Today in History – January 17, 1871 - U.S. patent issued for an “endless wire rope way” cable car (No.110,971). The inventor of the cable car was Andrew S. Hallidie (center image above) and contracted by the Clay Street Hill Railroad Company in San Francisco. Hallidie’s system used a continuous looped wire rope that was placed [...]

[Read more →]

Today in History – January 5, 1892 – Construction began on the Golden Gate Bridge. After years of gathering support and funding for the bridge, Joseph Strauss oversaw its construction. The project was so massive that a Golden Gate District was formed to build the bridge. All in all the bridge ended up costing about [...]

[Read more →]

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 [...]

[Read more →]

Today in History – December 7, 1988 – 6.9 earthquake destroys Armenia, Spitak and kills over 60,000. It is reported that the entire population of Spitak died in this devastating earthquake, making it one of the most deadly earthquakes in human history. Partial blame was placed on the substandard infrastructure in Soviet-era buildings. The Soviet [...]

[Read more →]

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 [...]

[Read more →]