©Mark Ollig
Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt lifted off from the moon’s surface Dec. 14, 1972, completing NASA’s final Apollo moon mission.
The adventurous moon missions of the Apollo program are examples of noteworthy accomplishments humans have successfully undertaken.
One notable creation I am grateful for is the telephone.
“Cables of telephone wires could be laid underground, or suspended overhead, communicating by branch wires with private dwellings, country houses, shops, and factories,” Alexander Graham Bell said in March 1878.
Bell continued to describe how telephones would connect by “... uniting them through the main cable with a central office, where the wire could be connected as desired, establishing direct communication between any two places in the city.”
Alexander Graham Bell was granted US patent No. 174,465 in 1876 for the invention of the telephone.
In 1885, 41-year-old German mechanical engineer, Karl (sometimes spelled Carl) Friedrich Benz, designed and built the first automobile as we know it today.
A four-cycle engine powered his automobile.
Jan. 29, 1886, Germany Patent DRP No. 37435, titled “Vehicle with gas engine operation,” was awarded to Benz for the first automobile to use a gasoline-powered, internal-combustion engine.
Of course, automobiles require a reliable and safe thoroughfare system to travel over, which leads to the construction of this nation’s modern highway system, another outstanding and notable accomplishment.
The first attempt to engineer a national roadway system began during Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration in 1938, with Congress’ passing of The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1938, for a 26,700-mile network of highways; however, no actual construction began.
In 1944, the US Congress delegated state agencies and the Department of Defense to design highway routes connecting cities to industrial centers.
In 1956, during President Dwight Eisenhower’s administration, the US Congress approved a $25 billion budget to construct a 41,012-mile national interstate highway system. The cost, when adjusted for inflation, would today equal $242 billion.
Currently, the US interstate highway system contains nearly 47,000 miles of roads.
We can fly through the air due to the efforts of the two Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur.
Thursday, Dec. 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, NC, the Wright brother’s flying machine, named “Wright Flyer,” made its first historic flight.
On that Thursday, Orville Wright piloted the four-cylinder engine-powered aircraft, steering the flying machine through the air at a level position.
Orville’s first flight had him maneuvering the Wright Flyer in the sky and performing a controlled landing procedure, returning him and the aircraft safely to the ground.
The plane’s first flight traveled 120 feet and lasted 12 seconds.
Wilbur Wright was at the Wright Flyer controls during its longest flight of the day, which saw it traveling some 825 feet, with the flight lasting nearly one minute.
I have done my share of dishwashing by hand and have come to appreciate one of my favorite household appliances: the dishwasher.
Credit for the modern-day dishwasher goes to Josephine Garis Cochran, a reportedly wealthy socialite.
During the late 1800s, Cochran had become impatient with having her fine china sometimes broken by her servants while being thoroughly cleaned and washed by hand.
She became determined to find a process for having her fragile dishes washed faster and without being broken.
“If nobody else is going to invent a dish washing machine, I’ll do it myself!” Cochran determinedly said.
And, she did.
Cochran designed and created a dishwashing machine with special compartments described in her US Patent as “racks or cages” to place the cups, plates, and saucers.
Her dishwashing machine also included a knife and fork rack and one for “glass and other hollow items.”
Cochran’s dishwashing machine used a copper water boiler and a motor turning a wheel that sprayed hot, soapy water out of water-jet pipes from the dishwasher’s bottom. After a brief period, an above-water source would shower down onto the dishes – cleaning them.
Josephine Garis Cochran was issued US Patent No. 355,139 on Dec. 28, 1886.
In 1893, Cochran demonstrated the world’s first modern dishwasher at the Chicago World’s Fair.
She formed the Garis-Cochran Dish-Washing Company, which manufactured and marketed her dishwashing machines to hotels and large restaurants.
Dec 28, 1886, US Patent No. 355,139 was awarded to Josephine Garis Cochran. You can see it at https://bit.ly/2ONnHPH.
In 1949, the Garis-Cochran Dish-Washing Company became part of KitchenAid. The Whirlpool Corporation purchased this company in 1986.
In 1977, electronics engineer and computer programmer Steve Wozniak introduced the world to the Apple II personal computer.
The US Patent Office issued Patent No. 4,136,359, titled Microcomputer for Use with Video Display, to Stephen G. Wozniak Jan. 23, 1979. You can see his patent at https://bit.ly/3cUJAV3.
Today’s column highlighted just some of the many noteworthy accomplishments and creations.
