOP)Era_date_from: 1922
Foundation of Polymer Science by Hermann Staudinger
Society: ACSMain Category: ChemicalSub Category: Frontiers of KnowledgeEra: 1920-1929DateCreated: 1926-1956University of FreiburgFreiburg im BreisgauZip: 79117Country: GermanyWebsite: https://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/staudingerpolymerscience/foundation-of-polymer-science-by-herman-staudinger-commemorative-booklet.pdfCreator: Staudinger, Hermann

In the years 1926 to 1956, the German chemist Hermann Staudinger carried out his pathbreaking research on macromolecular chemistry in Freiburg. His theories on the polymer structures of fibers and plastics and his later research on biological macromolecules formed the basis for countless modern developments in the fields of materials science and biosciences and supported the rapid growth of the plastics industry. For his work in the field of polymers, Staudinger was awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1953.

YearAdded:
1999
Image Credit: Original Image: Public Domain; Produced prior to 1/1/1969 (SWEDISH)Image Caption: Hermann StaudingerEra_date_from: 1926
Newark Airport
Society: ASCEMain Category: Aerospace & Aviation, CivilSub Category: AviationEra: 1920-1929DateCreated: 1928 Liberty International Airport (EWR)NewarkState: NJZip: 07114Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Newark-Airport/Creator: Many

In May 1927, the same month of Charles A. Lindbergh's famous transatlantic flight from New York to Paris, a fact-finding commission appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce concluded that Newark would be the ideal location for an airfield to serve the greater New York/New Jersey metropolitan area.

Civic leaders wasted no time; construction began on the Newark Airport in January 1928. Nine months and $1,750,000 later, 68 acres of soggy marshland had been filled and converted to an airport.

YearAdded:
1978
Image Credit: Courtesy sections.asce.orgImage Caption: The Newark Airport, a pioneering major airport with its 1,600-foot runway, was one of the first hard surfaced runways to be constructed at any municipal airport in the United States and, as such, it served as prototype for today's modern airport runway.Era_date_from: 1928
Navajo Bridge
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: BridgesEra: 1920-1929DateCreated: 1929Marble CanyonPageState: AZZip: 86036Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Navajo-Bridge/Creator: Arizona Highway Department

Navajo Bridge spans Marble Canyon, 470 feet above the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park. It was considered the highest steel arch bridge in America when completed.

The Navajo Bridge (also known as the Grand Canyon Bridge) was built in 1929 by the Arizona Highway Department and provided a vital transportation link over the Grand Canyon between northern Arizona and southern Utah. Construction commenced by building on one side of the canyon, then on the other, until the two sides met in the middle.

YearAdded:
1997
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Frank Kovalchek (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: Navajo BridgeEra_date_from: 1929
Moffat Tunnel
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Tunnels, Water Supply & ControlEra: 1920-1929DateCreated: 1928Thru the Continental DivideNederlandState: COZip: 80466Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Moffat-Tunnel/Creator: Moffat, David , Moffat Tunnel Improvement District

Known as "the highest and lowest holing in history," the tunnel bored through the Rockies at an elevation of 9,200 feet, 2,800 feet below the surface. Eight hundred men worked around the clock for 3 1/2 years, moving 3 billion pounds of rock. 

YearAdded:
1979
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Bradley Gordon (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: Moffat TunnelEra_date_from: 1928
Society: ASMEMain Category: Mechanical, ElectricSub Category: WaterEra: 1920-1929DateCreated: 1929Metropolitan Edison Power Co.MuhlenbergState: PAZip: 19605Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-a-l/electric-power-production-water/-57-kaplan-turbine-%281929%29Creator: Kaplan, Viktor
This Kaplan turbine is one of the first three machines to be put into service in the United States. Named for its Austrian inventor, Viktor Kaplan (1876-1934), the turbine was an outstanding innovation, operating with a high, nearly constant efficiency over a wide load range. The machine was built by S. Morgan Smith Company of York, Pennsylvania.
YearAdded:
1980
Image Credit: Public Domain (United States Arm0Image Caption: Kaplan TurbineEra_date_from: 1929
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalSub Category: Environmental ControlEra: 1920-1929DateCreated: 1920Hudson River Greenway; ManhattanNew YorkState: NYCountry: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-a-l/environmental-control/-93-holland-tunnel-ventilation-system-%281920%29Creator: Freeman, Milton
The first long underwater tunnel in the world designed for motor vehicle use was built from 1920 to 1927. The 29.5-foot-diameter, 8,500-foot-long twin tubes of this tunnel were shield-driven by the pneumatic method through extremely difficult river-bottom conditions that were overcome by the ingenuity and determination of its engineers, Clifford M. Holland, Milton H. Freeman, and Ole Singstad. They were the largest in the United States when built.
YearAdded:
1984
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Bill Benzon (CC BY-SA 2.0)Image Caption: Holland Tunnel Ventilation SystemEra_date_from: 1920
Goodyear Airdock
Society: ASCEMain Category: Aerospace & AviationSub Category: AviationEra: 1920-1929DateCreated: 1929 Fulton International Airport (AKC)AkronState: OHZip: 44306Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Goodyear-Airdock/Creator: Arnstein, Karl , Wilbur Watson Engineering Company

Wind dynamics were a major consideration in building such a huge structure. When winds blow against the building, they are deflected up over the roof, creating a partial vacuum that can draw the roof up with a force several times greater than the direct force of the wind. Wind tunnel testing on a model helped designers decide that a semi-parabolic shape would best resolve air current concerns.

YearAdded:
1980
Image Credit: Public Domain (National Park Service)Image Caption: Goodyear AirdockEra_date_from: 1929
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Innovations

Ann Arbor Baler

Designated an Historic Landmark of Agricultural Engineering. In the Shelbyville Area During the Spring of 1929, Raymore McDonald Designed and Developed the First Commercial Pick-Up Baler as Conceived and Financed by Horace Tallman and His Sons, Leslie R. and Gentry L. These Balers were…

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FMC Sterilizer

The Food Canning Industry Was Revolutionized In 1920, When The Continuous Rotary Pressure Sterilizer Was Introduced By Albert R. Thompson. Thompson Was Chief Engineer For The Anderson-Barngrover Co. Of San Jose, California, Now The FMC Corporation. The Sterilizer Cooked Canned Products…

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In 1926, Ives Hall, the original Agricultural Engineering Building at The Ohio State University, Columbus, was designated as ASAE's first engineering landmark in honor of department founder and 18th president of ASAE Fredrick Walter Ives. Frederick W. Ives 1884 - 1924.

Ives Hall was on…

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Parshall Flume

Since the beginning of irrigated agriculture, it has been important to measure flows of irrigation water. Accuracy of early water measurement methods often suffered because of trash or sediment in the water, or unusual flow conditions. Ralph L. Parshall saw this problem when he began…

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Rubber Tractor Tires

Early tractors were massive and expensive. Their steel lug wheels gave poor traction and a rough ride. Lugs were prohibited on many roads. 1926 Hoyle Pounds modified a Fordson tractor with zero pressure truck tires on special rims to improve performance on sandy soils in Winter…

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The Edger station was the first steam electric plant produced that could tolerate over 1000 psi of pressure. Initially conceived by Mr. Irving Edwin Moultrop, then Assistant Superintendent, Construction Bureau of the Edison Electric Illuminating Company of Boston. He guided his company and the…

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