| Common Era |
Event |
|
| 14 |
Use of brass (alloy of copper and zinc) develops into industry for Rome. (Italy) |
00 |
| 50 - 120 |
Hero writes treatises on mechanics, math, and physics: PNEUMATICA, AUTOMATIOPOIETIKE, MECHANICA, METRICA, and DIOPRA. (Hero, Alexandria, Egypt) |
09 |
| 100 ca. |
DE AQUIS written by engineer of Rome's water supply: Sextus Julius Frontinus. (Frontinus, Rome) |
06 |
| 250 ca. |
Acute labor (slave) shortage near end of Roman empire promotes use of waterwheels. (Europe) |
01 |
| 300 - 400 |
Pappus of Alexandria comments on classic science. (Pappus of Alexandria, Egypt) |
06 |
| 400 |
Fall of Rome leads Europe into the Middle Ages (Rome was founded BCE 753). (Europe) |
01 |
| 750 |
Horse's stirrup introduced in Europe: makes mounted combat possible. |
00 |
| 800 - 1000 |
Sea-going Vikings explore and pillage western Europe. |
01 |
| 1000 - 1490 |
England, France, and Germany prosper with technological improvements especially in farm machinery, mills, and shipping. (Europe) |
04 |
| 1000 |
Arabic learning spreads: leads to 16th century scientific methods. |
06 |
| 1000 ca. |
Abacus described as smooth board with columns under which 'apices' mark 3-digit numbers. (Gerbert of Aurillac, Auvergne, France) |
06 |
| 1100 - 1199 |
Market dominated by money payment only in scattered cities from Italy to Low Countries. (Italy) |
04 |
| 1200 ca. |
China's economy and population rises after fall of old imperial system. (China) |
04 |
| 1206 |
Genghis Kahn comes to power. |
01 |
| 1250 ca. |
Travels of Marco Polo. (East) |
01 |
| 1250 ca. |
Revival of Greek learning leads to development of 16th century scientific study. |
06 |
| 1300 - 1399 |
Humanistic movement begins in Italy with Petrarch and Boccaccio, spreads to France and northern Europe in the 16th century. (Italy) |
02 |
| 1338 - 1453 |
Hundred Years War (Black Death between 1358-50). (Europe) |
01 |
| 1368 - 1644 |
Ming Dynasty in power in China. (China) |
01 |
| 1440 - 1540 |
Improvement in agriculture, cloth-making, shipping, and navigation leads to rapid extension of trade from East to Britain. |
04 |
| 1452 - 1519 |
Projects show intuitive grasp of technological possibilities of applied science. (Leonardo da Vinci, Italy) |
08 |
| 1453 |
Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks marks beginning of the Renaissance. |
01 |
| 1470 |
Patents introduced. (Venice) |
04 |
| 1475 ca. |
Math, algebra, and geometry begin modern age. |
06 |
| 1487 - 1498 |
Cabot (1487), Diaz (1487), Da Gama (1497), and Columbus (1492) set sail (independently) from Europe. (Europe) |
01 |
| 1500 ca. |
Michelangelo designs St Peter's Dome. |
02 |
| 1500 ca. |
Navigation improvements lead to rapid development of Baltic lands and Russia: shifts trade route. (USSR) |
04 |
| 1500 ca. |
Portuguese capture Asiatic sea trade: shifts economic balance. (Portugal) |
04 |
| 1500 - 1599 |
Capitalism begins to form during Renaissance. (Europe) |
04 |
| 1505 |
First African slaves brought to North America. (Africa-US) |
01 |
| 1507 |
Britain adopts state policy of Mercantilism. (Britain) |
04 |
| 1515 |
First nationalized factories open in France. |
05 |
| 1543 |
Copernicus writes DE REVOLUTIONIBUS. (Copernicus) |
07 |
| 1552 |
Magellan circumnavigates world. (Magellan, Europe) |
01 |
| 1571 - 1572 |
INSTRUMENTS MATHEMATIQUES ET MECHANIQUES shows math concepts applied to machines. (France, Geneva) |
09 |
| 1585 |
THE TENTH is responsible for widespread adoption of decimal fraction. (Simon Stevin, Holland) |
06 |
| 1590 - 1603 |
Beginning of golden age of Elizabethan literature: Taming of Shrew, Julius Caesar, and Hamlet. (Wm Shakespeare, Britain) |
02 |
| 1608 |
Henry Hudson sails the HALF MOON up the Hudson river from New York Harbor. (Hudson Valley, NewYork) |
01 |
| 1609 |
Jamestown, Va, founded. (Virginia) |
01 |
| 1614 |
Napier (1550-1617) describes logarithms of the sines of angles: CANNON OF LOGARITHMS. (John Napier, Merchiston, Scotland) |
06 |
| 1617 - 1624 |
Britain passes Statute of Monopolies, protecting inventors. (Britain) |
04 |
| 1620 |
Modern scientific method expressed in papers outlining experimentation as basis of math. (Galileo Galilei, Univ of Padua) |
06 |
| 1624 |
Statute of Monopolies of James I of England enacted: first British patent law. (Britain) |
04 |
| 1637 |
DISCOURSE DE LA METHODE published: on coordinate (analytical) geometry. (Rene Descartes, France) |
06 |
| 1638 |
Galileo demonstrates parabolic trajectory: based on fundamental laws of motion (on mechanics). (Galileo Galilei, Italy) |
09 |
| 1660 |
Louis XIV enters Age of Reason: engineering as science develops. (France) |
01 |
| 1660 |
French engineers establish national public works and professional schools for stone masonry. (France) |
06 |
| 1660 |
Britain's Royal Society founded to encourage experimentation. (Britain) |
06 |
| 1661 - 1662 |
Boyle's law of compression of gases expressed in DEFENSE AGAINST LINUS: volume of gas varies inversely as pressure. (Robt Boyle, Britain) |
07 |
|
1663 Academie Royale des Sciences founded. |
06 |
| 1665 ca. |
Differential and integral calculus developed. (Newton, Leibniz, and Takakazu) |
06 |
| 1672 |
Experiments with atmospheric pressure published. (Otto von Guericke) |
07 |
| 1683 |
Industrial exhibition at Paris. (Paris) |
05 |
| 1687 |
Perot Malting Co founded: oldest business house in US, open at least until 1954. (Philadelphia) |
01 |
| 1687 |
PRINCIPIA published: basic physics emerges as engineering's theoretical base, laws of gravity. (Newton, London) |
07 |
| 1694 |
Bank of England founded. (Britain) |
01 |
| 1700 - 1848 |
Age of revolutions begins: Industrial Revolution in Britain, American War of Independence, etc. |
01 |
| 1700 - 1800 |
England emerges as a major trading nation. (Britain) |
04 |
| 1746 - 1752 |
Franklin's (1706-90) experiments with electricity leads to lightning rod. (Benjamin Franklin, US) |
06 |
| 1750 ca. |
Britain's Industrial Revolution marked by growth of factory system (especially textile manufacture) and banking. (Britain) |
04 |
| 1752 |
Fluid mechanics taught at Mezier's engineering school. |
09 |
| 1765 |
Stamp Act passed by British parliament to tax American colonies. (Britain) |
04 |
| 1779 |
First cast-iron bridge built over River Severn near Coalbrookdale. (Abraham Darby, Britain) |
06 |
| 1787 |
US Constitution: grants patent rights to inventor only. (US) |
04 |
| 1787 |
Charles' law of gaseous expansion. (Jacques Alexandre Cesar Charles, Britain) |
07 |
| 1789 |
Declaration of Rights of the Man and the Citizen issued by the National Assembly: states basic human rights and duties. (France) |
04 |
| 1790 - 1799 |
Mozart and Beethoven produce operas. (Britain) |
02 |
| 1790 |
First US patent law provides 14-year monopoly: revised in 1793 and again 1836 (current). (Thomas Jefferson, John Stevens, US) |
04 |
| 1791 - 1792 |
French patent act includes financial patents: enacted then ceased 9/20/1792 due to avalanche. (France) |
04 |
| 1792 |
New York Stock Exchange organized. (New York) |
04 |
| 1792 |
Gas flame lit within a room in home at Redruth: gas produced from coal. (Wm Murdock, Britain) |
06 |
| 1792 |
Essex Merrimac Bridge built. (Timothy Palmer) |
06 |
| 1795 - 1803 |
Middlesex Canal built in Mass. (Massachusetts) |
06 |
| 1795 |
L'Ecole Polytechnic established. (Paris) |
08 |
| 1796 |
Gas lighting demonstrated in US. (Philadelphia) |
06 |
| 1799 |
Thermolampe patented: burned gas from wood and later coal distillate. (Philippe Lebon, Paris) |
06 |
| 1799 |
Royal Institution founded: mechanical inventions and manufacturing cited as purpose. (Britain) |
08 |
| 1799 |
TRAITE DE MECHANIQUE CELESTE published. (Pierre Laplace) |
09 |
|
top 19th Century |
|
| 1800 |
Direct-current motor with compound windings patented. (G C Andre) |
06 |
| 1805 |
Gas purified with lime: installed lighting in cotton mill near Halifax. (Samuel Clegg, Britain) |
06 |
| 1808 |
Atomic theory published. (John Dalton) |
07 |
| 1810 ca. |
German polytechnics established soon after Napoleonic Wars. (Germany) |
08 |
| 1813 |
Illuminating gas manufactured for London districts. (Gas Light and Coke Co, London, Westminster) |
06 |
| 1814 |
London-district gas works completed: marks large-scale gas illumination. (Samuel Clegg, London) |
06 |
| 1815 |
Industrial and commercial contacts between France and England resume after French Revolution. (Louis-Philippe, France, England) |
04 |
| 1816 |
Ordinance passes for gas lighting to be introduced throughout Baltimore. (Rembrandt Peale, Baltimore) |
06 |
| 1820 - 1829 |
French painters Theodore Gericault and Eugene Delacroix use lithography in their art. (France) |
02 |
| 1820 - 1829 |
Mechanics' institutes founded by merchants and manufacturers: origin of many current organizations. (James Neilson, etc, Britain) |
09 |
| 1823 |
MECHANICS MAGAZINE founded. (Britain) |
09 |
| 1824 |
Erie Canal completed: opens 1825. (US, eastern) |
06 |
| 1824 |
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute founded: mechanical engineering program offered 1862 (--A5). (Stephen van Rensselaer, Troy, NY) |
08 |
| 1824 |
Franklin Institute founded for promotion of the mechanical arts: held biannual fairs. (Philadelphia) |
09 |
| 1825 - 1843 |
Thames tunnel constructed. (Marc I Brunel, Britain) |
06 |
| 1828 |
Ohio Mechanics Institute in Cincinnati founded. (Cincinnati, Ohio) |
09 |
| 1831 |
British Association for the Advancement of Science founded. (Sir George Cayley, Britain) |
07 |
| 1836 |
Current US patent act. (US) |
04 |
| 1836 |
Practical electric telegraph. |
06 |
| 1837 |
Modern US patent system is operating. (Washington, DC) |
04 |
| 1837 |
Public demonstration of electric telegraph by Wheatstone and Cooke: used by rail company in England, patented single-needle device 1845. (Charles Wheatstone, Wm Cooke, Samuel Morse, Britain, US) |
06 |
| 1839 |
Direct positive daguerreotype announced as first commmerical photographic process. (Louis Daguerre) |
05 |
| 1839 |
ELEMENTS OF CIVIL ENGINEERING published (first in US on subject). (John Millington, Virginia) |
06 |
| 1840 |
US canals extend 4,500 miles. (US) |
06 |
| 1840 |
Royal Technical College at Glasgow: oldest engineering chair in Britain; awards first Certificate of Proficiency in Engineering Science in 1863, followed in several years by degree program. (Lewis Gordon, Glasgow, Scotland) |
08 |
| 1842 |
German patent law enacted. (Germany) |
04 |
| 1843 - 1844 |
Electric telegraph demonstrated between Washington-Baltimore: developed on commercial scale. (Samuel Morse, US) |
06 |
| 1844 |
Berlin Exposition: Paalzow exhibits water-circulating stove. (Berlin) |
05 |
| 1845 |
Carbon filament lamp patented in US. (J W Starr, US) |
06 |
| 1847 ca. |
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN published by Munn and Company, the leading patent company in US. (US) |
07 |
| 1847 |
Institute of Mechanical Engineering formally founded (organizing meeting 10/7/1846). (George Stephenson, Queens Hotel, Britain) |
09 |
| 1848 |
'Year of Revolutions' in Europe caused by food shortages, trade recession, and nationalism. (Europe) |
01 |
| 1848 - 1880 |
Carbon filament lamp produced in Britain. (Joseph Swan, Britain) |
06 |
| 1848 |
Societe des Ingenieurs et Scientifiques de France (ISF) founded. (Paris) |
08 |
| 1851 |
Great Exhibition: 100 years of Great Britain's Industrial Revolution and US machines. (Crystal Palace, London) |
05 |
| 1851 - 1876 |
US leads in technical innovation and precision in mechanical engineering employment and activity (tools, pumps, steam engines, etc). (US) |
09 |
| 1852 |
US Steamboat Inspection Service organizes: a result of Franklin Institute study. (US) |
05 |
| 1852 |
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) forms. (New York) |
06 |
| 1855 ca. |
Negative-positive, wet collodion process for photography supercedes daguerreotype. |
05 |
| 1855 |
Paris Exhibition of 1855: France and Germany show superior industrial theory. (Paris) |
05 |
| 1855 |
Wm J McQuorn Rankine appointed Professor of Engineering at Glasgow Univ: holds post until death in 1872; introduces Rankine temperature scale .R = .F + 460. (Wm J McQuorn Rankine, Glasow) |
08 |
| 1855 |
Zurich Polytechnikum founded. (Switzerland) |
08 |
| 1855 |
Association for the Prevention of Steam Boiler Explosions forms: one of earliest European associations. (Britain) |
08 |
| 1855 |
Title of mechanical engineer comes into use, especially in reference to railroad machinery. (US) |
09 |
| 1856 |
Vereins Deutscher Ingenieure (VDI) founded. (West Germany) |
08 |
| 1857 |
Institution of Engineers founded in Scotland: Wm J McQuorn Rankine is first president. (Glasgow) |
08 |
| 1858 |
A MANUAL OF APPLIED MECHANICS published: combines theoretical and practical application of mechanics, first use of 'applied mechanics' as title. (Wm J McQuorn Rankine, Scotland) |
09 |
| 1859 - 1869 |
Suez Canal built. (F de Lessepo, France) |
06 |
| 1861 - 1865 |
American Civil War. (US) |
01 |
| 1861 |
MIT chartered: opens in 1865 and introduces mechanical engineering education as a separate curriculum. (Wm B Rogers, Boston) |
09 |
| 1862 |
Merrimac battles Monitor at Hampton Roads. |
01 |
| 1862 |
London exhibition. (London) |
05 |
| 1863 |
National Academy of Sciences (NAS) established. (Washington, DC) |
07 |
| 1865 |
US abolition of slavery (13th amendment). (US) |
01 |
| 1865 |
Abraham Lincoln assassinated. (Abraham Lincoln, US) |
01 |
| 1866 |
First successful Atlantic cable laid. (Atlantic Ocean) |
06 |
| 1867 |
Paris Exhibition of 1867 demonstrates 'the arts of industry': England to re-evaluate progress and education. (Paris) |
05 |
| 1867 - 1875 |
Select Committee for Science Instruction and later British Association for the Advancement of Science established. (Britain) |
07 |
| 1868 |
Whitworth Scholarships established to encourage theory in workshop training. (Joseph Whitworth, Britain) |
08 |
| 1871 - 1874 |
Thurston (1839-1903) established first model mechanical engineering curriculum and early laboratory. (Robt H Thurston, Stevens Institute, Hoboken) |
09 |
| 1873 |
Financial panic of 1873 (US) leads to depression: slows developing technologies. (US) |
01 |
| 1873 |
First woman at MIT awarded a Bachelor of Science degree. (Ellen Swallow Richards, Cambridge, Mass) |
08 |
| 1874 |
Norske Sivilingeniorers Forening (NIF) founded: Norwegian Society of Chartered Engineers. (Norway) |
08 |
| 1874 |
Morrill Land-Grant (1862): mechanical engineering program supported by appointments from Naval Engine Corporation. (Purdue Univ, Indiana) |
09 |
| 1875 ca. |
Arc lighting illuminates public buildings and streets and mills at Mulhausen and Menier, Gare du Nord. (Paris) |
06 |
| 1875 - 1879 |
Purdue and Ohio State University labs give technical education a foothold in organized research. (Indiana and Ohio) |
08 |
| 1876 |
Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, Machinery Hall: first stirrings of ASME. (Sweet, Philadelphia) |
05 |
| 1876 |
American Chemical Society (ACS). (Washington, DC) |
06 |
| 1877 |
First regular telephone line established between home and shop of telephone manufacturer. (Boston) |
06 |
| 1877 - 1880 |
Arc lamp (1877) and multiple carbon lamp (1880) developed. (Charles F Brush, Cleveland, Ohio) |
06 |
| 1877 |
AMERICAN MACHINIST founded (McGraw-Hill Publishing Company). (New York) |
09 |
| 1878 |
Paris exhibition. (Paris) |
05 |
| 1878 |
Phase Rule on degrees of freedom (physical chemistry) propounded by Willard Gibbs in US: published in France and Germany 1898-99. (Willard Gibbs, US) |
06 |
| 1879 |
Incandescent electric light bulb invented. (T Edison, Swan, Menlo Park, UK) |
06 |
| 1880 |
Edison's Lamp Works founded: 1879 Edison's carbon-filament lamp. (Thomas Edison, US) |
06 |
| 1880 |
ASME forms elite group of US mechanical engineers in response to rapid technical growth and complex organization structures. (Robt H Thurston, New York City) |
09 |
| 1881 |
Wharton School of Finance and Commerce endowed: offers undergraduate business education. (Joseph Wharton, Univ of Penn) |
05 |
| 1882 |
Women admitted as regular students at MIT: previously part of the Women's Laboratory. (Ellen Swallow Richards, Cambridge, Mass) |
08 |
| 1883 |
Method of flashing lamp filaments in hydrocarbon atmosphere patented. (Hiram S Maxim) |
06 |
| 1884 |
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) founded: first called AIEE. (New York) |
06 |
| 1884 |
Brooklyn Bridge opened: Roebling's cable spinning technique adopted, engineering marvel. (John Augustus Roebling 1806-69, New York) |
06 |
| 1884 |
Berlin Royal Technical University. (Charlottenburg, Germany) |
07 |
| 1884 |
Engineering Information Index (EI) founded: first called Engineering Index. (New York City) |
08 |
| 1884 |
MIT's first female instructor (sanitary chemistry) appointed: teaches until 1911. (Ellen Swallow Richards, Cambridge, Mass) |
08 |
| 1887 |
Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC) founded. (Quebec, Canada) |
08 |
| 1889 |
Universal Exposition of 1889 opens: the Eiffel Tower built with hydraulic elevators. (Eiffel, Otis, Paris) |
05 |
| 1889 |
Inductive-loading devices for telegraph patented: Campbell puts into commercial use for Bell 1900. (M I Pupin, US) |
06 |
| 1889 |
Discussions to unify four major engineering societies in one building begin. (US) |
08 |
| 1889 |
American Boiler Manufacturers' Association organizes. (US) |
09 |
| 1889 - 1905 |
Struggle for professional status of mechanical engineer, even among ASME leadership. (US) |
09 |
| 1890 |
Sherman Anti-Trust Act passes: reflecting antimonopoly attitudes after period of key inventor patents. (US) |
04 |
| 1891 |
American Association of Engineering Education forms: originally Engineering Education Association (Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education, 1893). (Ohio State Univ) |
08 |
| 1892 |
Labor suffers defeat at Homestead. |
01 |
| 1893 |
World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. (Chicago) |
05 |
| 1893 |
Faculty of Applied Science in the University of Liege. (Belgium) |
08 |
| 1893 |
American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) founded. (Washington, DC) |
08 |
| 1894 |
ASH&VE founded: American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). (New York, Atlanta) |
09 |
| 1896 |
Practical wireless telegraph. |
06 |
| 1896 |
American Foundrymen's Society (AFS) founded. (Des Plaines, Ill) |
09 |
| 1897 - 1913 |
Electron discovered and electrical conduction studied. (J J Thomson) |
06 |
| 1898 |
ASTM forms. (Philadelphia) |
08 |
| 1899 |
Alpha and beta radiation discovered. (Ernest Rutherford, Britain) |
07 |
| 1899 |
American Ceramic Society founded. |
08 |
|
top 20th Century |
|
| 1900 |
Hall of Fame for Great Americans begins (first engineer entered posthumously 1920: J B Eads. (US) |
04 |
| 1900 - 1910 |
England and Germany led industrial nations at turn of century. (Europe) |
04 |
| 1900 ca. |
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research established. (Britain) |
05 |
| 1900 ca. |
Gamma radiation discovered. (P Villard) |
07 |
| 1900 |
National Physical Laboratory established (1900 as National Standards Laboratory--T4, 1902 as NPL--X3). (Britain) |
07 |
| 1901 |
Wireless messages sent across the Atlantic. (Guglielmo Marconi) |
06 |
| 1901 |
National Bureau of Standards formed by Congressional Act: bill drafted 1891; established 1901. (James W See, Washington, DC) |
08 |
| 1901 |
British Engineering Standards committee established: becomes institute 1931. (Britain) |
08 |
| 1902 |
ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES IN STATISTICAL MECHANICS published. (J Willard Gibbs, US) |
09 |
| 1902 |
Lathe builders organize National Machine Tool Builders' Association. (Wm Lodge, US) |
09 |
| 1903 |
First theory of arc based on electron theory proposed simultaneously. (J J Thomson, Stark, Cambridge, East Germany) |
06 |
| 1903 - 1911 |
Japanese Imperial universities, Meiji Tech School, and secondary tech schools foster rapid modernization programs. (Japan) |
07 |
| 1904 |
First tungsten filament for lighting produced: replaces carbon filament, yet brittle. (Royal School ofTechnoloy, Vienna) |
06 |
| 1905 - 1915 |
Theory of relativity stated. (Albert Einstein, US) |
07 |
| 1908 |
American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) founded. (New York) |
06 |
| 1908 |
American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) founded. (Washington, DC) |
08 |
| 1908 |
Univ of Oxford accepts engineering science as suitable subject for undergraduates. (Sir Alfred Ewing, Cambridge, England) |
08 |
| 1909 |
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING magazine published: first as JOURNAL 1909, then renamed ME 1919. (Lester G French, New York) |
09 |
| 1913 |
Gas-filled incandescent lamp with tungsten filament patented: basis of modern lamp. (Langmuir, UK) |
06 |
| 1914 - 1918 |
WW I provides unprecedented stimulus to mechanical innovation: especially through research and technology transfer. (Europe) |
09 |
| 1916 |
National Research Council (NRC) formed by National Academy of Sciences at the request of President W Wilson. (Washington, DC) |
08 |
| 1917 |
US enters WW I. (US) |
01 |
| 1918 |
High-intensity arc searchlight invented: adopted worldwide. (Elmer A Sperry) |
06 |
| 1918 - 1947 |
American Engineering Standards Association (now ANSI) forms committee: reorganizes as ASA 1928, incorporates 1947, USASI in early 1970s. (US) |
08 |
| 1919 |
First direct flight across the North Atlantic, by J Alcock and A Whitten Brown. (Alcott, Whitten Brown) |
01 |
| 1919 |
Institution of Engineers, Australia, (I.E.AUST.) founded. (Barton, ACT) |
08 |
| 1920 - 1929 |
Stolt, Guntherschulze, Langmuir, and Compton revise thermionic theory of Thompson and Stark. |
08 |
| 1922 |
Insulin discovered. |
06 |
| 1924 |
First flight around the world: by US Army Air Service team. (US Army Air Service, US) |
01 |
| 1925 - 1929 |
Consumer's movement created: contributed greatly to by standards professionals. (US) |
01 |
| 1927 |
Solo flight across North Atlantic made: Spirit of St Louis, Wright Whirlwind engine. (Charles Lindbergh, US) |
01 |
| 1927 |
THE JAZZ SINGER: first talking motion picture, starring Al Jolson. (US) |
02 |
| 1928 |
First flight across the Pacific by C Kingsford-Smith and C T P Ulm. |
01 |
| 1929 |
US stock market crashes on Black Monday: begins Great Depression, leads to New Deal. (F D Roosevelt, US) |
01 |
| 1932 |
Technicolor die-transfer three-color process first used for Walt Disney cartoon film. (Disney, US) |
02 |
| 1932 |
Neutron discovered (1922 -- T7). (James Chadwick) |
06 |
| 1933 |
Machine and Allied Products Institute created in fall of 1933. (W H Rastall, US) |
09 |
| 1934 - 1936 |
Sulfa drugs developed: first discovered as Prontosil, then broken down to sulfanilamide. (Domagk, Pasteur, Germany, France) |
06 |
| 1934 |
National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) founded. (Virginia) |
08 |
| 1936 |
THE GENERAL THEORY OF EMPLOYMENT, INTEREST AND MONEY published: greatest impact in US. (John M Keynes, Britain) |
04 |
| 1936 |
MODERN TIMES portrays the dehumanization of industry. (Charlie Chaplin, US) |
05 |
| 1936 |
Radioactive particles produced by Irene Curie and Frederic Joliot. (Curie and Joliot) |
07 |
| 1939 - 1945 |
WW II begins early Sept 1939 for Europe and Asia (Allies and Axis powers). (Europe) |
01 |
| 1940 |
Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) established: directed electronics development. (Vannevar Bush, US) |
07 |
| 1941 |
Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, bringing US fully into WWII. (Hawaii, US) |
01 |
| 1945 - 1948 |
Federal Republic of Germany and German Democratic Republic (DDR) forms after WWII. (Germany) |
01 |
| 1945 |
US recruits European scientists in major expansion of engineering and scientific research and universities. (Vannevar Bush, US, DC) |
08 |
| 1945 ca. |
Doppler radar developed. (US) |
08 |
| 1946 |
Prussian Academy of Sciences becomes DDR Academy of Sciences of Berlin and major research body. (DDR, Germany) |
07 |
| 1947 |
Bell XS-1, first US research rocket aircraft, flies faster than speed of sound. (Charles Yeager, Edwards AFB, US) |
01 |
| 1947 |
ISO (International Standards Organization) formed: adopted first standard (ASME screwthreads). |
08 |
| 1949 |
de Havilland Comet makes first flight: marks era of pure jet airline service. (London-Johannesburg) |
01 |
| 1949 ca. |
Government, corporation, university, and large foundations control R&D; age of inventor ends. (US) |
04 |
| 1950 - 1959 |
US and USSR dominate industrial and military power: nations such as Japan on rise. |
05 |
| 1950 |
National Science Foundation established to support basic research and science education. (US) |
08 |
| 1951 |
Groupement Pour L'Avancement de la Mecanique Industrielle (GAMI) founded: Saint Quen Cedex. (France) |
09 |
| 1952 |
Battelle Memorial Institute establishes European branches in Switzerland and Germany. (Europe, US) |
05 |
| 1952 |
Techniques developed for growing large single crystals of silicon and germanium crystals. (Wm Pfann, US) |
06 |
| 1954 - 1960 |
St Lawrence Seaway built: caissons, locks, dams, and railways from Montreal to Lake Erie. (Canada, US) |
06 |
| 1954 |
Otto von Guericke Technical University at Magdeburg founded. (DDR, Germany) |
08 |
| 1955 |
Optical fibers invented: used for medical and transmission (1966) applications. (Narinder Kapary, Imperial College, Britain) |
06 |
| 1955 |
Institute of Ceramics established (for industry). |
08 |
| 1956 |
ILLIAC SUITE FOR STRING QUARTET: first musical application of digital computers. (Hill, Isaacson, Univ of Illinois) |
02 |
| 1958 |
Microwave transmission network begins, from Nova Scotia to Vancouver (possibly the world's largest). (Canada) |
06 |
| 1962 |
American nuclear submarines SKATE and SEADRAGON rendezvous at North Pole: use inertial guidance (see 1958). (US) |
09 |
| 1964 |
National Academy of Engineering (NAE) founded. (Washington, DC) |
08 |
| 1970 |
Canadian Society For Mechanical Engineering (CSME) founded. (Quebec, Canada) |
01 |
| 1971 |
US trade deficit increases. (US) |
04 |
| 1979 |
American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES) founded. (Washington, DC) |
08 |
