Skip to main content

2004

Skid Steer Loader
Society: ASABE Main Category: Agricultural & Biological Sub Category: Mechanization Era: 1950-1959 DateCreated: 1957 Bonanzaville Historic Museum West Fargo State: ND Zip: 58078 Country: USA Website: https://www.asabe.org/awards-landmarks/asabe-historic-landmarks/skid-steer-loader-43.aspx Creator: Keller, Cyril and Louis

Brothers Cyril and Louis Keller designed and built the first small, lightweight, three-wheel, front-end loader in their machinist-blacksmith shop in Rothsay, Minnesota. A local farmer wanted to mechanize cleaning manure from his obstacle-filled, two-story turkey barn. The machine, first used in 1957, was able to turn completely around within its own length. Melroe Manufacturing Company, Gwinner, ND purchased the rights to the Keller loader and hired the Kellers to continue development of the loader in 1958.

YearAdded:
2004
Image Credit: Courtesy WikiCommons/Tennen-Gas (CC BY-SA 3.0) Image Caption: A modern skid steer loader, Toyota Jobsun 4SDK6 model Era_date_from:
Air-Inflated, Double-Layer Polyethylene Greenhouse
Society: ASABE Main Category: Agricultural & Biological Sub Category: Structures Era: 1960-1969 DateCreated: 1964 Foran Hall New Brunswick State: NJ Zip: 08901 Country: USA Website: https://www.asabe.org/awards-landmarks/asabe-historic-landmarks/air-inflated-double-layer-polyethylene-greenhouse-44.aspx Creator: Roberts, William J.

A crucial step in the evolution of modern plant agriculture was the development of low-cost, energy-efficient greenhouse structures that provide optimum growing conditions year-round. In 1964, Professor William J. Roberts developed the first air-inflated double-layer polyethylene greenhouse covering system at Cook College, Rutgers University.

YearAdded:
2004
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Dwight Sipler (CC BY 2.0) Image Caption: A cat scales an air-inflated double-layered polyethylene greenhouse Era_date_from:
captured Focke Wulf Fw 190A-3 at the Royal Aircraft Establishment
Society: AIAA Main Category: Aerospace & Aviation Sub Category: Aerospace Era: 1900s DateCreated: 1905 State: Zip: Country: UK Website: Creator:

Farnborough's aeronautical history began in 1905 with the arrival of HM Balloon Factory in 1905, headed by Lt Col J.L.B. Templer. In 1908, the first powered aeroplane flight in Great Britain took place here, piloted by Samuel Cody. In 1912, Lord Trenchard established the first headquarters of the Royal Flying Corps and in 1918 the Royal Aircraft Establishment was founded.

YearAdded:
2004
Image Credit: Image Caption: A captured Focke Wulf Fw 190A-3 at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, with the RAE's chief test pilot, Wing Commander H J "Willie" Wilson at the controls, August 1942. Era_date_from:
James Hart Wyld
Society: AIAA Main Category: Aerospace & Aviation Sub Category: Frontiers of Knowledge Era: 1930s DateCreated: 1930s Denville State: NJ Zip: Country: USA Website: https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/book/10.2514/4.104428 Creator: Wyld, James Hart, Lovell Lawrence, Pendray, George Edward, Pierce, Hugh, Shesta, John

The first company in the United States dedicated solely to the production of the liquid rocket engine, Reaction Motors, Inc. (RMI) was formed in 1941.  Its four founders were rocket enthusiasts and members of the American Rocket Society. RMI developed the rocket motors that powered the first supersonic flight, that of the X-1; the retro rockets for five NASA surveyor lunar soft landers; and prepackaged liquid rocket engines for the U.S. Navy Bullpup A & B air to ground missiles, among many other pioneering programs.

YearAdded:
2004
Image Credit: Courtesy Smithsonian Institution Image Caption: James Wyld, one of the RMI founders, holding a rocket motor at an ARS test in Midvale, New Jersey, 1941. Era_date_from:
SRRC
Society: ACS Main Category: Chemical Sub Category: Era: 1960s DateCreated: 1970s Southern Regional Research Center New Orleans State: LA Zip: Country: USA Website: https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/cottonproducts.html Creator: U.S. Department of Agriculture ARS Southern Regional Research Center

By the 1950s, synthetic fabrics - often wrinkle resistant and flame retardant - began to overtake cotton as the dominant U.S. textile fiber. To reverse this trend chemists and chemical engineers at the Southern Regional Research Center initiated research to modify cotton chemically. Their efforts in developing agents that crosslinked the cellulose fibers and in establishing crosslinking mechanisms led to improved durable press fabrics. SRRC studies also developed new agents that improved the durability of flame retardant cotton to laundering.

YearAdded:
2004
Image Credit: Photo courtesy National Archives and Records Administration. (CC BY 2.0) Image Caption: The Southern Regional Research Center in New Orleans, Louisiana in August 1985. Era_date_from:
LeTourneau "Mountain Mover" Scraper
Society: ASME Main Category: Mechanical Sub Category: Era: 1920-1929 DateCreated: 1922 LeTourneau University Longview State: TX Zip: 75602 Country: USA Website: https://www.asme.org/about-asme/who-we-are/engineering-history/landmarks/231-letourneau-mountain-mover-scraper, https://www.asme.org/getmedia/9a19caec-9336-4263-9b34-6d13ae6b7153/231-LeTourneau-Mountain-Mover-Scraper.aspx Creator: LeTourneau, Robert G.

 When Robert G. LeTourneau started moving earth in 1919, he thought that land leveling should require only one man. In 1920, by installing a generator and electric motors, R.G. was able to control the scraper blade from the tractor seat while driving the tractor.

 In June 1922, LeTourneau developed his “Mountain Mover” with a telescoping bowl. He incorporated a floor behind the cutting edge taken from his previous designs, and employed welding instead of riveting to save weight.

YearAdded:
2004
Image Credit: Image Caption: Era_date_from:
Experimental Breeder Reactor I
Society: IEEE Main Category: Mechanical Sub Category: Nuclear Era: 1950-1959 DateCreated: 1951 EBR-I Building Arco State: ID Zip: 83415 Country: USA Website: http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Milestones:Experimental_Breeder_Reactor_I,_1951 Creator: Zinn, Walter

At this facility on 20 December 1951 electricity was first generated from the heat produced by a sustained nuclear reaction providing steam to a turbine generator. This event inaugurated the nuclear power industry in the United States. On 4 June 1953 EBR-I provided the first proof of "breeding" capability, producing one atom of nuclear fuel for each atom burned, and later produced electricity using a plutonium core reactor.

YearAdded:
2004
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/US Department of Energy Image Caption: The four lit light bulbs demonstrated the first use of nuclear electricity at Argonne National Laboratory. Era_date_from: 1951
Electric Fire Alarm System
Society: IEEE Main Category: Electric Sub Category: Era: 1850-1859 DateCreated: 1852 Boston Fire Department office Boston State: MA Zip: 02115 Country: USA Website: http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Milestones:Electric_Fire_Alarm_System,_1852 Creator: Channing, William, Farmer, Moses

On 28 April 1852 the first municipal electric fire alarm system using call boxes with automatic signaling to indicate the location of a fire was placed into operation in Boston. Invented by William Channing and Moses Farmer, this system was highly successful in reducing property loss and deaths due to fire and was subsequently adopted throughout the United States and in Canada.

YearAdded:
2004
Image Credit: Image Caption: Channing's fire-alarm system at Boston's City Hall in 1852 Era_date_from: 1852
Old Wisla Bridge
Society: ASCE Main Category: Civil Sub Category: Bridges Era: 1850-1859 DateCreated: 1850-1857 Vistula River Tczew State: Zip: Country: Poland Website: http://www.asce.org/Project/Old-Wisla-Bridge/ Creator: Lentze, Carl

Conceived as one of the major structures on the Prussian Eastern Railway, the Old Wisla Bridge at Tczew originally consisted of six wrought iron spans. Due to Germany's invasion of Poland at the beginning World War II in 1939, only three original spans remain today. These remaining spans represent a unique technical monument of civil engineering achievements in the mid-nineteenth century.

YearAdded:
2004
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikicommons/Topory (CC BY-SA 3.0) Image Caption: Old Wisla Bridge Era_date_from: 1850
Society: IEEE Main Category: Electrical Sub Category: Power, Energy & Industry Application Era: 1880-1889 DateCreated: 1886 Cottage and Mill Streets Great Barrington State: MA Zip: Country: USA Website: http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Milestones:Alternating_Current_Electrification,_1886 Creator: Stanley, William
"On 20 March 1886 William Stanley provided alternating current electrification to offices and stores on Main Street in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.
YearAdded:
2004
Image Credit: Image Caption: Alternating Current Electrification Era_date_from: 1886
Subscribe to 2004
The Beckman pH Meter

When Arnold Beckman, a professor of analytical chemistry at the California Institute of Technology, was asked to devise a way to measure acidity in citrus fruit, the resulting “acidometer” revolutionized chemical instrumentation. The innovative features of the pH meter, including its use of…

Read More
Prehistoric Mesa Verde Reservoirs

Four prehistoric reservoirs at Mesa Verde National Park were constructed and used between AD 750 and AD 1180. They are: Morefield Reservoir (in Morefield Canyon), Far View Reservoir (on Chapin Mesa), Sagebrush Reservoir (on an unnamed mesa), and Box Elder Reservoir (in Prater Canyon). These four…

Read More
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
Reuleaux Collection of Kinematic Mechanisms

Kinematics is the study of geometry of motion. Reuleaux designed the models in the Cornell collection as teaching aids for invention, showing the kinematic design of machines. The mechanisms in the collection represent the fundamental components of complex machines and were conceived as elements…

Read More
Ontario Power Generation

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…

Read More
Hwaseong Fortress

Built between 1794 and 1796 by the 22nd King of the Joseon Dynasty, Jeongio, this fortress is an outstanding example of early modern defensive works. Principally designed by Jeong Yak-Yong, it incorporated the most highly developed features of science and engineering from both the east and west…

Read More
Northern Pacific High Line Bridge No 64

The Northern Pacific High Line Bridge No. 64, built between 1907 and 1908, has continued to perform yeoman service in the uninterrupted flow of the Nation's commerce. Nearly, 100 years after this bridge officially opened, it still carries 125-ton car unit coal trains, double stack container…

Read More
"On 20 March 1886 William Stanley provided alternating current electrification to offices and stores on Main Street in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. He thus demonstrated the first practical system for providing electrical illumination using alternating current with transformers to adjust voltage… Read More
Old Wisla Bridge

Conceived as one of the major structures on the Prussian Eastern Railway, the Old Wisla Bridge at Tczew originally consisted of six wrought iron spans. Due to Germany's invasion of Poland at the beginning World War II in 1939, only three original spans remain today. These remaining spans…

Read More
Electric Fire Alarm System

On 28 April 1852 the first municipal electric fire alarm system using call boxes with automatic signaling to indicate the location of a fire was placed into operation in Boston. Invented by William Channing and Moses Farmer, this system was highly successful in reducing property loss and deaths…

Read More
Experimental Breeder Reactor I

At this facility on 20 December 1951 electricity was first generated from the heat produced by a sustained nuclear reaction providing steam to a turbine generator. This event inaugurated the nuclear power industry in the United States. On 4 June 1953 EBR-I provided the first proof of "…

Read More
LeTourneau "Mountain Mover" Scraper

 When Robert G. LeTourneau started moving earth in 1919, he thought that land leveling should require only one man. In 1920, by installing a generator and electric motors, R.G. was able to control the scraper blade from the tractor seat while driving the tractor.

 In June 1922,…

Read More
SRRC

By the 1950s, synthetic fabrics - often wrinkle resistant and flame retardant - began to overtake cotton as the dominant U.S. textile fiber. To reverse this trend chemists and chemical engineers at the Southern Regional Research Center initiated research to modify cotton chemically. Their…

Read More
James Hart Wyld

The first company in the United States dedicated solely to the production of the liquid rocket engine, Reaction Motors, Inc. (RMI) was formed in 1941.  Its four founders were rocket enthusiasts and members of the American Rocket Society. RMI developed the rocket motors that powered…

Read More
captured Focke Wulf Fw 190A-3 at the Royal Aircraft Establishment

Farnborough's aeronautical history began in 1905 with the arrival of HM Balloon Factory in 1905, headed by Lt Col J.L.B. Templer. In 1908, the first powered aeroplane flight in Great Britain took place here, piloted by Samuel Cody. In 1912, Lord Trenchard established the first…

Read More
Air-Inflated, Double-Layer Polyethylene Greenhouse

A crucial step in the evolution of modern plant agriculture was the development of low-cost, energy-efficient greenhouse structures that provide optimum growing conditions year-round. In 1964, Professor William J. Roberts developed the first air-inflated double-layer polyethylene…

Read More
Skid Steer Loader

Brothers Cyril and Louis Keller designed and built the first small, lightweight, three-wheel, front-end loader in their machinist-blacksmith shop in Rothsay, Minnesota. A local farmer wanted to mechanize cleaning manure from his obstacle-filled, two-story turkey barn. The machine, first…

Read More

We hope you enjoyed this essay.

Please support this 70-year tradition of trusted historical writing and the volunteers that sustain it with a donation to American Heritage.

Donate

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