Allison Land presents Bell's Inventions (Pictures by Jennifer McCarroll)

Alexander Graham Bell, a scientist and inventor, was born in March 1847. He invented the first usable telephone, patented in 1876. Bell was greatly influenced by his deaf mother, which led him to study acoustics. He became a full-time teacher of the deaf. In 1874 Bell quit work as a teacher and began working diligently on his “phonautograph”, a machine which could draw sound waves. Bell, however, did continue to tutor 2 deaf students. It was the parents of these students, wealthy business owners, who provided the necessary funding and representation for patents. Bell hired assistant Thomas Watson, and the two began diligent work on acoustic telegraphy, filing for patent in 1875. Ironically a woman named Elisha Gray filed for a patent of a very similar machine on the same day as Bell and Watson. No one knows for sure who filed first, but the patent was given to Bell on March 7, 1876. Three days later, Watson listened as the first words, “Mr. Watson — Come here — I want to see you” came through the line, and the invention was a success.

References:

Retrieved from: http://www.alexandergrahambell.org/ July 14, 2009

Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Graham_Bell July 14, 2009

Industrialization Pictures by Brenda Marbry

Model T How Henry Ford Built A Legend
Retrieved July 12, 2009
Green-automobiles.blogspot.com/

Thomas Edison Inventions by Lori Lucas

Thomas Alva Edison was born on February 11, 1847 and lived to the age of eighty-four. Edison was both a scientist and inventor. During his lifetime Edison would see colossal change, largely due to his own contribution. Considered one of the most prolific inventors in history, he held one-thousand-ninety-three patents both in the United States and abroad. His contributions reached overseas and into the homes. Mass communication and telecommunications all fall under the umbrella that is an Edison invention (Inventions, 2000).
Edison pioneered and implemented electric-power generation that was distributed into homes businesses and factories (Inventions, 2000). When Edison was born, society still thought of electricity as a novelty, a fad. By the time he died, entire cities were lit by electricity (Franklin, 2001).
The most famous of his inventions was an incandescent light bulb. Besides the light bulb, Edison developed the phonograph and the "kinetoscope," a small box for viewing moving films (Franklin, 2001).Edison improved on original designs as well, such as the stock ticker and the telegraph and Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone. Edison exemplified hard work coupled with ingenuity. It has been said that when he died in October of 1931, lights were dimmed for one minute.
The inventions of Thomas Edison. (n.d.). about.com [Fact sheet]. Retrieved July
12, 2009, from http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bledison.htm
The wizard of menlow park. (n.d.). The Franklin Institute [Fact sheet].
Retrieved July 12, 2009, from http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/inventor/
edison.html

Marvels of 1876 Centennial Exposition by Dennis LeBlanc

Marvels of 1876 Centennial Exposition

The International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures and Products of the Soil and Mine was the official name of the Centennial Exhibition of 1876. It was designed to celebrate American cultural and industrial progress. It was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence, 100 years earlier. It was the first World’s Fair to be held in the United States of America. The fair opened on May 10, 1876, and ended six months later, on November 10, 1876.

The first marvel of the 1876 Centennial Exposition was the organization and construction of the event itself. The site for the fair was on 285 acres of land, in Fairmount Park. Thirty-seven nations participated. The individual pavilions and buildings, with numerous exhibits, numbered 250 in all. There were the Main Exhibition Building, Machinery Hall, Horticultural Hall, Memorial Hall, Music Pavilion, and the Women’s Building, to name a few. Individual U. S. states, numbering twenty-six, had their own buildings. In addition, there were restaurants, corporate buildings, administration buildings, and even a hospital on the event grounds. The grounds, for the fair, were primarily designed by Hermann J. Schwarzmann.

The idea for the Centennial Exposition began ten years earlier, with an idea from John L. Campbell. Funding for the exposition was the main concern. Commissions, boards, and group contributions were able to raise over $3.5 millions to fund the event. When the exposition ended in November of 1876, 10,164,489 people had visited the fair.

Other marvels at the Centennial Exposition included the Corliss Steam Engine. It powered the other machines at the fair. The John Bull steam locomotive was on display by the Pennsylvania Railroad. The first automatic screw making machinery was on display by the Waltham Watch Company. In addition, the same company won the Gold Medal for watch precision. The delegation, representing Turkey, introduced marijuana to America for the first time. Many consumer products were displayed to the public for the first time. Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone, Heinz Ketchup, Hires Root Beer, and Kudzu erosion control plant series, to name a few. In addition, the Remington Typographic Machine, other wise known as the typewriter, and the Wallace-Farmer Electric Dynamo, early model of the soon to be electric light, amazed fair visitors.

Many visitors to the Centennial Exposition were in awe of the West-End Narrow Gauge Railway. Railroads were not new to many, but for five cents this railway would show the visitors the entire fair. In and around the Department of Public Comfort pavilion and throughout the exhibition halls, there was music and entertainment. Visitors came to hear many original compositions. There were concerts choirs, minstrel shows, and marching bands. In addition, there were the Centennial Organ by Hook and Hastings of Boston, the Roosevelt Organ by Hilborne L. Roosevelt of New York, and the Centennial Chimes. The chimes numbered thirteen for the thirteen original colonies.
Even though the Centennial Exposition was not a financial success, the fair proved to be a stepping out for American culture and industry on the world stage. The world took notice of the fair’s success. The United States economy benefited, as well as its foreign relations. The foreign visitors were amazed by the progress America had made, and of its growing industrial power.

References

Retrieved from http://en.wilipedia.org/wiki/Centennail_Exposition.
July 7, 2009.

Retrieved from http://libwww.library.phila.gov/CenCon.htm.
July 10, 2009.

Railroad History by Wendy Macgregor

Beginnings of the Railroads by Wendy Macgregor

Railroad research……

LISA JUSTUA from US HIST 1312 Writes:
From 1870 to 1900 the railroad industry exploded and aided in the extreme growth of many other business.
In 1862 President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway bill which called for the formation of the Transcontinental railway. This was completed on 05/10/69 at Promontory Point, Utah. Once this occurred the industry exploded. The track miles increased from 52,900 miles in 1870 up to 193,000 miles in 1900. The rapidly expanding railroad industry significantly increased the efficiency of shipping merchandise over long distances and increased the profitability of agriculture and many other businesses.
The railroad industry was one of the largest employers of the time with hundreds of thousands of employees nationwide. This provided financial stability for not only the employees but also the merchants used the railroads to ship their products. The railroad also allowed those living in the cities to be able to move further out to raise families and opened up a whole new realm in the travel industry. People were able to travel longer distances in much shorter periods of time. Travel for pleasure became much more common. With travel came exposure to new cultures and ways of life.
The railroad also significantly changed the landscape of the country. It tore through fields, valleys, mountain ranges , and farm lands and all along the line small towns arose.

http://www.american-rails.com/railroad-history.html
Created Equal Brief 2nd edition page 380-381 Jones, Jacqueline; Wood, Peter; Borstelmann, Thomas;

Railroads of the West by Wendy Macgregor

The railroad craze hit the United States in the 1820’s and by the time the 1830’s had rolled around it was more than just a craze, it was serious business. Opinions as to who started the railroad boom in America are divided, although most historians agree that the British were about ten years ahead of the Americans as far as railways were concerned.

As far as the rails go, credit for laying the first rails in the U.S. would go to Granite Railroad. This railroad started in Quincy Massachusetts in 1826, and laid a set of rails two miles long. Open wagons on rails were drawn by horses to haul granite blocks from Quincy to the Boston harbor.
The first steam locomotive was purchased by the managers of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company for the price of $4,000. They intended to use it on a railway they hoped to build that would connect two parts of their canal system, so that freight could be loaded off canal boats and onto railroad carriages for land transport. Unfortunately, their locomotive was put out of service after only its first run as it was too big for the tracks they had built.
The Baltimore and Ohio is generally thought of as the “Oldest Railroad in America”. I place that in capitals with quotations as I presently live in Baltimore and see signs that say that all the time. While their tracks were laid on July 4, 1828 the railroad operated under horsepower for its first two years, and even experimented with sail-powered cars.
http://www.suite101.com/lesson.cfm/18139/1464/4 retrieved July 18,2009

As per Jennifer McCarroll