Today in History – February 2, 1897 – Ice cream scoop patented by Alfred L. Cralle, the first African-American in Pittsburgh to receive a patent. His patent became the model for ice cream scoops in households soon after and the basis for many scoops today. Cralle was born in Lunenberg County, Virginia on September 4, 1866, was educated in the common schools of the county, and later worked with his father in the carpenter. This work sparked his interest in mechanics and he took advanced courses at Wayland Seminary in Washington, D.C. Although educated, his career path was to move to Pittsburgh where he served as a porter in Markell Brothers’ drug store and the St. Charles Hotel. He advanced to assistant manager when the Afro-American Financial, Accumulating, Merchandise and Business Association was organized.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s resources on African American scientists, engineers & inventors or our engineering diversity website. For curricular resources, browse our resources on product and industrial design or visit the Mechanical Engineering Education community site.

Also on this date in history in 1923, ethyl gasoline is first marketed. Tomas Midgley, inventor and chemical engineer, credited with playing a major role in its development. Alas, he did not foresee all of the environmental issues associated with it and the product was later outlawed after many years of public action and scientific analysis. For more information, see the Engineering Pathwa’s resources on gasoline, petroleum additives and tetra-ethyl lead or Chemical Engineering Education.

Today in History – February 1, 1972 – First scientific hand-held calculator, the HP-35, introduced for $395. I was an undergraduate in engineering when the HP-35 was released. I couldn’t afford to buy one and stuck with my slide rule. But the next year, I gave in and bought the next model, the HP-45 and it was well worth the money at the time. The calculators were easy to use, portable and reliable. The market responded by developing cheaper calculators, while Hewlett Packard kept the cost high and increased the functionality.

Check out the Engineering Pathway’s educational resources on the electronic calculators and history of computing. For more educational resources, see our electrical engineering education and computer engineering education community pages. The Engineering Pathway also hosts Engineering Education communities in all ABET-accredited disciplines.

Today in History – January 3, 1957 – The world’s first electric wristwatch is released. The Hamilton watch company began research on an electric watch in 1946. Ten years later they released their watch with great success. Prior to this watch most watches kept time using a balance wheel that was kept in motion using a spring. This spring had to be wound by the wearer everyday. The Hamilton watch, while using the same balance wheel, used electromagnets to keep it in motion. One of the biggest challenges was finding a battery that was powerful enough to power the watch for a year, but also be small enough to fit inside the watch case. The Hamilton watch case styles were also an important ingredient in the watches success. People loved the their asymmetric design. However, this type of watch never gained mass popularity as they were only marginally better than their mechanical brethren. And by 1969 production stopped when quartz technology was used in favor of its accuracy.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s resources on watch technology and time measurement. For related educational resources, visit the Computer Engineering Education, or the Electrical Engineering Education disciplinary communities.

Today in History – January 1, 1853 – The world’s first practical steam-powered fire engine made its debut.

In the spring of 1852, Abel Shawk, Alexander Bonner Latta, and Miles Greenwood began construction on the first practical steam-powered fire engine. While other fire engines had existed, theirs was significantly faster, being able to pump water in a mere ten minutes. Once finished they presented their engine to Cincinnati Fire Department on January 1st, 1853 (their own city). This engine was nicked name ‘Uncle Joe Ross’ and with the success of this and other steam powered fire engines, the City of Cincinnati went on to create the first professional fire department in the United States.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s resources on fire-engines, fire-fighting and steam. For related educational resources, visit the Mechanical Engineering Education disciplinary community.

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 tower, where they were switched to another track. Thompson’s installation at Coney Island was also a business innovation a it was one of the first “pay per ride”, offering people a short escape from the real world to enjoy themselves for a short thrill. This started a tradition and business model that forms the basis for today’s theme and amusement parks.

See the Engineering Pathway’s resources on theme parks and roller coaster design. For curricular resources, visit the Mechanical Engineering Education, the Engineering Mechanics Education or the Engineering Management Education community sites.

Today in History – December 20, 1899 – Carbon Arc Lamps generate light by way of a spark between two carbon nodes. However, they also produce a constant humming noise while running. Since they were widely used in Europe (installed before the invention of the electric light bulb in the United States), a British physicist and electrical engineer, William Duddell was appointed to solve the noise problem in 1899. During his experiments, Duddell found that he could control the audible frequencies by varying the voltage supplied to the lamps. It’s possible that Duddell was aware of similar findings by a Dr. Simon of Frankfurt, Germany a year earlier (who showed that the modulated arc produced modulated light as well as sound, allowing the German Navy to make telephone calls between ships with an arc searchlight and a photosensitive selenium cell). However, it was Duddell that attached a keyboard to the arc lamps, creating one of the first electronic instruments, The Singing Arc, that was audible without the use of an amplifying system (which had yet to be invented). Other pre-20th-century electronic instruments include the Clavecinlectrique, the Musical Telegraph, and the Telharmonium.

Also on this date in 1951, the first electricity generated by nuclear power powers four lightbulbs. And in 1977, the first space walk was made by Cosmonaut Grechko of the Salyut.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway‘s resources on electronic music; breeder reactors and nuclear power; and the Salyut, space exloration and aerospace engineering. For related educational resources, visit the Electrical Engineering Education, Aerospace Engineering Education,or Nuclear Engineering Education disciplinary communities.

Today in History – December 19, 1972 – Apollo 17, last of Apollo Moon landing series, returns to Earth. It was the sixth and last Apollo mission in which humans walked on the lunar surface.

Also on this date in 1958, the first radio message was broadcast from space from the U.S. launched Explorer-1. Later that year, the U.S. SCORE spacecraft became the first communication satellite in Earth orbit. It was a one-way communication system with a transmitter that broadcast to Earth a pre-recorded message, taped on the ground before launch by President Dwight D. Eisenhower – “To all mankind, America’s wish for Peace on Earth and Good Will to Men Everywhere”.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway;s resources on the Apollo mission and space exploration, communications satellites or GPS and geomatics systems. For related educational resources, visit the Aerospace Engineering Education, Electrical Engineering Education , or Surveying and Geomatics Engineering Education disciplinary communities.

Today in History – December 13, 1928 – Today is Clip-on Tie Day. That’s right, on this day, 79 years ago, someone (and I couldn’t find out who) invented the clip-on tie. This fine fashion accessory often gets a bad wrap. People belittle it as the tie for people that don’t know how to tie a tie themselves.

If you are somehow unfamiliar with what a clip-on tie is, it is essentially a bow tie or four in hand tie which is permanently tied into its knot with a dimple just below the knot. Instead of looping around the neck, this tie is simply fixed to the front of the shirt collar with a metal clip. Though it doesn’t look as much like a real tie to fool everyone, and may accidentally come off with a too-hard tug, many people use clip-on ties every day.

The fact that a clip-on tie is likely to come off should it be tugged is actually a wonderful safety feature, especially for people such as police, paramedics, and engineers. Many of these occupations require personnel to use clip-on rather than full ties. Others might be mocked for wearing clip-ons because they don’t know how to tie a tie, or because they feel it is less restrictive, but the good old clip-on redeems itself by helping many wearers stay out of harms way. So here’s to that mysterious inventor of the clip-on tie. Harrah!

Meanwhile, to help make sure you’re never caught out not knowing what knot to tie, check out the Engineering Pathway’s resources on knot design and mathematics.

Today in History – December 8, 1968 – Doug Engelbart’s “Mother of all Demos” introduces the computer mouse, hyperlinks and window at a demonstration in San Francisco. The demonstration offered a peek at the future of computing. “No one has ever before or since seen such a collection of great ideas in one demonstration,” said SRI President and CEO Curt Carlson. Engelbart is “the Moses of computers,” writes Steven Levy in his history of the Macintosh.

In 1970, a U.S. patent was issued for the computer mouse – an “X-Y Position Indicator for a Display System” (No. 3541541). Doug Engelbart’s invention changed the way humans were to work with computers. The invention transformed computers from specialized tools for technologists to user-friendly computational systems that anyone can use. Engelbart and his colleagues called this invention the “mouse,” after its long tail-like cable. The first mouse was a simple hollowed-out wooden block, with a single push button on top, designed to select and manipulate text. The “mouse” was part of a larger project called the NLS (oN Line System) based on work at the Stanford Research Institute (SRI), which allowed two or more users to work on the same document from different workstations. This work built on Engelbart’s overarching visions for augmenting human intellect, improvement infrastructure, co-evolution of artifacts with social-cultural language-practices, and bootstrapping. Christina Engelbart, Doug Engelbart’s daughter and co-founder of the Bootstrap Institute, maintains an in-depth biography of Engelbart and his inventions. I was struck by the vision, passion and humbleness inherent in this quote from the site: “He remains bewildered as to why it has taken so long for society to catch up to him. “The rate at which a person can mature is directly proportional to the embarrassment he can tolerate. I have tolerated a lot,” says Engelbart of his life. Reader’s Digest paid Engelbart $35 to publish that quote, more than he was paid for many of his revolutionary inventions.” Doug Englebart was awarded the National Medal of Technology in 2000.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s resources on Doug Engelbart and the computer mouse. For related educational resources, visit the Computer Engineering Education, the Electrical Engineering Education or the Computer Science Education disciplinary communities.

Today in History – November 22, 1927 – Carl Eliason patented the first snowmobile. Eliason built the prototype snowmobile in a small garage behind his general store over a two year period during his spare time. He purchased the bicycle parts required for the drive train and track assembly from Milwaukee. The small 1924 snowmobile used running boards made of two downhill skis, countoured in the belly pan, a front mounted liquid cooled 2.5 HP outboard engine, slide rail track guides, wooden cleats, rope controlled steering skis and two-up seating located over the track (left image).

Off-road recreational vehicle design competitions can provide exciting opportunities for engineering students to develop teamwork and divise intergrative engineering skills i in multiple disciplines. Examples include the mini baja competition (right image).

Off-road recreational vehicles can have a huge impact on the environment, however, and environmental impact needs to be considered in their design, use and related governmental policy. Snowmobiles produce carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon pollution, in addition to having a deleterious effect on vegetation and wildlife in pristine environments. This is one reason that the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) started the clean snowmobile competition.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway‘s resources on student competitions.

Also on this date in history in 1904, the first patent for a direct current electric motor, called a “variable speed motor”, was issued to Mathias Pfatischer. The motor could run under a variable load at a variable speed, in both forward and reverse.