Technology And Inventions: December 2009

Sunday, December 13, 2009

The Invention Of Mobile Phone

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2008/03/28/martincooper1_wideweb__470x362,0.jpg

Nowadays, the mobile phone is so important to us that it’s hard to think of life without it. However, they're a relatively new invention. This article explores the history of the mobile phone & questions what the future holds for it.

On 3 April 1973, Dr Martin Cooper, who was a Motorola employee, placed a call to rival Joel Engel, who was head of research at AT&T. Doctor Martin made the call while he was walking the streets of New York & did so through the first Motorola DynaTAC prototype in front of journalists.

The earliest mobile telephones were dubbed first generation telephones, often referred to as 1-G. These devices were the very first real mobile telephones, although they were then known as cellular mobile radiophones, & were based on analogue signalling. The analogue signal was the main difference between these first generation mobile telephones & their second generation cousins, which came out a few years later.

Second generation (2G) mobile phones were first released in the nineties. Unlike 1-G phones that were analogue, 2G phones use digital signalling to provide voice services & for text messaging & WAP internet access.

Some of the benefits of 2G phones are that they use lower radio signals, which require less battery power. This means that phones lasts a lot longer between charges, so batteries - & therefore the phones themselves - can be made littler. As well as this, 2G phones offer more privacy. Indeed, digital cellular calls are much harder to eavesdrop on than 1G phone calls.

The name 2.5G is used to refer to the phone technology that is post 2G, but not quite 3G. However, while the terms 2G & 3G are officially defined, the term 2.5G is not. In fact, this term was invented for marketing purposes only.

The earliest pre commercial 3G mobile phone network was launched in Japan in May 2001. Later, 3-G was released commercially in Japan on October 1 2001.

3G is the third generation of mobile phone standards and technology, which succeeded 2G mobile phone technology. The birth of 3-G technologies enabled network operators such as orange to offer their users a bigger range of advanced services. This includes broadband internet, as well as high tech video calls.

Despite the success of 3G, there's also been some complaints about it. These include criticism over the cost of 3G phones, as well as concerns over the lack of network coverage these phones get because it's still a pretty new service.

Ever since the launch of 3G mobile phone technology, people have been talking about 4-G. 4-G technology will signify the future of mobile telephones, creating the most sophisticated handsets & best services to date.

History of Forensic Science

What is Forensic Science?

Forensic science is a scientific method of gathering and examining evidence. Crimes are solved with the use of pathological examinations that gather fingerprints, palm prints, footprints, tooth bite prints, blood, hair and fiber samples. Handwriting and typewriting samples are studied, including all ink, paper, and typography. Ballistics techniques are used to identify weapons as well as voice identification techniques are used to identify criminals.

History of Forensic Science

The first recorded application of medical knowledge to the solution of crime. In the 1248 Chinese book Hsi DuanYu or the Washing Away of Wrongs, ways to distinguish between death by drowning or death by strangulation were described.

Italian doctor, Fortunatus Fidelis is recognized as being the first person to practice modern forensic medicine, beginning in 1598. Forensic medicine is the "application of medical knowledge to legal questions." It became a recognized branch of medicine in the early 19th century.

History Of American Agriculture

16th-18th Centuries	18th century - Oxen and horses for power, crude wooden plows, all sowing by hand, cultivating by hoe, hay and grain cutting with sickle, and threshing with flail
1776-99	1790's - Cradle and scythe introduced 1793 - Invention of cotton gin 1794 - Thomas Jefferson's moldboard of least resistance tested 1797 - Charles Newbold patented first cast-iron plow
1800	1819 - Jethro Wood patented iron plow with interchangeable parts 1819-25 - U.S. food canning industry established
1810
1820
1830	1830 - About 250-300 labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels (5 acres) of wheat with walking plow, brush harrow, hand broadcast of seed, sickle, and flail 1834 - McCormick reaper patented 1834 - John Lane began to manufacture plows faced with steel saw blades 1837 - John Deere and Leonard Andrus began manufacturing steel plows 1837 - Practical threshing machine patented

Projectors and the Vitascope (1895-1896)

Advertisement for the Vitascope motion picture projector

Advertisement for the Vitascope motion picture projector, marketed by the Edison Manufacturing Company even though it was invented by Thomas Armat and C. Francis Jenkins.

Edison was slow to develop a projection system (the Vitascope was a film projection system) at this time, since the single-user Kinetoscopes were very profitable. However, films projected for large audiences could generate more profits since less machines were needed in proportion to the number of viewers. Thus, others sought to develop their own projection systems.

One inventor who led the way was Woodville Latham who, with his sons, created the Eidoloscope projector which was presented publicly in April 1895. Dickson apparently advised the Lathams on their machine, offering technical knowledge, a situation which led to Dickson leaving Edison's employment on April 2, 1895.

Dickson formed the American Mutoscope Company in December of 1895 with partners Herman Casler, Henry Norton Marvin and Elias Koopman. The company, which eventually came to be known as the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, soon became a major competitor to the Edison Company.

During the same period, C. Francis Jenkins and Thomas Armat developed a motion picture projection device which they called the Phantoscope. It was publicly demonstrated in Atlanta in September 1895 at the Cotton States Exposition. Soon after, the two parted ways, with each claiming sole credit for the invention.

Armat showed the Phantoscope to Raff and Gammon, owners of the Kinetoscope Company, who recognized its potential to secure profits in the face of declining kinetoscope business. They negotiated with Armat to purchase rights to the Phantoscope and approached Edison for his approval. The Edison Manufacturing Company agreed to manufacture the machine and to produce films for it, but on the condition it be advertised as a new Edison invention named the Vitascope.

The Vitascope's first theatrical exhibition was on April 23, 1896, at Koster and Bial's Music Hall in New York City. Other competitors soon displayed their own projection systems in American theaters, including the re-engineered Eidoloscope, which copied Vitascope innovations; the Lumière Cinématographe, which had already debuted in Europe in 1895; Birt Acres' Kineopticon; and the Biograph which was marketed by the American Mutoscope Company. The Vitascope, along with many of the competing projectors, became a popular attraction in variety and vaudeville theaters in major cities across the United States. Motion pictures soon became starring attractions on the vaudeville bill. Exhibitors could choose the films they wanted from the Edison inventory and sequence them in whatever order they wished.

The Edison Company developed its own projector known as the Projectoscope or Projecting Kinetoscope in November 1896, and abandoned marketing the Vitascope.

Electricity

Electricity is a form of energy involving the flow of electrons. All matter is made up of atoms, and an atom has a center, called a nucleus. The nucleus contains positively charged particles called protons and uncharged particles called neutrons. The nucleus of an atom is surrounded by negatively charged particles called electrons. The negative charge of an electron is equal to the positive charge of a proton, and the number of electrons in an atom is usually equal to the number of protons. When the balancing force between protons and electrons is upset by an outside force, an atom may gain or lose an electron. When electrons are "lost" from an atom, the free movement of these electrons constitutes an electric current.

Electricity is a basic part of nature and it is one of our most widely used forms of energy. We get electricity, which is a secondary energy source, from the conversion of other sources of energy, like coal, natural gas, oil, nuclear power and other natural sources, which are called primary sources. Many cities and towns were built alongside waterfalls (a primary source of mechanical energy) that turned water wheels to perform work. Before electricity generation began slightly over 100 years ago, houses were lit with kerosene lamps, food was cooled in iceboxes, and rooms were warmed by wood-burning or coal-burning stoves. Beginning with Benjamin Franklin's experiment with a kite one stormy night in Philadelphia, the principles of electricity gradually became understood. In the mid-1800s, everyone's life changed with the invention of the electric light bulb. Prior to 1879, electricity had been used in arc lights for outdoor lighting. The lightbulb's invention used electricity to bring indoor lighting to our homes.

Theory
An electric generator (Long ago, a machine that generated electricity was named "dynamo" today's preferred term is "generator".) is a device for converting mechanical energy into electrical energy. The process is based on the relationship between magnetism and electricity. When a wire or any other electrically conductive material moves across a magnetic field, an electric current occurs in the wire. The large generators used by the electric utility industry have a stationary conductor. A magnet attached to the end of a rotating shaft is positioned inside a stationary conducting ring that is wrapped with a long, continuous piece of wire. When the magnet rotates, it induces a small electric current in each section of wire as it passes. Each section of wire constitutes a small, separate electric conductor. All the small currents of individual sections add up to one current of considerable size. This current is what is used for electric power.

An electric utility power station uses either a turbine, engine, water wheel, or other similar machine to drive an electric generator or a device that converts mechanical or chemical energy to electricity. Steam turbines, internal-combustion engines, gas combustion turbines, water turbines, and wind turbines are the most common methods to generate electricity. Continue...How Electricity is Generated

Timeline - Electronic Inventions
Timeline - important events in the history.
Understanding - Electric Generators
Electric generators - What it is - how is a transformer used - how it is generated - how are turbines used - how is it measured.
History
Long article on several inventors connected to the field and their inventions.
Electromagnet
An electromagnet is a device in which magnetism is produced by an electric current.
Magnetic Fields : History of Electromagnetism
Until 1820, the only magnetism known was that of iron magnets and of "lodestones", natural magnets of iron-rich ore. It was believed that the inside of the Earth was magnetized in the same fashion, and scientists were greatly puzzled when they found that the direction of the compass needle at any place slowly shifted, decade by decade, suggesting a slow variation of the Earth's magnetic field.

Electric Generator or Dynamo
Michael Faraday of England and American Joseph Henry separately built the first laboratory models of electric generator in 1832. Frenchmen, Hippolyte Pixii, France built a hand-driven model of an electric generator in 1833. American, Nikola Tesla built the first alternating-current generator in 1892.

Electronics
The history of electronics began to evolve separately from the history of electricity late in the 19th century. The English physicist J.J. Thomson identified the electron by and the American physicist Robert A. Millikan measured its electric charge in 1909

Inventions Of Thomas Edison

The first great invention developed by Edison in Menlo Park was the tin foil phonograph. While working to improve the efficiency of a telegraph transmitter, he noted that the tape of the machine gave off a noise resembling spoken words when played at a high speed. This caused him to wonder if he could record a telephone message. He began experimenting with the diaphragm of a telephone receiver by attaching a needle to it. He reasoned that the needle could prick paper tape to record a message. His experiments led him to try a stylus on a tinfoil cylinder, which, to his great surprise, played back the short message he recorded, "Mary had a little lamb."

The word phonograph was the trade name for Edison's device, which played cylinders rather than discs. The machine had two needles: one for recording and one for playback. When you spoke into the mouthpiece, the sound vibrations of your voice would be indented onto the cylinder by the recording needle. This cylinder phonograph was the first machine that could record and reproduce sound created a sensation and brought Edison international fame.

August 12, 1877, is the date popularly given for Edison's completion of the model for the first phonograph. It is more likely, however, that work on the model was not finished until November or December of that year, since he did not file for the patent until December 24, 1877. He toured the country with the tin foil phonograph, and was invited to the White House to demonstrate it to President Rutherford B. Hayes in April 1878.

In 1878, Thomas Edison established the Edison Speaking Phonograph Company to sell the new machine. He suggested other uses for the phonograph, such as: letter writing and dictation, phonographic books for blind people, a family record (recording family members in their own voices), music boxes and toys, clocks that announce the time, and a connection with the telephone so communications could be recorded.

• The History of the Cylinder Phonograph
The phonograph was developed from work done on the telegraph and on the telephone.
• The History of the Disc Phonograph
The Edison Company had been fully devoted to the cylinder phonograph, however, concerned with the rising popularity of discs, Edison associates began developing their own disc player and discs in secret.
• The History of the Kinetophone
In 1913, the Kinetophone was introduced, which attempted to synchronize motion pictures with the sound of a phonograph cylinder record.

Electricity and Lightbulb - History
Replica of original lightbulb - patent # 223,898

Thomas Edison's greatest challenge was the development of a practical incandescent, electric light. Contrary to popular belief, he didn't "invent" the lightbulb, but rather he improved upon a 50-year-old idea. In 1879, using lower current electricity, a small carbonized filament, and an improved vacuum inside the globe, he was able to produce a reliable, long-lasting source of light. The idea of electric lighting was not new, and a number of people had worked on, and even developed forms of electric lighting. But up to that time, nothing had been developed that was remotely practical for home use. Edison's eventual achievement was inventing not just an incandescent electric light, but also an electric lighting system that contained all the elements necessary to make the incandescent light practical, safe, and economical. After one and a half years of work, success was achieved when an incandescent lamp with a filament of carbonized sewing thread burned for thirteen and a half hours.

There are a couple of other interesting things about the invention of the light bulb: While most of the attention was on the discovery of the right kind of filament that would work, Edison actually had to invent a total of seven system elements that were critical to the practical application of electric lights as an alternative to the gas lights that were prevalent in that day.

These were the development of:

the parallel circuit,
a durable light bulb,
an improved dynamo,
the underground conductor network,
the devices for maintaining constant voltage,
safety fuses and insulating materials, and
light sockets with on-off switches.

Before Edison could make his millions, every one of these elements had to be invented and then, through careful trial and error, developed into practical, reproducible components. The first public demonstration of the Thomas Edison's incandescent lighting system was in December 1879, when the Menlo Park laboratory complex was electrically lighted. Edison spent the next several years creating the electric industry.

The modern electric utility industry began in the 1880s. It evolved from gas and electric carbon-arc commercial and street lighting systems. On September 4, 1882, the first commercial power station, located on Pearl Street in lower Manhattan, went into operation providing light and electricity power to customers in a one square mile area; the electric age had begun. Thomas Edison's Pearl Street electricity generating station introduced four key elements of a modern electric utility system. It featured reliable central generation, efficient distribution, a successful end use (in 1882, the light bulb), and a competitive price. A model of efficiency for its time, Pearl Street used one-third the fuel of its predecessors, burning about 10 pounds of coal per kilowatt hour, a "heat rate" equivalent of about 138,000 Btu per kilowatt hour. Initially the Pearl Street utility served 59 customers for about 24 cents per kilowatt hour. In the late 1880s, power demand for electric motors brought the industry from mainly nighttime lighting to 24-hour service and dramatically raised electricity demand for transportation and industry needs. By the end of the 1880s, small central stations dotted many U.S. cities; each was limited to a few blocks area because of transmission inefficiencies of direct current (dc).

The success of his electric light brought Thomas Edison to new heights of fame and wealth, as electricity spread around the world. His various electric companies continued to grow until in 1889 they were brought together to form Edison General Electric. Despite the use of Edison in the company title however, he never controlled this company. The tremendous amount of capital needed to develop the incandescent lighting industry had necessitated the involvement of investment bankers such as J.P. Morgan. When Edison General Electric merged with its leading competitor Thompson-Houston in 1892, Edison was dropped from the name, and the company became simply General Electric.

Also see the History of the Lightbulb timeline.

• Work with Lighting
His greatest challenge was the development of a practical incandescent, electric light.
• Westinghoused
Was Thomas the inventor of the electric chair?

Edison Motion Pictures - History
Kinetoscope - Motion Pictures Projector

Thomas Edison's interest in motion pictures began before 1888, however, the visit of Eadweard Muybridge to his laboratory in West Orange in February of that year certainly stimulated his resolve to invent a camera for motion pictures. Muybridge proposed that they collaborate and combine the Zoopraxiscope with the Edison phonograph. Although apparently intrigued, Edison decided not to participate in such a partnership, perhaps realizing that the Zoopraxiscope was not a very practical or efficient way of recording motion. In an attempt to protect his future, he filed a caveat with the Patents Office on October 17, 1888, describing his ideas for a device which would "do for the eye what the phonograph does for the ear" -- record and reproduce objects in motion. He called it a "Kinetoscope," using the Greek words "kineto" meaning "movement" and "scopos" meaning "to watch."

One of Edison's first motion picture and the first motion picture ever copyrighted showed his employee Fred Ott pretending to sneeze. One problem was that a good film for motion pictures was not available. In 1893, Eastman Kodak began supplying motion picture film stock, making it possible for Edison to step up the production of new motion pictures. He built a motion picture production studio in New Jersey. The studio had a roof that could be opened to let in daylight, and the entire building was constructed so that it could be moved to stay in line with the sun.

C. Francis Jenkins and Thomas Armat invented a film projector called the Vitascope and asked Edison to supply the films and manufacture the projector under his name. Eventually, the Edison Company developed its own projector, known as the Projectoscope, and stopped marketing the Vitascope. The first motion pictures shown in a "movie theater" in America were presented to audiences on April 23, 1896, in New York City.

•The Kinetoscope
"Kinetoscope" comes from the Greek words "kineto" meaning "movement" and "scopos" meaning "to watch."
• Timeline for Inventing Entertainment
The following timeline focuses on major events in Thomas Edison's personal life and on his motion picture and phonograph innovations.
• Film Projectors for Motion Pictures
The Edison Company developed its own projector known as the Projectoscope or Projecting Kinetoscope in November 1896, and abandoned marketing the Vitascope.
• History of Edison Motion Pictures
Origins of motion pictures, the Kinetoscope, and Edison Motion Pictures.

The Life of Thomas Edison (1847-1931)

• The Genius of Menlo Park - Biography
He was a poor student. When a schoolmaster called him "addled," his furious mother took him out of the school and proceeded to teach him at home. Thomas Edison said many years later, "My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me, and I felt I had some one to live for, some one I must not disappoint." At an early age, he showed a fascination for mechanical things and for chemical experiments.
• Biography
Born on February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio; the seventh and last child of Samuel and Nancy Edison. When he was seven his family moved to Port Huron, Michigan and Edison lived there until he struck out on his own at the age of sixteen. He had very little formal education as a child, attending school only for a few months. He was taught reading, writing, and arithmetic by his mother, but was always a very curious child and taught himself much by reading on his own. This belief in self-improvement remained throughout his life.
• Inventions that Failed
Not everything Thomas Edison created was a success - he also had a few failures.

The Edison Laboratory, West Orange, New Jersey NPS Photo

Additional Biographies and History
• A List of Thomas Edison's Patents
A database of all 1,093 patents. This is a long list please be patient for the download.
• The Muckers
Other inventors who worked for Thomas Edison.

Understanding Electricity

WHAT IS ELECTRICITY?

Electricity is a form of energy. Electricity is the flow of electrons. All matter is made up of atoms, and an atom has a center, called a nucleus. The nucleus contains positively charged particles called protons and uncharged particles called neutrons. The nucleus of an atom is surrounded by negatively charged particles called electrons. The negative charge of an electron is equal to the positive charge of a proton, and the number of electrons in an atom is usually equal to the number of protons. When the balancing force between protons and electrons is upset by an outside force, an atom may gain or lose an electron. When electrons are "lost" from an atom, the free movement of these electrons constitutes an electric current.

Electricity is a basic part of nature and it is one of our most widely used forms of energy. We get electricity, which is a secondary energy source, from the conversion of other sources of energy, like coal, natural gas, oil, nuclear power and other natural sources, which are called primary sources. Many cities and towns were built alongside waterfalls (a primary source of mechanical energy) that turned water wheels to perform work. Before electricity generation began slightly over 100 years ago, houses were lit with kerosene lamps, food was cooled in iceboxes, and rooms were warmed by wood-burning or coal-burning stoves. Beginning with Benjamin Franklin's experiment with a kite one stormy night in Philadelphia, the principles of electricity gradually became understood. In the mid-1800s, everyone's life changed with the inventionof the electric light bulb. Prior to 1879, electricity had been used in arc lights for outdoor lighting. The lightbulb's invention used electricity to bring indoor lighting to our homes.

Inventions Of 2008

New inventions of 2008 include: smog-earing cement, high altitude flying windmills, bionic contacts, pig-urine plastic.

TX Active: Smog-Eating Cement

Courtesy of Italcementi Group

TX Active is a self-cleaning and pollution-mitigating cement developed by the Italian company, Italcementi that can reduce pollution (nitric oxides) by up to 60%. TX Active contains a titanium dioxide based photocatalyzer. Through photocatalysis, the product reduces the maintenance requirements for concrete by destoying most pollutants that causes discoloration. Also, the cement effectively destroys airborne pollutants, which are responsible for pollution. The product can be used for roads, pavements, parking lots, buildings, and anyplace regular cement is being used. This one gets my vote for invention of the year. If we are going to pave paradise, let us at least give paradise a fighting chance to recover.
Bionic Lens - New Active Contact Lens

A researcher holds one of the completed lenses.

University of Washington

Inventor, Babak Parviz has invented a contact lens embeded with solar-powered leds and a radio-frequency receiver. Intially, Babak Parviz developed the contact lens to wirelessly communicate medical information about the health of the eye and wearer. However, other applications were soon realized. According to Parviz, "There are many possible uses for virtual displays. Drivers or pilots could see a vehicle's speed projected onto the windshield. Video-game companies could use the contact lenses to completely immerse players in a virtual world without restricting their range of motion. And for communications, people on the go could surf the Internet on a midair virtual display screen that only they would be able to see."

Flying Windmills - Wind Turbines That Harvest the Jet Stream

Sky Windpower

A San Diego company, Sky Windpower has invented flying wind turbines to be used in high-altitudes. The company estimates that just 1% of the energy from the jet stream could satisfy the energy demands of the entire planet. Sky Windpower's Bryan Roberts has long been convinced that high altitude wind energy can be captured. He has demonstrated that Flying Electric Generator(FEG) technology is practical and should work at high altitudes - this is the "Flying Windmills" technology.

Agroplast - Plastic Made from Pig Urine

The Danish company Agroplast has invented a way to transform pig urine into a common plastic precursor. The pig urea would replace urea derived from fossil fuels, reduce the waste from pig farming, and reduce the cost of plastic by up to 66%. According to Agroplast, traditionally, bioplastics made of vegetable matter have cost more than fossil fuel plastics. A cheap and available bioplastic could have an profound impact on our enviroment.

Sony's Sugar Battery

4 prototype bio battery units (left) connected to Walkman for playback

Sony

The new bio battery will generate electricity from a sugar solution and will be used to run the 2008 Sony Walkman. The bio battery incorporates an anode consisting of sugar-digesting enzymes and mediator, and a cathode comprising oxygen-reducing enzymes and mediator, either side of a cellophane separator. Through a process of electrochemical reaction, electricity will be generated.

Camera Pill

Courtesy of Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft

In collaboration with engineers from Given Imaging, the Israelite Hospital in Hamburg and the Royal Imperial College in London, researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering have developed the first-ever control system for the camera pill. The camera pill can be swallowed by a patient. A doctor can move the camera pill by a magnetic remote control. The steerable camera pill consists of a camera, a transmitter that sends the images to the receiver, a battery and several cold-light diodes which briefly flare up like a flashlight every time a picture is ta

History Of Computers !!!

"Who invented the computer?" is not a question with a simple answer. The real answer is that many inventors contributed to the history of computers and that a computer is a complex piece of machinery made up of many parts, each of which can be considered a separate invention.

This series covers many of the major milestones in computer history (but not all of them) with a concentration on the history of personal home computers.

Computer History Year/Enter	Computer History Inventors/Inventions	Computer History Description of Event
1936	Konrad Zuse - Z1 Computer	First freely programmable computer.
1942	John Atanasoff & Clifford Berry ABC Computer	Who was first in the computing biz is not always as easy as ABC.
1944	Howard Aiken & Grace Hopper Harvard Mark I Computer	The Harvard Mark 1 computer.
1946	John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly ENIAC 1 Computer	20,000 vacuum tubes later...
1948	Frederic Williams & Tom Kilburn Manchester Baby Computer & The Williams Tube	Baby and the Williams Tube turn on the memories.
1947/48	John Bardeen, Walter Brattain & Wiliam Shockley The Transistor	No, a transistor is not a computer, but this invention greatly affected the history of computers.
1951	John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly UNIVAC Computer	First commercial computer & able to pick presidential winners.
1953	International Business Machines IBM 701 EDPM Computer	IBM enters into 'The History of Computers'.
1954	John Backus & IBM FORTRAN Computer Programming Language	The first successful high level programming language.
1955 (In Use 1959)	Stanford Research Institute, Bank of America, and General Electric ERMA and MICR	The first bank industry computer - also MICR (magnetic ink character recognition) for reading checks.
1958	Jack Kilby & Robert Noyce The Integrated Circuit	Otherwise known as 'The Chip'
1962	Steve Russell & MIT Spacewar Computer Game	The first computer game invented.
1964	Douglas Engelbart Computer Mouse & Windows	Nicknamed the mouse because the tail came out the end.
1969	ARPAnet	The original Internet.
1970	Intel 1103 Computer Memory	The world's first available dynamic RAM chip.
1971	Faggin, Hoff & Mazor Intel 4004 Computer Microprocessor	The first microprocessor.
1971	Alan Shugart &IBM The "Floppy" Disk	Nicknamed the "Floppy" for its flexibility.
1973	Robert Metcalfe & Xerox The Ethernet Computer Networking	Networking.
1974/75	Scelbi & Mark-8 Altair & IBM 5100 Computers	The first consumer computers.
1976/77	Apple I, II & TRS-80 & Commodore Pet Computers	More first consumer computers.
1978	Dan Bricklin & Bob Frankston VisiCalc Spreadsheet Software	Any product that pays for itself in two weeks is a surefire winner.
1979	Seymour Rubenstein & Rob Barnaby WordStar Software	Word Processors.
1981	IBM The IBM PC - Home Computer	From an "Acorn" grows a personal computer revolution
1981	Microsoft MS-DOS Computer Operating System	From "Quick And Dirty" comes the operating system of the century.
1983	Apple Lisa Computer	The first home computer with a GUI, graphical user interface.
1984	Apple Macintosh Computer	The more affordable home computer with a GUI.
1985	Microsoft Windows	Microsoft begins the friendly war with Apple.
SERIES	TO BE	CONTINUED

Timeline Of Electronics

600 B.C.

Thales of Miletus writes about amber becoming charged by rubbing - he was describing what we now call static electricity.

1600

English scientist, William Gilbert first coined the term "electricity" from the Greek word for amber. Gilbert wrote about the electrification of many substances in his "De magnete, magneticisique corporibus". He also first used the terms electric force, magnetic pole, and electric attraction.

1660

Otto von Guericke invented a machine that produced static electricity.

1675

Robert Boyle discovered that electric force could be transmitted through a vacuum and observed attraction and repulsion.

1729

Stephen Gray's discovery of the conduction of electricity.

1733

Charles Francois du Fay discovered that electricity comes in two forms which he called resinous(-)and vitreous(+). Benjamin Franklin and Ebenezer Kinnersley later renamed the two forms as positive and negative.

1745

Georg Von Kleist discovered that electricity was controllable. Dutch physicist, Pieter van Musschenbroek invented the "Leyden Jar" the first electrical capacitor. Leyden jars store static electricity.

1747

Benjamin Franklin experiments with static charges in the air and theorized about the existence of an electrical fluid that could be composed of particles. William Watson discharged a Leyden jar through a circuit, that began the comprehension of current and circuit. Henry Cavendish started measuring the conductivity of different materials.

1752

Benjamin Franklin invented the lightening rod - he demonstrated lightning was electricity.

1767

Joseph Priestley discovered that electricity followed Newton's inverse-square law of gravity.

1786

Italian physician, Luigi Galvani demonstrated what we now understand to be the electrical basis of nerve impulses when he made frog muscles twitch by jolting them with a spark from an electrostatic machine.

1800

First electric battery invented by Alessandro Volta. Volta proved that electricity could travel over wires.

1816

First energy utility in US founded.

1820

Relationship of electricity and magnetism confirmed by Hans Christian Oersted who observed that electrical currents effected the needle on a compass and Marie Ampere, who discovered that a coil of wires acted like a magnet when a current is passed thorough it.

D. F. Arago invented the electromagnet.

1821

First electric motor invented by Michael Faraday.

1826

Ohms Law written by Georg Simon Ohm states that "conduction law that relates potential, current, and circuit resistance"

1827

Joseph Henry's electromagnetic experiments lead to the concept of electrical inductance. Joseph Henry built one of the first electrical motors.

1831

Principles of electromagnetism induction, generation and transmission discovered by Michael Faraday.

1837

First industrial electric motors.

1839

First fuel cell invented by Sir William Robert Grove, a Welsh judge, inventor and physicist.

1841

J. P. Joule's law of electrical heating published.

1873

James Clerk Maxwell wrote equations that described the electromagnetic field, and predicted the existence of electromagnetic waves traveling with the speed of light.

1878

Edison Electric Light Co. (US) and American Electric and Illuminating (Canada) founded.

1879

First commercial power station opens in San Francisco, uses Charles Brush generator and arc lights. First commercial arc lighting system installed, Cleveland, Ohio.

Thomas Edison demonstrates his incandescent lamp, Menlo Park, New Jersey.

1880

First power system isolated from Edison.

In Grand Rapids Michigan: Charles Brush arc light dynamo driven by water turbine used to provide theater and storefront illumination.

1881

Niagra Falls, New York; Charles Brush dynamo, connected to turbine in Quigley's flour mill lights city street lamps.

1882

Edison Company opens Pearl Street power station.

The first hydroelectric power station opens in Wisconsin.

1883

The electric transformer is invented. Thomas Edison introduces the "three-wire" transmission system.

1884

Steam turbine invented by Charles Parsons.

1886

William Stanley develops transformer and Alternating Current electric system. Frank Sprague builds first American transformer and demonstrates use of step up and step down transformers for long distance AC power transmission in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. The Westinghouse Electric Company is organized. 40 to 50 water powered electric plants reported on line or under construction in the U.S. and Canada.

1887

In San Bernadino, California, the High Grove Station, first hydroelectric plant in the West is opened.

1888

Rotating field AC alternator invented by Nikola Tesla.

1889

Oregon City Oregon, Willamette Falls station, first AC hydroelectric plant.

Single phase power transmitted 13 miles to Portland at 4,000 volts, stepped down to 50 volts for distribution.

1891

60 cycle AC system introduced in U.S.

1892

General Electric Company formed by the merger of Thomson-Houston and Edison General Electric.

1893

Westinghouse demonstrates "universal system" of generation and distribution at Chicago exposition.

In Austin, Texas, the first dam designed specifically for hydroelectric power built across Colorado River is completed.

1897

Electron discovered by J. J. Thomson.

1900

Highest voltage transmission line 60 Kilovolt.

1902

5-Megawatt turbine for Fisk St. Station (Chicago).

1903

First successful gas turbine (France). World’s first all turbine station (Chicago). Shawinigan Water & Power installs world’s largest generator (5,000 Watts) and world’s largest and highest voltage line—136 Km and 50 Kilovolts (to Montreal). Electric vacuum cleaner. Electric washing machine.

1904

John Ambrose Fleming invented the diode rectifier vacuum tube.

1905

in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan the first low head hydro plant with direct connected vertical shaft turbines and generators is opened.

1906

In Ilchester, Maryland, a fully submerged hydroelectric plant is built inside Ambursen Dam.

1907

Lee De Forest invented the electric amplifier.

1909

The first pumped storage plant is opened in Switzerland.

1910

Ernest R. Rutherford measured the distribution of an electric charge within the atom.

1911

Willis Haviland Carrier disclosed his basic Rational Psychrometric Formulae to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. The formula still stands today as the basis in all fundamental calculations for the air conditioning industry.

R. D. Johnson invents the differential surge tank and Johnson invents hydrostatic penstock valve.

1913

Electric refrigerator is invented. Robert Millikan measured the electric charge on a single electron.

1917

Hydracone draft tube patented by W. M. White.

1920

First U.S. station to only burn pulverized coal is opened.

Federal Power Commission (FPC) is established.

1922

Connecticut Valley Power Exchange (CONVEX) starts, pioneering interconnection between utilities.

1928

Construction of Boulder Dam begins.

Federal Trade Commission begins investigation of holding companies.

1933

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) established.

1935

The Public Utility Holding Company Act is passed. The Federal Power Act is passed. The Securities and Exchange Commission is established. The Bonneville Power Administration is established.

The first night baseball game in major leagues is played made possible by electric lighting.

1936

Highest steam temperature reaches 900 degrees Fahrenheit vs. 600 degrees Fahrenheit in early 1920s.

287 Kilovolt line runs 266 miles to Boulder (Hoover) Dam.

The Rural Electrification Act is passed.

1947

The transistor is invented .

1953

The first 345 Kilovolt transmission line is laid.

The first nuclear power station ordered.

1954

The first high voltage direct current (HVDC) line (20 megawatts/1900 Kilovolts, 96 Km).

The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 allows private ownership of nuclear reactors.

1963

The Clean Air Act is passed.

1965

The Northeast Blackout occurs.

1968

The North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) is formed.

1969

The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 is passed.

1970

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is formed. The Water and Environmental Quality Act is passed. The Clean Air Act of 1970 is passed.

1972

The Clean Water Act of 1972 is passed.

1975

Brown’s Ferry nuclear accident occurs.

1977

The New York City blackout occurs.

The Department of Energy (DOE) is formed.

1978

The Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) is passed, and ends utility monopoly over generation.

The Power Plant and Industrial Fuel Use Act limits the use of natural gas in electric generation (repealed 1987).

1979

The Three Mile Island nuclear accident occurs.

1980

The first U.S. windfarm is opened.

The Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act establishes regional regulation and planning.

1981

PURPA ruled unconstitutional by Federal judge.

1982

U.S. Supreme Court upholds legality of PURPA in FERC v. Mississippi (456 US 742).

1984

Annapolis, N.S., tidal power plant—first of its kind in North America (Canada) opened.

1985

Citizens Power, first power marketer, goes into business.

1986

Chernobyl nuclear accident (USSR) occurs.

1990

Clean Air Act amendments mandate additional pollution controls.

1992

The National Energy Policy Act is passed.

1997

ISO New England begins operation (first ISO). New England Electric sells power plants (first major plant divestiture).

1998

California opens market and ISO. Scottish Power (UK) to buy Pacificorp, first foreign takeover of US utility. National (UK) Grid then announces purchase of New England Electric System.

1999

Electricity marketed on Internet.

FERC issues Order 2000, promoting regional transmission

1840	1840's - The growing use of factory-made agricultural machinery increased farmers' need for cash and encouraged commercial farming 1841 - Practical grain drill patented 1842 - First grain elevator, Buffalo, NY 1844 - Practical mowing machine patented 1847 - Irrigation begun in Utah 1849 - Mixed chemical fertilizers sold commercially
1850	1850 - About 75-90 labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels of corn (2-1/2 acres) with walking plow, harrow, and hand planting 1850-70 - Expanded market demand for agricultural products brought adoption of improved technology and resulting increases in farm production 1854 - Self-governing windmill perfected 1856 - 2-horse straddle-row cultivator patented
1860	1862-75 - Change from hand power to horses characterized the first American agricultural revolution 1865-75 - Gang plows and sulky plows came into use 1868 - Steam tractors were tried out 1869 - Spring-tooth harrow or seedbed preparation appeared
1870	1870's - Silos came into use 1870's - Deep-well drilling first widely used 1874 - Glidden barbed wire patented 1874 - Availability of barbed wire allowed fencing of rangeland, ending era of unrestricted, open-range grazing
1880	1880 - William Deering put 3,000 twine binders on the market 1884-90 - Horse-drawn combine used in Pacific coast wheat areas
1890	1890-95 - Cream separators came into wide use 1890-99 - Average annual consumption of commercial fertilizer: 1,845,900 tons 1890's - Agriculture became increasingly mechanized and commercialized 1890 - 35-40 labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels (2-1/2 acres) of corn with 2-bottom gang plow, disk and peg-tooth harrow, and 2-row planter 1890 - 40-50 labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels (5 acres) of wheat with gang plow, seeder, harrow, binder, thresher, wagons, and horses 1890 - Most basic potentialities of agricultural machinery that was dependent on horsepower had been discovered
1900	1900-1909 - Average annual consumption of commercial fertilizer: 3,738,300 1900-1910 - George Washington Carver, director of agricultural research at Tuskegee Institute, pioneered in finding new uses for peanuts, sweet potatoes, and soybeans, thus helping to diversify southern agriculture.
1910	1910-15 - Big open-geared gas tractors came into use in areas of extensive farming 1910-19 - Average annual consumption of commercial fertilizer: 6,116,700 tons 1915-20 - Enclosed gears developed for tractor 1918 - Small prairie-type combine with auxiliary engine introduced
1920	1920-29 - Average annual consumption of commercial fertilizer: 6,845,800 tons 1920-40 - Gradual increase in farm production resulted from expanded use of mechanized power 1926 - Cotton-stripper developed for High Plains 1926 - Successful light tractor developed
1930	1930-39 - Average annual consumption of commercial fertilizer: 6,599,913 tons 1930's - All-purpose, rubber-tired tractor with complementary machinery came into wide use 1930 - One farmer supplied 9.8 persons in the United States and abroad 1930 - 15-20 labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels (2-1/2 acres) of corn with 2-bottom gang plow, 7-foot tandem disk, 4-section harrow, and 2-row planters, cultivators, and pickers 1930 - 15-20 labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels (5 acres) of wheat with 3-bottom gang plow, tractor, 10-foot tandem disk, harrow, 12-foot combine, and trucks
1940	1940-49 - Average annual consumption of commercial fertilizer: 13,590,466 tons 1940 - One farmer supplied 10.7 persons in the United States and abroad 1941-45 - Frozen foods popularized 1942 - Spindle cottonpicker produced commercially 1945-70 - Change from horses to tractors and the adoption of a group of technological practices characterized the second American agriculture agricultural revolution 1945 - 10-14 labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels (2 acres) of corn with tractor, 3-bottom plow, 10-foot tandem disk, 4-section harrow, 4-row planters and cultivators, and 2-row picker 1945 - 42 labor-hours required to produce 100 pounds (2/5 acre) of lint cotton with 2 mules, 1-row plow, 1-row cultivator, hand how, and hand pick
1950	1950-59 - Average annual consumption of commercial fertilizer: 22,340,666 tons 1950 - One farmer supplied 15.5 persons in the United States and abroad 1954 - Number of tractors on farms exceeded the number of horses and mules for first times 1955 - 6-12 labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels (4 acres) of wheat with tractor, 10-foot plow, 12-foot role weeder, harrow, 14-foot drill and self-propelled combine, and trucks Late 1950's - 1960's - Anhydrous ammonia increasingly used as cheap source of nitrogen, spurring higher yields
1960	1960-69 - Average annual consumption of commercial fertilizer: 32,373,713 tons 1960 - One farmer supplied 25.8 persons in the United States and abroad 1965 - 5 labor-hours required to produce 100 pounds (1/5 acre) of lint cotton with tractor, 2-row stalk cutter, 14-foot disk, 4-row bedder, planter, and cultivator, and 2-row harvester 1965 - 5 labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels (3 1/3 acres) of wheat with tractor, 12-foot plow, 14-foot drill, 14-foot self-propelled combine, and trucks 1965 - 99% of sugar beets harvested mechanically 1965 - Federal loans and grants for water/sewer systems began 1968 - 96% of cotton harvested mechanically
1970	1970's - No-tillage agriculture popularized 1970 - One farmer supplied 75.8 persons in the United States and abroad 1975 - 2-3 labor-hours required to produce 100 pounds (1/5 acre) of lint cotton with tractor, 2-row stalk cutter, 20-foot disk, 4 -row bedder and planter, 4-row cultivator with herbicide applicator, and 2-row harvester 1975 - 3-3/4 labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels (3 acres) of wheat with tractor, 30-foot sweep disk, 27-foot drill, 22-foot self-propelled combine, and trucks 1975 - 3-1/3 labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels (1-1/8 acres) of corn with tractor, 5-bottom plow, 20-foot tandem disk, planter, 20-foot herbicide applicator, 12-foot self-propelled combine, and trucks
1980-90	1980's - More farmers used no-till or low-till methods to curb erosion 1987 - 1-1/2 to 2 labor-hours required to produce 100 pounds (1/5 acre) of lint cotton with tractor, 4-row stalk cutter, 20-foot disk, 6-row bedder and planter, 6-row cultivator with herbicide applicator, and 4-row harvester 1987 - 3 labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels (3 acres) of wheat with tractor, 35-foot sweep disk, 30-foot drill, 25-foot self-propelled combine, and trucks 1987 - 2-3/4 labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels (1-1/8 acres) of corn with tractor, 5-bottom plow, 25-foot tandem disk, planter, 25-foot herbicide applicator, 15-foot self-propelled combine, and trucks 1989 - After several slow years, the sale of farm equipment rebounded 1989 - More farmers began to use low-input sustainable agriculture (LISA) techniques to decrease chemical applications