Transcontinental Railroad

The idea of connecting the western and eastern regions of the United States by railroad was raised as early as the 1830’s and seemed a logical solution to bridge the vast emptiness separating the two coasts. The final spike was driven into the railbed on May 10, 1869 at Promontory Summit, Utah. The completion ceremony featured two steam locomotives; the Union Pacific’s No. 119 and the Central Pacific’s No. 60, also known as the Jupiter, facing each other. The Jupiter had been built at New York’s Schenectady Locomotive Works in 1868. Using the Whyte Notation System for classifying steam locomotives, the Jupiter had a 4-4-0 configuration. The numbers indicate the leading wheels, driving wheels, and trailing wheels; the Jupiter had four leading wheels, four driving wheels, and zero trailing wheels. The Union Pacific’s No. 119 also had a 4-4-0 configuration.

Wright Flyer - 1903

There are many claims in holding title to being the first for achieving a controlled and sustained powered flight in a heavier than air vehicle: Clément Ader, Kar Jatho, Samuel Langley, Richard Pearse, Alberto Santos-Dumont, Gustave Weisskopf, and the Wright Brothers, Orville and Wilbur. Each claimant added significant gains to the principles of flight, but they all, with the exception of the Wright Brothers, lacked the foresight to substantiate their work with reliable documentation. Beginning in 1899, the Wright Brothers began experimenting with various flying devices; kites, gliders. Their dedication culminated in the first powered flight. On the morning of December 17, 1903, Orville took to the air along the shores of Kill Devil Hill, North Carolina. Reaching a speed of about 11 km/h, the aircraft covered a distance of 36 meters and flew for 12 thrilling seconds.

Dhow - Kuwait

Fragments of the world’s earliest sailing craft, a reed boat, were found along the coastal area near the Kuwaiti city of Subiya. It is estimated to be 7,000 years old. The boat was made of reeds held together by rope and made water resistant through the application of a coating of bitumen, a substance derived from petroleum tar.

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The origin of the dhow stems from India and China, but it was used extensively throughout history as a means of transporting heavy loads along the trade routes of the Persian Gulf and the East African coast. The size of the dhow varied according to use, but they each had lateen sails, a triangular sail arrangement. They also differed from most other vessels by featuring a method of stitched construction. The hull boards were laced together with rope fiber as opposed to being fastened by nails, dowels or pegs.

Adler Locomotive

In 1816, the Royal Prussian Steelworks built a steam locomotive able to complete a trial run of hauling a single wagon along a short course laid out on company grounds. The Krigar locomotive had been designed by Johann Friedrich Krigar. It was not considered a success; the gauge was unsuitable and it was under-powered. The Adler locomotive, an import built by the father and son team of George and Robert Stephenson of Newcastle, England, became the first viable commercial locomotive in Germany. The machine was delivered to the Bavarian Ludwig Railway in 1835, and began hauling passengers and cargo between Nürnberg and Fürth the same year, a distance of less than twenty kilometers. The locomotive typically pulled nine wagons able to accommodate 192 passengers between the two cities at a modest speed of 28 km/h. It remained in service for twenty-two years.

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain, but the exact moment is difficult to define. Some scholars cite events as early as 1811, others place the timing as late as the mid 1830’s, but there is no debate on the impact of the Industrial Revolution. Within a short period of time, the slow manufacturing process based on manual labor was transitioned to mass production by machinery. This period saw increases in chemical production, new methods of forging metals, the birth of the textile industry, and machine tool development. Factories sprang up to produce every imaginable modern marvel. Those remaining on the farm were not excluded; new machinery allowed more acreage to be put into production. Thomas Newcomen’s atmospheric engine, invented in 1712, was an engine powered by condensed steam; it may have been the invention to spark the Industrial Revolution. 

H.M.S. Beagle

The keel of HMS Beagle was laid down in 1818 and the ship was completed in 1820. She was originally designed as a 10 gun brig-sloop of the Cherokee class, but was altered in 1825. A mizzen mast was added and her gun allocation was reduced; she was now considered a bark. The Beagle made three noteworthy voyages during her fifty year career. In her first voyage, 1826, she accompanied HMS Adventure to South America for a hydrographic survey of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. The second voyage began in 1831 and was under the command of Captain Fitzroy. This voyage took an unknown naturalist, Charles Darwin, around the world. Darwin emerged from the five year journey with enough material to later formulate his theory of evolution. The final voyage of 1837 took the Beagle on a survey of Australia. She was decommissioned in 1845 and broken up in 1870.

H.M.S. Paramour

The H.M.S. Paramour was the first ship built specifically to serve as a research vessel. She was rigged as a three masted pink and was launched in April of 1694. A pink is a small ship featuring a narrow stern and a flat bottom. The Paramour was 16 meters in length, had a breadth of 5.5 meters, and weighed about 81 metric tons. Despite their small size, a pink had a large hold capacity suitable for hauling cargo. Their shallow draught allowed them to enter small rivers and streams or sail safely over reefs. They were flexible and easy to handle. Beginning in 1698, Edmond Halley, astronomer and mathematician, took command of the H.M.S Paramour during his expeditions into the South Atlantic to study the variations of the compass and to observe the conditions of terrestrial magnetism. The vessel was refitted as a ketch in 1702 and served with the Royal Navy until 1706.