Today in History – November 5, 1895 – George B. Selden files the first U.S. patent for an automobile. Although Ford, Daimler, Duryea, Cugnot are all names that people associate with the invention of the automobile, it was actually patent attorney George Selden of Rochester, New York who first filed a patent on the “Road [...]

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Today in History – October 23-24 – TRON Legacy Exhibit at the National Science & Engineering Festival. The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) has teamed up with Walt Disney Studios to co-create an interactive exhibit in Tent 102 at the USA Science & Engineering Festival Expo, which will take place on the National Mall in [...]

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Today in History- October 21, 1824 – Portland cement is patented by Joseph Aspdin, a stone mason in Yorkshire, England (UK patent No. 5022). He made it by burning finely pulverized lime and clay at high temperatures in kilns and grinding the mixture into a powder. This hydraulic cement would then harden with the addition [...]

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Today in History – March 31, 1889 – Eiffel Tower opens. The 300m Eiffel Tower was commissioned to commemorate the French Revolution. Amazingly, all of the elements were prepared in Gustav Eiffel’s factory located at Levallois-Perret on the outskirts of Paris. There were 18,000 pieces used to construct the Tower. Each piece was designed and [...]

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Today in History – March 14, 1927 – First female engineer in ASCE. Elsie Eaves was the first woman in the US to be elected as a full member to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). When ASCE was founded in 1852, its membership was restricted to men, a policy which eventually led to [...]

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