Today in History – November 30, 1886 – Niagra Falls becomes first commercial AC (alternating current) electric power plant. The name is synonymous with power. In 1886, George Westinghouse, a major proponent of AC power, had organized the Westinghouse Electric Company and by 1890, the company was operating 300 central generating stations. See the Engineering [...]

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Today in History – November 29, 1944 – doctors at Johns Hopkins performed the surgery that laid the foundation for today’s heart surgery, such as coronary bypass surgery. Working as a team, the Johns Hopkins Hospital’s chief surgeon, Dr. Alfred Blalock (left photo), African American surgical technician Vivien T. Thomas (center portrait), and pediatric cardiologist [...]

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Today in History – November 28, 1964 – Mariner 4, was launched and became the first successful mission to Mars. Reaching Mars on a flyby on July 14 and 15, 1965, it was the first spacecraft to return close-up images of the surface (center image above) and lasted three years in solar orbit. In Mariner [...]

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Today in History – November 27, 1895 – The first gasoline-powered automobile race in the United States. The Duryea brothers – Charles and Frank – created their first gasoline-powered “horseless-carriage” in 1893. The Duryeas were bicycle mechanics who built their first car in a workshop located in a building in downtown Springfield, MA. in September [...]

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Today in History – November 26, 2003 – The Concorde, the most successful supersonic passenger jet in history, is completely retired from flight. Although successful as a collaborative technical effort, it did not survive the marketplace; it was too expensive to maintain, demand was not high enough at the prices required and the public put [...]

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