The 2 nd Industrial Revolution

“They done it! They done it! Damned if they ain't flew.” — Johnny Moore Kitty Hawk. 17 December 1903 The 2nd Industrial Revolution 14.4 The Age of Invention

Focus Your Thoughts . . . What technologies might you expect to arise in an “age of invention”? What technologies have been most influential in your lifetime? Why? If we had to give up these luxuries today, how would that impact our lives?

Advances in Transportation • Railroads are great for traveling long distances, but Americans realize they need local transportation • Cities were too big to walk everywhere • Workers needed faster ways to get to their jobs • Residents in distant neighborhoods felt isolated • Enter mass transit! • Mass transit – public transportation systems that carry large numbers of people and make regular stops along established routes.

Streetcars • The first forms of mass transit were horse-drawn passenger vehicles • Before long, these vehicles were rolling along rails in the street and became known as streetcars • Rails made the rider smoother and allowed horses to pull larger, heavier loads • However, streetcars were problematic in cities with steep hills so . . . Guess what came next?

Cablecars • Andrew Smith Hallidie came up with cablecars in 1873; they had more power and could climb up the hills by latching onto moving cables underground • Cablecars became a symbol of San Francisco but quickly became outdated; they were replaced by streetcars powered by overhead electrical wires (trolleys)

Subways • As cities continued to expand rapidly, traffic became a huge problem • In urban centers such as Boston and New York, traffic sometimes came to a complete standstill with horses and electric streetcars competing for space on narrow roads • In 1897, Boston introduced the first subway; New York followed suit in 1904

Automobiles • While mass transit was taking off, inventors were also experimenting with vehicles for personal use • Nikolaus A. Otto, a German engineer, invented the internal combustion engine in 1867 • In 1893, Charles and J. Frank Duryea built the first practical motorcar of the United States • A new car cost roughly $2,500 . . . at a time when the average worker made $500 a year. • This is the equivalent of a new car costing $250,000 when you only make $50,000.

Airplanes • Human beings had always been fascinated by their inability to fly • Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci designed –but did not build – a flying machine • It was not until 1903 that two Americans crafted a successful airplane . . . Who were they??

Orville and Wilbur Wright • Ohio bicyclemakers • Made kites to test their wing designs • Built a wind tunnel to study the forces of wind on the wings • December 17, 1903 • Tested their airplane at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina • In freezing temperatures and a strong wind, Orville climbed into the pilot’s seat – the plane took off across the beaching flying just inches above the ground and landing 120 feet from where it had started • The flight, the first in American history, lasted all of twelve seconds but quickly lead to longer flights

The Communications Revolution Gone are the days of face-to-face contact, hand-written letters, and hoofing it on the Ankle Express in order to physically deliver a message. . . enter the telegraph, the telephone, and the typewriter!

The Telegraph • In 1837, Samuel F.B. Morse patented his method of communicating by sending messages over wires with electricity; he called his invention the telegraph. • Telegraph operators tapped out patterns of long and short signals that stood for letters of the alphabet. • Using this system, known as Morse code, an operator could send a message to distant locations in mere minutes.

The Telephone • Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell both developed devices that could transmit voices using electricity • In 1876 the two men brought their designs to the patent office within hours of each other Bell, however, got his design patented first; today he is known as the inventor of the telephone. • By 1900, more than a million telephones had been installed in offices and households across the nation.

The Typewriter • Christopher Latham Sholes, a Milwaukee printer, invented the first practical typewriter in 1867 with the help of Carlos Glidden and Samuel Soule. • Sholes later improved upon his machine by designing the QWERTY keyboard which is still the standard in computers (and now telephones!) • The typewriter could produce legible documents very quickly and businesses began to hire women as typists to manage company correspondence • For many women this was a new, exciting opportunity to contribute to the economy and get out of the house

Thomas Edison “Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.” • Inventors and innovators in the late 1800’s were obsessed with progress; they made things work better, faster, and more cheaply • Thomas Alva Edison is one of the most famous inventors of the Industrial Revolution; although he was deaf, he is credited with a number of creations earning over 1,000 patents in his lifetime • The first phonograph (record player) • Telephone transmitters • Incandescent lighting (aka lightbulbs) • Electricity! • The motion picture camera • Projectors • Batteries

Assignment • Review your notes over Chapter 14 • Choose ONE of the industries, inventions, or new businesses (i.e., department stores) we’ve discussed and create a posterboard advertisement to try and attract consumers • Make sure you’re paying special attention to the new principals of mass advertising we’ve discussed • Neatness, creativity, and effort will be factored into your grade . . . take pride in your work! Hope you enjoy taking a break from writing! You’re doing a great job this semester. 

The 2 nd Industrial Revolution