Eyewitness News
Technological developments of the late 19th century booms
Illuminating the lightbulb
Shortly after moving into a long wooden shed at Menlo Park, Thomas Alva Edison and his associates set to work to develop the perfect incandescent bulb. Edison hoped to create a long lasting lamp with a soft glow, and began searching for a filament that would burn slowly and stay lit. Thomas Edison's Invention harnessed electricity and completely changed the nature of business in America.
Inventions Change Lifestyles
The Typewriter and Telephone
Edison's light bulb was only one of the several revolutionary inventions. Christopher Sholes invented the typewriter in 1867 and changed the world of work. Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson were responsible for the invention of the Telephone. This resulted in the opening for a worldwide communications network.
Edwin L. Drake & the Steam Engine
It wasn't until 1859, until Edwin L. Drake successfully used a steam engine to drill for oil near Titusville, Pennsylvania. This breakthrough caused the nations biggest oil boom that spread to Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and later Texas. Petroleum- refining industries arose in Cleveland and Pittsburgh as entrepreneurs rushed to transform the oil into kerosene.
New Uses For Steel
The Bessemer process, developed independently by the British manufacture Henry Bessemer and American iron maker William Kelley around 1850, soon became widely used. The technique involved injecting air into molten iron to remove the carbon and other impurities. By 1880, American manufacturers were using this new method to create 90 percent of the nation's steel.