Prior to 1909 the traditional fishtail bit scraped the rock and quickly dulled in service. The Hughes two-cone bit's revolutionary rolling action crushed hard-rock formations with twin cone-shaped, hardened steel bits, each with 166 cutting edges, revolving on bronze bearings shaped to provide a large surface with reduced friction.
USA
YearAdded:
Image Credit:
Courtesy ASME
Image Caption:
Hughes Two-Cone Drill Bit
Era_date_from:
1909
2009
Better known as the "Spruce Goose," the Howard Hughes Flying Boat was designed and built by Hughes Aircraft Co., to be the largest wood-constructed and the largest wingspan airplane ever built. As Hughes perfected his craft, he added significantly to what is known in areas of large-lift capability and power-boost systems. Originally designated the HK-1 in 1942, it was designed to meet wartime troop and material transportation needs (flying just high enough to evade submarine attacks).
YearAdded:
Image Credit:
Public Domain (Federal Aviation Administration)
Image Caption:
Howard Hughes Flying Boat, HK-1
Era_date_from:
1947
2002
The 50-mile Houston Ship Channel is a manmade port for ocean-going vessels, stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to Houston and Harris County, Texas.
YearAdded:
Image Credit:
Courtesy Flickr/Roy Luck (CC BY 2.0)
Image Caption:
Houston Ship Channel
Era_date_from:
1837
1987
The terminal, designed by noted architect Joseph Finger and built by the Works Progress Administration, is a rare remaining example of classic art deco airport architecture, featuring the distinctive design elements of that age: step forms, sweeping curves, and intricate geometrical patterns and motifs. Opened on September 28, 1940, the terminal was Houston’s gateway to the world, and served the fleets of Braniff Airlines and Eastern Air Lines.
YearAdded:
Image Credit:
Courtesy Wikipedia/Mlickliter (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Image Caption:
Houston Municipal Airport Terminal
Era_date_from:
1940
2009
In 1918, the U.S. Reclamation Service's director and chief engineer Arthur P. Davis proposed a dam of unprecedented height to control the devastating floods on the Colorado River, generate hydroelectric power, and store the river's ample waters for irrigation and other uses.
YearAdded:
Image Credit:
Courtesy of Flickr/JoshBerglund19 (CC BY 2.0)
Image Caption:
Hoover Dam
Era_date_from:
1935
1984
Known as the Paper City by 1877, this site was a major industrial center with extensive paper mills, textile mills, machine shops, and a water power system that had within a few decades transformed the fields of Ireland Parish into the manufacturing city of Holyoke. A group of Boston investors created the system of dams, canals, mills, streets, and boarding houses, which was incorporated as Holyoke in 1850. Built between 1847 and 1892 according to the original plan, the dam and canals provided work for Irish immigrants and the French Canadians, Germans, and other nationalities.
YearAdded:
Image Credit:
Public Domain (Produced Prior to 1/1/1923)
Image Caption:
Panoramic of the Holyoke Mills (The American Thread Company) on Holyoke Canal, 1909
Era_date_from:
1859
1987
The first practical demonstration of this tractor took place in a peat field on Roberts Island on November 24, 1904, and was patented and in production by December of 1907. The existing machine represents the earliest gasoline-powered track-type tractors that were to help revolutionize agriculture, logging, construction, road building, and transportation around the world. Its design and development is credited to Benjamin Holt (1849-1920), president of the Holt Manufacturing Company of Stockton.
YearAdded:
Image Credit:
Public Domain (Copyright Expired)
Image Caption:
The Holt 75 model gasoline-powered Caterpillar tractor used early in World War I as an artillery tractor. Later models were produced without the front "tiller wheel."
Era_date_from:
1918
1981
The first long underwater tunnel in the world designed for motor vehicle use was built from 1920 to 1927. The 29.5-foot-diameter, 8,500-foot-long twin tubes of this tunnel were shield-driven by the pneumatic method through extremely difficult river-bottom conditions that were overcome by the ingenuity and determination of its engineers, Clifford M. Holland, Milton H. Freeman, and Ole Singstad. They were the largest in the United States when built.
YearAdded:
Image Credit:
Courtesy Flickr/Bill Benzon (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Image Caption:
Holland Tunnel Ventilation System
Era_date_from:
1920
1984
Developed by the Hohokam, a prehistoric group of Native Americans, the canal system in the Salt River Valley serviced more than 100,000 acres of mostly arid desert country in what is now southern Arizona. The prehistoric Hohokam constructed one of the largest and most sophisticated irrigation networks ever created using pre-industrial technology.
YearAdded:
Image Credit:
Courtesy Flickr/Dave Hogg (CC BY 2.0)
Image Caption:
The Hohokam irrigation system included some 700 miles of canals.
Era_date_from:
600
1992
The Polymer Research Institute was established in 1946 by Herman F. Mark, a pioneer in the study of giant molecules. The Institute brought together a number of polymer researchers to create the first academic facility in the United States devoted to the study and teaching of polymer science. Scientists associated with it later went on to establish polymer programs at other universities and institutions, contributing significantly to the development and growth of what has become a vital branch of chemistry, engineering, and materials science.
YearAdded:
Image Credit:
Image Caption:
Herman Mark and the Polymer Research Institute
Era_date_from:
1946
2003
Innovations
