Navigating the Heartache WWI Brings
This week marks the anniversary of an very momentous event in modern civilization: Dec. 31 is the day Thomas Edison first demonstrated his incandescent lightbulb in Menlo Park, NJ. The lightbulb was nothing new in 1879. It had been around longer than the 32-year-old Edison. Older models were expensive and didn’t burn for long. Edison…
Most of us rarely stop to think about the history of mundane things, such as our household items and appliances. The dishwasher didn’t become commonplace in homes until the latter part of the 20th century. However, the dishwasher has a history dating back more than 150 years. What’s more, unlike many objects in your home,…
In real estate, bathrooms and kitchens often make or break a sale. In the late 19th century, indoor plumbing was becoming commonplace, and homes were increasingly becoming electrified. This meant that kitchens and bathrooms were, perhaps for the first time, an important consideration when buying or renting a home. Bathroom Tech After bathing and toilet…
Everyone knows the story of RMS Titanic: The largest ship ever built, on its maiden voyage, hits an iceberg and sinks. There weren’t enough lifeboats on board, resulting in more than 1,500 passengers and crew dying. But how many people know the story of what happened after the Carpathia rescued the survivors? Recovery The CS…
Contrary to popular belief, the automobile has been around for more than a century. The vehicles just didn’t become practical until about 100 years ago. The first automobile was developed in the 18th century and was steam powered. In the 19th century, the first hydrogen-powered car was invented and the first electric one was developed.…
Humans are naturally prone to ingenuity. We find solutions to problems, but sometimes the solutions cause new problems. Case in point: World War I. The technology of the previous few decades created dreadnoughts, chemical weapons, improved machine guns and cannons. Basically it became easier to kill. Another new weapon was the tank. Tank Development The…
For the first time in history, civilians discovered that it wasn’t just soldiers who were in danger. During World War I, new weapons of war made it possible to conduct air raids on civilians. The majority of these raids were directed at Great Britain, but Paris and other locations also faced bombardment. Zeppelin Air Raids Zeppelins…
Photography has come a long way in the past 200 years. It’s hard to believe in today’s age of the selfie, photo sharing apps and Internet photo albums that there was a time when a person might only have been photographed once in a lifetime. We forget that not that long ago, digital cameras, one-hour…
Many people have the impression that the 1910s were technologically the Dark Ages. In truth, nearly all the modern conveniences we enjoy today existed, only in a simpler form. Technological advances accelerated in the 19th century and continued in the 20th century at an astonishing rate. So much so that, as ThoughtCo. puts it, “We…