The first electric air conditioner was invented by Willis Carrier in 1902. Prior to this the electric fan was the way to keep cool. Willis Carrier was born in 1876 in New York. He graduated from Cornell University in 1901 with a BS in engineering. Carrier got a job at the Buffalo Forge Company after graduating. While working at the Forge Company Carrier worked to solve the problem the Sackett-Wilhelms Lithographing and Publishing Company was having with the heat from the printers. The printers at the printer company were heating up the room and making conditions unbearable. Carrier designed and built the first air conditioner in buffalo, July 17 1902. Carrier’s air conditioner controlled not only the air temperature but the humidity as well. Carrier continued to work at the Forge Company until he and several investors formed the Carrier Engineering Corporation in New York in 1915. By the 1920’s large skyscrapers started using the air conditioning to cool the large metal towers. In 1926 Carrier introduce the first home air conditioning unit. At this time only the wealthy could afford to spend on air conditioning. In the late 1920’s with the depression it drove Carriers business to close. Carrier then form the Carrier Corporation in New Jersey and three other city’s. That lasted till 1937 when Carrier consolidated the businesses and moved back to New York where his company became the largest employer. Following World War Two the air condition business took off and soon every house had one. Carrier died October 7 1950 in New York. He left a lasting impact on society. As of 2007 The Carrier Corporation had sales of over 15 billion and had employed over 45,000 people.

Sources:

http://www.carrier.com/carrier/en/us/about/willis-carrier/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_conditioning

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willis_Carrier

May 10, 2015May 13, 2015 mjbeadle2011

The Liquid Rocket- Reaching space 1

In 1898 a Russian school teacher, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky proposed the idea of space exploration by rocket in his book The Exploration of Cosmic Space by Means of Reaction Devices. Tsiolkovsky suggested the use of the liquid propellants in rockets in order to achieve higher volatility’s, although Russian scientist paid little attention to it. American professor Robert Goddard launched the first rocket flight of a liquid propellant took place march 16, 1926 in Massachusetts. Robert H. Goddard was born in 1882 in Massachusetts. As a child Goddard was interested in science and his father got him a telescope in which he spent hours looking into space. In 1915 Goddard began experimenting with solid rocket fuel. After many test Goddard became convinced that he could achieve better results with a liquid rocket fuel. Rockets had never before been propelled by liquid propellants until Goddard successfully launched one in march of 1926. The launch of the first liquid oxygen and gasoline rocket lasted only 2.5 seconds and the flight rose just 41 feet. Goddard experiments continued for many years with the rockets getting bigger and the rockets getting higher. The Germans under Nazi party became interested in the idea of the liquid rocket in the 1930’s. The Nazis developed the V-2 rocket, although it was developed late into World War 2 and did not impact the wars outcome. The V-2 was a giant rocket for the 1940’s and when launched could destroyed whole city blocks. The Nazis also created the first rocket powered combat aircraft the HE 176 created by German engineer Hellmuth Walter.

Sources:

https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/TRC/Rockets/history_of_rockets.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid-propellant_rocket

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Goddard

Click to access 153410main_Rockets_History.pdf

May 10, 2015May 13, 2015 mjbeadle2011

The Liquid Rocket- Reaching space 2

After the collapse of the Nazis in 1945 the American and the Soviet Union forces took control of the Nazis V-2 rockets. The V-2 rockets were the most advanced at the time with the range of 200 miles and altitude of 55 miles. The liquid rockets were taken by the Americans and the Soviet Union and were used by each nation as part of their rocket programs. The United States also took many of the German scientist and granted them immunity form war crimes to work on the development of their rockets. The V-2 rockets led to the start of the space program and the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. On October 4, 1957 the Soviet Union launched the world’s first satellite into space called Sputnik 1. Two months later in December the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 2 with a dog aboard. The United States followed a month later in January of 1958 with the launch of Explorer 1 a satellite although it was smaller than Sputnik. The Soviet Union launched Yuri Gagarin the first human into space on April 12, 1961. The United States under President Kennedy during the 1960’s set a goal to reach and beat the Soviet Union to the moon and bring the person back to earth. In 1969 as part of the American Apollo program the United States launched the Apollo capsule on top of a Saturn 5 rocket. The Apollo capsule made it to the moon where Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin were the first in human history to step onto another world. Robert H. Goddard’s idea of reaching space started off with his liquid rocket and has led to; man orbiting Earth, walking on the Moon, rovers on Mars, and many other programs.

Sources:

https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/TRC/Rockets/history_of_rockets.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid-propellant_rocket

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Goddard

http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/153410main_Rockets_History.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaceflight

May 10, 2015May 13, 2015 mjbeadle2011

Death-The Gas Chamber

Since the dawn of time humans have been killing other humans. Starting with the ten commandments it has been a taboo to do so and with the advancement of society there have been penalty’s for murder. In early 1700’s and before at the tower of London they would behead a person with an ax or a sword. The ax would take a few swings and the sword would be quicker for the alleged criminal. In early America the death penalty was carried out by hanging. The hangings were normally done in public areas for people to watch like a sporting event. By 1881, Harold P. Brown created the electric chair as a more humane way to execute those sentenced to death. The electric chair sometimes required multiple attempts to carry out the execution. By 1920 the State of Nevada had a new idea, they created the gas chamber. After a failed attempt by Nevada to pump gas into John Gee’s jail cell, Nevada created a small room in which they could pump full of gas and carry out capital punishment. On February 8, 1924 John Gee was the first Person to be executed by the gas chamber. The gases used for the chamber were carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and the most common gas was hydro cyanide. The gas chamber although thought to be more humane would end up being worse in some cases it would take up to ten minutes for the person to die. The Nazi’s as part of their genocide would take the idea of the gas chamber to a new level in which they carried out mass executions in what would be known as the holocaust. Since 1976 only 11 people have died in the United States from the gas chamber. As a means of capital punishment the gas chamber has been replaced by lethal injection.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_chamber

http://www.nationaljournal.com/domesticpolicy/death-by-gas-chamber-is-still-a-thing-in-the-u-s-20130711

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/methods-execution

April 20, 2015May 10, 2015 mjbeadle2011

The Airplane 2 – The Wright Brothers

Gliders that were basically two pieces of light wood as wings, one above the other that lift the glider off the ground. The wind powered the gliders and kept them flying for short period of time. The Wright Brothers used a fishing scale to measure the amount of lift their wings were creating. The Wright Brothers were risk takers and would test the gilders them selves. After many failed attempts to obtain the lift they desired they still only got a fraction of the amount of lift the research from Lilienthal showed they should be getting. The Brothers soon decided Lilienthal research was wrong and decided to start with their own research. The idea was to find the right shape of wing the would crate the lift they needed. They built a small wind tunnel built out of bicycle parts. The test in the wind tunnel would save years in time since they would no longer have to build a thousand different gliders each with different wing shapes. They soon found the right wing type and went on to working on the control of the glider. The brothers created a wing “warping” systems that would move a wing up and the other down. The “wing warping” gave the Wright Brothers control of the glider. Lastly they worked on keeping the glider in the air. They had the idea of using a motor with a propeller. They had to make a new kind of propeller different then the kind in boats. They thought of it as a wing in creating lift to propel the glider forward. They used their wings design to create the propeller. On December 17, 1903 they tested their glider turned airplane. It was a success, it was the first day in history that a plane flew.

Sources:

http://www.history.com/topics/inventions/wright-brothers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers

http://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/wright-brothers/online/fly/1903/

http://inventors.about.com/od/fstartinventions/a/Airplane.htm

April 20, 2015April 20, 2015 mjbeadle2011

The Airplane – The Wright Brothers

The Wright Brother’s had invented the first successful airplane on December 17, 1903. The brothers were Wilbur and Orville Wright. Wilbur was born April 16th 1867 in Indiana. Orville was born four years later in 1871. The brothers were great friends growing up. Although both brothers attended high school, neither would graduate from it. In 1889 they started their own newspaper with Orville the publisher and Wilbur the editor. Three years later they opened up a bicycles shop and fixed and sold their own design of a bicycle they invented. The brothers interested in mechanical projects followed the research of German aviator Otto Lilienthal. When Lilienthal died in a glider accident, the Wright Brothers decided to try their own flying experiments. Wilbur and Orville headed to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina because it was known for its high winds. They observed how birds angled their wings for balance and control, and tried to emulate this. They began by flying kits. The brothers broke down the flying process into three basic ideas. First was wings to lift the plane into the air. Second was a propulsion system that would the wings. Lastly was the idea of a control system that would balance the airplane in the air. That led to the brothers using gliders to work on getting wood and fabric into the air. The Wright Brothers used the research from Otto Lilienthal who created the flying glider in Germany. Lilienthal had his work published before dying and the brothers new that since Lilienthal gliders worked that the science behind them must be right.

Sources:

http://www.history.com/topics/inventions/wright-brothers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers

http://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/wright-brothers/online/fly/1903/

http://inventors.about.com/od/fstartinventions/a/Airplane.htm

April 20, 2015 mjbeadle2011

Henry Ford- part2

The Dodge brother’s owned a supply shop and supplied Henry fords company with auto parts. When sales fell short for Ford’s company he owned the Dodge brothers payment for the supply’s. Ford and his investors convinced the Dodge’s to accept a portion of Ford’s new company and the Ford Motor Company was born in 1903. They began selling the Model A followed by various improved upon models. By 1907 Ford’s $600 Model N became the best selling car in the United States. Ford had the idea of making a good, low priced car that his workers and the average person could afford. In 1908 they introduced the Model T. The Model T. was easy to use and could operate on the rough roads. The Model T. soon became the top selling car in America. At the Ford Motor Company, turn over with personal was high due to the same repetitive motions. Turnover reached as many as 53,000 a year to keep 14,000 jobs filled. So Ford did something unheard of, he doubled his workers pay. Ford desired to make the car as cost efficient as possible. Ford began streamlining the car assembly with conveyor belts and was soon able to produce a car every 93 seconds. In 1919 Henry Ford Bought out all the investors in the company and became the sole owner of the company. By 1922 half of all cars sold in the United States were a Model T. Ford’s streamlining of cars became a model of companies to follow for the many years that followed and would lead to mass producing of items at much lower cost.

Sources:

https://www.thehenryford.org/exhibits/hf/The_Innovator_and_Ford_Motor_Company.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ford

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Model_T

April 20, 2015 mjbeadle2011

Henry Ford- part1

Born in Dear-born, Michigan on July 30, 1863 Henry Ford was born on his fathers farm. As a child Ford would build water wheels and steam engines for water craft. Ford then learned to fix watches and began studying mechanics. At the age of 16 in 1879, Ford left the family farm for a job at an auto company in Detroit. In 1891 Ford took a job at Edison’s “Electric Illuminating Company.” He saw this as an opportunity to learn since he did not know much about electricity. Within five year Ford became a chief engineer at the “Electric Illuminating Company” and began working on the horseless carriage. In 1896 Ford and a team of his friends came up with the “Ford Quadricycle.” It was a chair with four bicycle tires powered by a gasoline engine and a chain. The quadricycle had a speed of ten miles an hour with a gas tank under the seat, but could not could not go backwards. Two years later came an updated model in 1898. Soon after Ford left Edison’s “Electric Illuminating Company” to form his own auto company. Ford had no business expirence but form the Detroit Automobile Company in 1899 to sell the carriages. The company would fail within two years. Ford the began building and racing automobiles. The cars success attracted wealthy investors and soon the Henry Ford Company was started. This led to teaming up with partners to start selling automobiles, that led them to hiring the “Dodge” brothers to help produce the parts for the cars.

Sources:

https://www.thehenryford.org/exhibits/hf/The_Engineer.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ford

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Automobile_Company

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Quadricycle

April 20, 2015 mjbeadle2011

The Internal Combustion Tractor

Throughout early American history farming required large family’s to work in the fields to provide food. These family’s would work from sun up till sun down digging, trenching, planting, and watering during farming season to try and provide enough food for themselves. Then the plow can along, pulled by horses that would help speed along the digging and trenching. In the mid 1800’s a steam powered tractor was build that could plow going only forward. In 1892 John Froelich, created the internal combustion tractor powered by gasoline. John Froelich was born in 1849 in Girard, Iowa. Froelich had a crew of hired men that would go out and plow people’s fields for a fee, when he can up with the idea of an internal combustion tractor to speed up the process and make more money. The tractor could drive forward and backward while plowing the fields. Prior to the tractor any large scale farming/ agriculture was done by indentured servants, slaves, and in some cases hired workers. The tractor made it possible to plow acres upon acres of land in a day that would of taken months and many people to do. The tractor helped led to America as a rising power in the 1900’s with the ability to feed it’s self and export many of its agriculture goods over seas. Froelich and some investors form the “Waterloo Gasoline Traction Engine Company” in 1894. They created a few more models of the tractor before Froelich left. “Waterloo Gasoline Traction Engine Company” was bought up by John Deere and is still to the day owned by them.

Sorces:

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/john-froelich-inventor-of-the-gas-powered-tractor-is-born

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tractor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Froelich

http://www.asabe.org/awards-landmarks/asabe-historic-landmarks/internal-combustion-tractor-35.aspx