Today in History – December 26, 1982 – TIME’s Person of the Year is a computer. History has always pondered whether the future was propelled by the movement of the masses, the fine control of the elite, or the inevitable flow of society. However, before now no one ever questioned whether history was centered around [...]

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Today in History – December 25, 1642 – Isacc Newton‘s birth. Also on this date in 1741 astronomer Anders Celsius introduces the temperature scale that bears his name. For more information, see the Engineering Pathway‘s resources on Newton and engineering mechanics or the Celsius scale and temperature measurement. For curricular resources, visit the Engineering Mechanics [...]

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Today in History – December 24, 1979 – Launch of the Ariane rocket. In the 1970s, in the middle of the Cold War, the state of European aeronautics was in disarray. After Europa, Europe’s latest rocket, failed 11 times, many were skeptical that Europe could match the power that Russia and the USA had over [...]

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Today in History – December 23, 1867 – Birth of first self-made millionairess (Sarah Breedlove for hair straightner invention, products and services). Born in poverty in 1867 (left graphic is of her birth house) on the shores of the Mississippi River in northeast Louisiana, her parents died of ‘yellow fever‘ while she was a young [...]

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Today in History – December 22, 1885 – LaMarcus Thompson patents first Gravity Switchback Railway roller coaster. It was built at Coney Island and became the precursor to the modern roller coaster. At the top of one platform, riders climbed into cars and then rode them down a 600 foot track and up to another [...]

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