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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
Wright Field 5-foot Wind Tunnel
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalSub Category: Air and Space TransportationEra: 1920-1929DateCreated: 192188th Air Base Wing Office of Public AffairsWright-Patterson Air Force BaseState: OHZip: 45433Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-a-l/air-and-space-transportation/-183-wright-field-5-foot-wind-tunnel-%281921%29, https://www.asme.org/getmedia/5fe3daaf-75a3-4eb8-b5a7-da95fdc2413e/183-Wright-Field-5-Foot-Wind-Tunnel.aspxCreator: Air Service Engineering Division

Wind tunnel testing of aircraft models is essential to determine aerodynamic parameters such as lift and drag. The 5-foot Wright Field wind tunnel is an early example of the modern wind tunnel, well known from the early 1920s to the late 1950s for its contributions to research and the development of nearly every major aircraft and associated hardware used by the US Air Force and its predecessor, the Army Air Service.

YearAdded:
1995
Image Credit: Courtesy ASMEImage Caption: This is an early example of the "modern" wind tunnel for aircraft-model testing. Era_date_from: 1921
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalSub Category: PumpingEra: 1890-1899DateCreated: 1890sYork Water CompanyYorkState: PAZip: 17401Country: USAWebsite: https://www.asme.org/about-asme/who-we-are/engineering-history/landmarks/77-worthington-horizontal-cross-compound-pumping, https://www.asme.org/getmedia/8943cdf5-6cab-4567-b165-42f489334684/77-Worthington-Horizontal-Cross-compound-Pumping.aspxCreator: Corliss, George H.

Smaller and cheaper than a triple-expansion vertical engine, the horizontal cross-compound pumping engine, Pump No. 2, ran at relatively slow revolutions and was considered the height of engineering from the 1890s to World War I. This pumping engine at the York Water Company was built by the Worthington Pump & Machinery Corporation, Snow-Holly Works, Buffalo, New York.

YearAdded:
1982
Era_date_from: 1890s
Xerography
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalSub Category: Communications and Data ProcessingEra: 1940-1949DateCreated: 1948Battelle Memorial InstituteColumbusState: OHZip: 43201-2693Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-a-l/communications-and-data-processing/-88-xerography-%281948%29-, https://www.asme.org/getmedia/540c9932-b7e2-4884-8060-de35b8146064/88-Xerography.aspxCreator: Carlson, Chester

The convenient dry-copying process for printed pages is among the truly revolutionary inventions of the century. In 1937 Chester Carlson, a New York patent attorney, developed the concept of applying an electrostatic charge on a plate coated with a photoconductive material. On November 22, 1938, Carlson dusted powder dyed with evergreen spores across an exposed plate and transferred the imprint to the surface of a paper.

YearAdded:
1983
Image Credit: Courtesy Xerox CorporationImage Caption: XerographyEra_date_from: 1948
Wright Flyer III
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalSub Category: Air and Space TransportationEra: 1900-1909DateCreated: 1905 Aviation Heritage Natl Hist ParkDaytonState: OHZip: 45409Country: USAWebsite: https://www.asme.org/about-asme/who-we-are/engineering-history/landmarks/224-wright-flyer-iii, https://www.asme.org/getmedia/3764d124-ce32-4335-bbac-24836c780066/224-Wright-Flyer-III.aspxCreator: Wright, Wilbur, Wright, Orville

The 1905 Wright Flyer III, built by Wilbur (1867-1912) and Orville (1871-1948) Wright, was the world's first airplane capable of sustained, maneuverable flight. Similar in design to their celebrated first airplane, this machine featured a stronger structure, a larger engine turning new "bent-end" propellers, and greater control-surface area for improved safety and maneuverability.

YearAdded:
2003
Image Credit: Public Domain (Copyright Expr.)Image Caption: Wright Flyer IIIEra_date_from: 1905
Corliss steam engine
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalSub Category: SteamEra: 1960-1969DateCreated: 19641300 Frenchtown RdEast GreenwichState: RIZip: 02818Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-a-l/electric-power-production-steam/-164-new-england-wireless-and-steam-museum, https://www.asme.org/getmedia/311b4c58-18b4-4842-9f8b-18a866e6ad13/164-New-England-Wireless-and-Steam-Museum.aspxCreator: Merriam, Robert

Stationary steam engines, once the prime movers of industry, powered trains, ships, and mills in an age when there was no electric power. By the 19th century, American industry, especially in England, was rapidly outgrowing the capacity of the ater power that had been its principal prime mover. The need for a new power source inspired an intense development of the steam engine, the work of inventors directed mainly at imporving fuel efficiency by reducing steam consumption. The leader in this effort was George H.

YearAdded:
1992
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikicommons/The-daffodil (CC BY-SA 4.0)Image Caption: Corliss steam engineEra_date_from: 1964
Wilkinson Mill
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalSub Category: ManufacturingEra: 1800-1829DateCreated: 181067 Roosevelt AvenuePawtucketState: RIZip: 02860Country: USAWebsite: https://www.asme.org/about-asme/who-we-are/engineering-history/landmarks/30-wilkinson-mill, https://www.asme.org/getmedia/30a934f4-2025-47f2-ae87-760d94fe33d3/30-Wilkinson-Mill.aspxCreator: Wilkinson, David , Wilkinson, Oziel

The Wilkinson Mill, situated on the west bank of the Blackstone River in Pawtucket, was built between 1810 and 1811 by machinist Oziel Wilkinson. Constructed in stone rubble, three and one-half stories high, the mill played a critical role in the history of textile technology, in steam power generation, and in the development of the machine tools industry.

 

YearAdded:
1977
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/H.C. Williams (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: Wilkinson MillEra_date_from: 1810
Westmoreland Iron Works
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalSub Category: ManufacturingEra: 1850-1859DateCreated: 185050 Station RoadWestmorelandState: NYZip: 13490Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-m-z/manufacturing---2/-126-westmoreland-iron-works-%281850%29Creator: Clark, Erastus , Buell, Abel

The history of this foundry, which was the oldest malleable iron company in continuous operation in the United States for many years, was inseparable from that of the small town of Westmoreland, where neighbors and workers kept time by the foundry bell. The firm was founded as Oakhill Malleable Iron Company in 1833 and was established under its present name in Westmoreland in 1850. Erastus W. Clark, who along with his brother-in-law Abel Buell brought the foundry to Westmoreland, ran the ironworks until 1871 and was the first of six generations who still own and manage it.

YearAdded:
1987
Image Credit: Courtesy ASMEImage Caption: Westmoreland Iron WorksEra_date_from: 1850
Watkins Woolen Mill
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalSub Category: ManufacturingEra: 1860-1869DateCreated: 1868Watkins Woolen Mill State ParkKearneyState: MOZip: 64060Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-m-z/manufacturing---1/-43-watkins-woolen-mill-%281868%29, https://www.asme.org/getmedia/705d5611-da21-47b3-b584-1e33e1c0b9df/43-Watkins-Woolen-Mill.aspxCreator: Watkins, Waltus

The Watkins Woolen Mill is among the best preserved examples of a Midwest woolen mill in nineteenth-century United States. Its machinery for preparing, spinning, and weaving wool reflects the existence of well-established textile industry in the country. It was designed and built by Waltus L. Watkins (1806-1884), a machinist and master weaver from Frankfort, Kentucky, who began operating his mill in 1861 in Clay County.

YearAdded:
1980
Image Credit: Public Domain (National Park Service)Image Caption: Watkins Woolen MillEra_date_from: 1868
Voyager Spacecraft Interplanetary Explorers
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalSub Category: Air and Space TransportationEra: 1970-1979DateCreated: 1972Pioneer RdFlintridgeState: CAZip: 91011Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-a-l/air-and-space-transportation/-171-voyager-spacecraft-interplanetary-explorers-%28Creator: NASA

The Voyager explorers, which provided scientists and the world with the first detailed pictures of faraway planets, were designed and tested during 1972 to 1977. The two most intelligent machines ever built in the NASA space program, the explorers were launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., in 1977. Voyager 2 was launched first on August 20, followed by Voyager 1 on September 5.

YearAdded:
1993
Image Credit: Courtesy ASMEImage Caption: Voyager Spacecraft Interplanetary ExplorersEra_date_from: 1972
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Innovations

The Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy Railroad was the first railroad to link Chicago and the Mississippi River, in the 1850s. This forty-stall roundhouse, large even for its time, became a major center for railroad activity for the CB&Q. It served as a repair and construction facility from…

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Fossil Creek meanders ten miles to the Verde River, dropping some 1,600 feet during its course and, at the turn of the century, enticed miners in the copper-rich Irving area to use a new technology -- hydroelectric power. A seven-mile series of flumes brings the water from a dam below Fossil Spring… Read More
Clyde's mill is a rare survivor of a once-commonplace seasonal rural industry. Until recently a cider mill could be found in every community where apples were grown. In the fall, mills converted the fruit of the orchard into drink just as the grist mill converted the grain into flour. Although… Read More
Formerly known as the Oneida Street Power Plant, this plant served from 1918 to 1920 as the pilot plant in the United States for the development and use of finely pulverized coal firing in the boilers of steam-electric power plants. The results of the Oneida experiences were major changes in boiler… Read More
Colvin Run Mill is an early 19th century operating gristmill, closely modeled on the principles developed by Oliver Evans (1755-1819). Powered by a waterwheel, the restored mill was probably built on or after 1811 on the site of an older mill. Originally, the site was the property of George… Read More

The use of heat pumps for the heating and cooling of the Commonwealth Building, initiated in 1948, was a pioneering achievement in the western hemisphere. The theoretical conception of the heat pump was described in a neglected book, published in 1824 and written by a young French army officer,…

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Early internal combustion engines produced only a few horsepower and were unable to replace steam engines in most applications until about 1890. By then, they were powerful enough for most portable or remote locations and many small manufactures. By 1900, they were replacing reciprocating steam…

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Cooper-Bessemer Type GMV Integral-Angle Gas Compressor

This compressor was a product of the combined technology and design heritage of both the C. & G. Cooper Company of Mount Vernon and the Bessemer Gas Engine Company of Pennsylvania, which had merged in 1929. Ralph L. Boyer, the chief architect of the GMV, worked for Cooper-Bessemer from 1926…

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Cooper Steam Traction Engine Collection

These engines, built by Cooper & Co., of Mount Vernon are among the oldest surviving agricultural steam engines to show the evolution from the portable, skid-mounted engine (ca. 1860) to the horse-drawn engine (1875), through the self-propelled but horse-guided engine (1875) and finally to…

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The Cooperative Fuel Research (CFR) engine is used extensively throughout the world for testing, research, and instruction in the performance of fuels and lubricants for the internal combustion engine. Principal design work on this prototype engine was accomplished by engineers of Waukesha Motor…

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While Thomas Edison perfected the first practical and durable filament in 1879, it was not until much later that electricity left the laboratory to become the universal source of light. This required a tremendous number of glass envelopes for light bulbs. In the 1890s the top speed of the finest… Read More
When erected by Peter Grubb to smelt the rich iron ore of the nearby Cornwall ore banks, this stone-built blast furnace was typical for its time, producing about 20 tons of pig-iron and cast-iron products a week. A major reconstruction in 1856 to 1857 produced important changes: the furnace itself… Read More
The introduction of steam-powered forging hammers by French and British engineers of the 1830s led to the building of this impressive hammer at Creusot that delivered blows to shape and strengthen iron and steel objects before forging. It was for years the most powerful steam hammer in the world.… Read More
Although bottled carbonated beverages were popular by the 1880s, sealing the bottle was a constant problem. Most "stoppers" were of metal and intended for reuse. None sealed adequately, and contact with the cap often contaminated the drink. In 1892 (Feb 2), William Painter (1838-1906) patented a… Read More
Cruquius Pumping Station

This is one of three nearly identical pumping stations that drained the Haarlemmermeer (Haarlem Lake), 1849- 52, then continued to maintain the polder's water table for more than 80 years. The Haarlemmermeer area covers 45,000 acres (about 70 square miles) in a triangular region between the…

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The David Taylor Model Basin is among the largest facilities of its kind in the world, containing a shallow water basin, a deep water basin and a high-speed basin. Using its sophisticated combination of towing carriages, wave makers, and measuring equipment, engineers are able to determine the sea-… Read More
Detroit Edison District Heating System

The concept of heating a number of buildings in the core area of a city from a single heating plant was introduced into the United States by Birdsill Holly at Lockport, New York, in 1877. The gain in thermal efficiency of a single large steam plant over a series of small isolated boilers led to…

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The Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) was recognized as an ASME Mechanical Engineering Historic Landmark in 2008. Its development began in 1977 with the forming of a small team at Texas Instruments headed by noted physicist Larry Hornbeck. Texas Instruments was given a project from the Department… Read More
Disney engineers designed this monorail system based on the system developed by Axel Wenner-Gren of the Alweg Company in Cologne, West Germany. Wenner-Gren ran his experimental monorail in 1952 on a level track, and when adopted by Disney in 1959, it was designed to simulate the terrain typical of… Read More
Duquesne Incline

Designed by Sam Diescher, son-in-law of the Monongahela's designer John Endres, the Duquesne Incline opened May 20, 1877, as the second of seventeen built and operated in the Pittsburgh area. It has operated with only minor interruptions for the last one hundred years. A preservation group from…

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