Today in History – September 1, 1873 – the world’s first cable-powered railroad in San Francisco is put into operation. 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 [...]

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Today in History -  – August 10, 1846 – by a vote of 26 to 13, the U.S. Senate passed the act organizing the Smithsonian Institution. Among its provisions: a Board of Regents, a Secretary, and a “suitable” building with rooms for the arrangement of objects of natural history, a chemical laboratory, a library, a [...]

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Today in History – August 2, 1873 – the world’s first cable-powered railroad in San Francisco is tested. 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 in [...]

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Today in History – July 14, 1867 - Nobel first demonstrates dynamite. While in Paris, Nobel came to work with Ascanio Sobrero, the inventor of nitroglycerine. Though it was ten times stronger that black powder, it was highly unstable. Nobel was intrigued with nitroglycerine’s potential as a construction tool. But he knew he had to make [...]

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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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