Archie McCardell: Worst CEO EverArchie McCardell is the worst CEO in history. Sure, there are CEO’s who committed crimes, CEO’s who bankrupt their businesses, and CEO’s who looted their businesses. There are crooks, those who hire cronies, people who paid bribes, plenty who demanded sex or servitude, and countless sociopaths. In fairness to him, Archie did none of these … Continue reading "Archie McCardell: Worst CEO Ever"
Discount AirlineAs the airline market developed, the US found it necessary to regulate interstate air transport as a “public utility.” Significantly, the “Civil Aeronautics Board” (CAB) regulated fares, routes, and schedules. The benefit of regulation was predictability and widespread routes. For example, a carrier that wanted to fly from New York to Chicago might be required … Continue reading "Discount Airline"
CanningLike refrigeration, invented a year earlier, this is another way to preserve food. All the sudden items available only for a certain portion of the year could be reliably preserved for far longer. This lowered the cost and increased the availability of food. Appert is a Frenchman who perfected caning. Napoleon needed a consistent way … Continue reading "Canning"
Chlorofluorocarbons “Freon”Freon is the brand name of a Chlorofluorocarbon gas. It replaced other refrigerant chemicals that were more toxic or volatile, including ammonia. Throughout the 20th century, Freon became the dominant refrigerant gas. The team that invented Freon was led by Thomas Midgley, Jr., who earlier had invented leaded gasoline. It was a joint venture between … Continue reading "Chlorofluorocarbons “Freon”"
Hard Disk DriveDisk drives quickly store and retrieve information for computers. The primary inventor is Reynold “Rey” Johnson. Previously, he invented and sold the technology that reads pencil dots, usually for taking tests, to IBM. Subsequently, he then joined them as a staff engineer. While at IBM he developed the hard disk drive. The first hard drive, … Continue reading "Hard Disk Drive"
Pneumatic Hammer (Jackhammer)1871 As the US and Europe quickly built ever-larger cities and railroads they needed equipment to manipulate the earth at a large scale. The jackhammer is one of these innovations. The jackhammer vastly lowered the cost of blasting rocks and coal. Before the jackhammer men used hammers to blast away at rocks, breaking big rocks … Continue reading "Pneumatic Hammer (Jackhammer)"
Gas MaskGas masks lower the risk of damage for firefighters and soldiers. Garret Morgan, the son of freed slaves, developed an early gas mask for use in fires. Hoses dragged along the ground where air was cleaner, because smoke rises. There was also a 15-minute air supply for when air became hopelessly polluted. Patented in 1914, … Continue reading "Gas Mask"
Screw PropellerScrew Propellers vastly reduced the amount of power needed to move ships. The propellers look like fans and work on similar principles except they displace water instead of air. Countless people, from James Watt onward, claim to have invented the screw propeller. Early experiments, in the late 1700s and early 1800s, functioned but propelled ships … Continue reading "Screw Propeller"
Public-Key Cryptography (Public key encryption)Public Key Cryptography (PKC) dramatically lowers the risk of information intercept and also lowers the risk of impersonation. PKC vastly increases security. For example, Google allows people to send queries to them encrypted. But they cannot decrypt the queries sent by others with what they give you, only Google can. Besides encrypting and decrypting, public … Continue reading "Public-Key Cryptography (Public key encryption)"
Turing Complete Mechanical Computer (Z1, Z2, Z3, Z4)The Z-series computers are notable as the first recognized as the first “Turing complete” (modern) computer. The Nazis did not see the computer as strategically important and invested little in it. The company survived the war but there was little demand for their machines. They eventually sold the patents to the Americans. Zuse worked for … Continue reading "Turing Complete Mechanical Computer (Z1, Z2, Z3, Z4)"
PasteurizationFrench scientist Louis Pasteur disproved the theory of spontaneous generation, the idea that certain organisms are ever-present in nature. For example, early scientists believed fleas came from dust and maggots from dead meat absent anything else. Pasteur theorized and later proved that all organisms come from something else, that nothing exists in a vacuum. He … Continue reading "Pasteurization"
Condensing Steam EngineThe Watt condensing steam engine is widely viewed as the primary machine responsible for the Industrial Revolution. It enabled the use of engines anywhere, not only next to coal mines. Whereas factories before the Watt engines needed to be near high-volume streams, to derive power for water wheels, the Watt engine operated at a low … Continue reading "Condensing Steam Engine"
Long-Term MortgagesMortgages are loans to purchase a property. The word derives from the French “mort” and meant death pledge with the obligation ending when the loan was paid off or the property repossessed. Background The Dutch have the earliest mortgages. Originally in the Netherlands, people saved money and purchased their house for cash. However, starting in … Continue reading "Long-Term Mortgages"
AirplaneWilbur and Orville Wright invented the airplane with their first flight in 1903. Urban myth describes an easy story where the bicycle mechanic brothers built an airplane from spare parts. In reality, the innovation was a long, slow, methodical, and extremely dangerous project. Background People had been building various forms of fixed-wing gliders for years. … Continue reading "Airplane"
Inkjet PrinterInkjet printing produces affordable, high-quality printouts using low-cost personal desktop printers. Background Ichiro Endo, of Canon, was the first to realize the idea that ink could be heated to form a small bubble, then deposited on a page to form a pixel, inkjet printing. John Vaught, a college dropout working at Hewlett-Packard, was working on … Continue reading "Inkjet Printer"
