Events, Verisoph

1784 Cort patents the puddling and rolling process 0 cit. Henry Cort developed puddling to make wrought iron with coal, and grooved rollers to shape it. The methods raised the quality and quantity of British iron. economy / technology ●●●●●

1785 Cartwright patents the power loom 0 cit. Edmund Cartwright patented a loom driven by power rather than by hand. Early versions worked poorly, but improved power looms later displaced handloom weavers. economy / technology ●●●●

c. 1790 to c. 1797 Canal mania grips Britain 0 cit. A rush of investment funded a national network of canals to move coal, iron, and goods cheaply. The waterways cut transport costs sharply before the railway age. economy / technology ●●●●

1793 The cotton gin 0 cit. Eli Whitney's machine quickly separated cotton fibers from their seeds. It made short staple cotton hugely profitable and deepened reliance on enslaved labor in the American South. economy / technology ●●●

1793 Slater builds the first American cotton mill 0 cit. Samuel Slater, who had learned British methods, built a water-powered spinning mill in Rhode Island from memory. His mill brought factory-based textile production to the United States. economy / technology ●●●●

1793 The cotton gin and the cotton boom 0 cit. Eli Whitney's cotton gin made short-staple cotton hugely profitable and revived a declining slave economy. Demand for enslaved labour in the American South surged as cotton spread west. economy / technology ●●●●

1800 The electric battery 0 cit. Alessandro Volta stacked discs of different metals to make the voltaic pile, the first steady source of electric current. The battery made controlled electricity possible and launched the study of electrochemistry. science / technology ●●●●

c. 1800 Maudslay builds the screw-cutting lathe 0 cit. Henry Maudslay built a lathe that cut screw threads to a precise, repeatable standard. His work founded the machine-tool trade that made accurate parts for other machines. technology ●●●●

c. 1800 Waata elephant hunters and the ivory trade 0 cit. The Waata were renowned elephant hunters, felling big game with powerful bows and poisoned arrows and reading the bush with deep skill. They traded ivory and animal products to Oromo herders and Swahili coastal merchants for grain, cloth, and iron. This hunting knowledge made them central to the region's ivory economy. culture / economy / technology ●●

21 February 1804 Trevithick runs the first steam railway locomotive 0 cit. Richard Trevithick's high-pressure steam locomotive hauled a load along the Penydarren tramway. It proved that a steam engine could pull a train on rails. technology ●●●●

20 November 1811 Friedrich Krupp founds the cast steel works in Essen 0 cit. Friedrich Krupp founded a cast steel works in Essen in November 1811. The struggling firm became the seed of one of Europe's greatest industrial empires. economy / technology ●●●●

c. 1815 The Royal Navy and Command of the Seas 0 cit. After 1815 the Royal Navy held unrivaled control of the world's oceans and trade routes. Its dominance underpinned a century of British global power known as the Pax Britannica. technology / war ●●●●●

c. 1815 to c. 1850 The American system of interchangeable parts takes hold 0 cit. Armories and workshops built products from standardized, interchangeable parts that fit without hand fitting. The method sped assembly and repair and set the stage for mass production. economy / technology ●●●●

c. 1815 Transformation of Modern Warfare 0 cit. Mass conscription, the corps system and large scale mobilization pioneered in these wars reshaped military organization and strategy for the following century. technology / war ●●●●

c. 1820 to c. 1850 Belgium industrializes first on the European continent 0 cit. Rich in coal and iron, Belgium built mechanized textile mills, ironworks, and railways before its neighbors. It became the first industrial economy outside Britain. economy / technology ●●●●

c. 1820 Ilchamus develop indigenous irrigation farming 0 cit. Unusually for a Maa-speaking people, the Ilchamus built a system of channel irrigation to grow grain on the dry land around Lake Baringo. In the nineteenth century this indigenous, large-scale irrigation was the norm and was flexible enough to adjust to shifting water and floods. The farming sat alongside fishing and livestock in a mixed livelihood. economy / technology ●●

1825 The public railway 0 cit. The Stockton and Darlington Railway opened as the first public line to use steam locomotives, followed in 1830 by the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Railways moved people and goods faster and cheaper than ever and reshaped cities and economies. technology ●●●●●

27 September 1825 The Stockton and Darlington Railway opens 0 cit. The Stockton and Darlington was the first public railway to use steam locomotives to haul goods. It showed that rail could move heavy freight over distance at low cost. economy / technology ●●●●●

c. 1825 Infrastructure and logistics 0 cit. Railways, roads, ports, shipping, warehouses, telegraphs, pipelines, and the systems that move people and goods. Infrastructure turns power into reach and makes territory governable and profitable. economy / pillar / technology ●●●●●

1826 Alfred Krupp takes over the family firm 0 cit. Alfred Krupp inherited the near-bankrupt works at age fourteen when his father died in 1826. He rebuilt it into a leading steel producer over the following decades. economy / technology ●●●

October 1829 Stephenson's Rocket wins the Rainhill Trials 0 cit. George and Robert Stephenson's locomotive Rocket outperformed its rivals in a public contest to choose engines for the new railway. Its design set the pattern for the steam locomotive. technology ●●●●

15 September 1830 The Liverpool and Manchester Railway opens 0 cit. The Liverpool and Manchester was the first railway to link two major cities using steam locomotives for all traffic. It carried both passengers and freight on a fixed timetable and proved the commercial railway. economy / technology ●●●●●

c. 1830 to c. 1900 France industrializes through the nineteenth century 0 cit. France built railways, coal mines, and factories at a steady pace, keeping much small-scale and skilled production. Its path was slower and less concentrated than Britain's or Germany's. economy / technology ●●●

29 August 1831 Faraday demonstrates electromagnetic induction 0 cit. Michael Faraday showed that a changing magnetic field can generate an electric current. The discovery is the basis of the dynamo and the electric generator. science / technology ●●●●●

June 1837 Cooke and Wheatstone patent the electric telegraph 0 cit. William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone patented a working electric telegraph used on the railways. It let messages travel far faster than any physical carrier. science / technology ●●●●

April 1838 Brunel's SS Great Western crosses the Atlantic 0 cit. Isambard Kingdom Brunel's wooden paddle steamer was built for regular transatlantic service. It showed that steamships could reliably carry passengers across the ocean. exploration / technology ●●●

1839 Photography 0 cit. Louis Daguerre announced the daguerreotype, a practical way to fix images from light onto a plate, building on earlier work by Niepce. Photography gave people a new way to record reality and later fed film, science and journalism. technology ●●●●

c. 1839 A global chain of naval bases and coaling stations 0 cit. British forces seized Aden in 1839, one link in a network of bases that came to include Gibraltar, Malta, the Cape, Singapore, Hong Kong, Bermuda, and the Falklands. After steam replaced sail, these ports doubled as coaling stations that let warships and merchantmen refuel anywhere on the globe. The chain tied the empire together and gave the Royal Navy reach into every ocean. economy / technology / war ●●●

1841 Whitworth sets standard screw threads 0 cit. Joseph Whitworth proposed a uniform standard for screw threads that engineers widely adopted. Common standards let parts made in different workshops fit together. technology ●●●

19 July 1843 Brunel launches the SS Great Britain 0 cit. The SS Great Britain was the first large ship built of iron and driven by a screw propeller. It combined features that became standard in ocean-going steamships. technology ●●●●

24 May 1844 The electric telegraph 0 cit. Samuel Morse sent the message What hath God wrought over a line from Washington to Baltimore. The telegraph let information travel almost instantly over long distances for the first time. technology ●●●●●

24 May 1844 Morse sends first telegraph message 0 cit. Samuel Morse sent the message What hath God wrought from Washington to Baltimore on 24 May 1844, opening the first commercial telegraph line. The telegraph separated communication from physical transport for the first time. society / technology ●●●●

24 May 1844 Morse sends the first telegraph message 0 cit. Samuel Morse sent the message What hath God wrought over a line from Washington to Baltimore. The telegraph let news travel faster than any messenger and reshaped the press. culture / technology ●●●

24 May 1844 Morse sends his first long-distance telegraph message 0 cit. Samuel Morse sent a message by telegraph from Washington to Baltimore using his code of dots and dashes. The system spread quickly and tied distant places into a communication network. technology ●●●●

c. June 1844 Battle of Walker Creek and the Colt revolver 0 cit. Hays's rangers, armed with Samuel Colt's new five-shot revolving pistol, fought a mounted engagement against a larger Comanche force near present-day Kendall County and reportedly held their own where single-shot weapons would have left them defenseless after one volley. Accounts of the battle come mainly from ranger participants and later retellings, so exact numbers are uncertain, but the episode is credited with demonstrating the revolver's value in mounted combat. technology / war ●●

c. 1845 Rothschilds finance European railways 0 cit. From the 1840s the family funded major railway companies, including the Compagnie du Chemin de fer du Nord in France founded in 1845. Railway finance became a core part of their business across Europe. economy / technology ●●●

May 1846 Associated Press founded 0 cit. Five New York newspapers formed a cooperative in 1846 to share the cost of telegraphing news from the Mexican-American War, creating the Associated Press. Wire cooperatives standardized how news moved across distances. society / technology ●●●●

c. 1846 The Associated Press and the rise of wire services 0 cit. New York newspapers formed a cooperative to share the cost of gathering news by telegraph, an arrangement that became the Associated Press. Wire services standardized news across the country. culture / technology ●●●

12 October 1847 Founding of Siemens 0 cit. Werner von Siemens and Johann Georg Halske found a telegraph works in Berlin. The firm builds pioneering telegraph lines, dynamos, and electric railways, growing into Europe's largest electrical engineering company. economy / technology ●●●●

1847 Samuel Walker helps design the Walker Colt 0 cit. Former ranger Samuel Walker worked with Samuel Colt to design a heavier, six-shot revolver for U.S. Mounted Rifles use in the Mexican-American War, produced as the Colt Walker. Texas Rangers serving in that war, including under Hays, carried the new revolvers and helped popularize them as cavalry and frontier weapons. The Walker Colt is often cited in Ranger lore as proof of a special bond between the Rangers and Colt, though the weapon was developed for the U.S. Army generally, not the Rangers alone. technology / war ●●

c. 1850 to c. 1900 The Ruhr becomes Germany's industrial heartland 0 cit. Coal and iron drew steelworks and factories to the Ruhr valley, and firms like Krupp grew large. The region powered Germany's rise as a leading industrial nation. economy / technology ●●●●

c. 1850 The railroads force accounting to grow up 0 cit. Railroads were the first businesses too large and too capital-heavy to run by a merchant's simple cash book. They pioneered ways to account for depreciation of track and rolling stock, to measure cost per ton-mile, and to report to distant shareholders. In his history The Visible Hand, Alfred Chandler argued these accounting tools were what made the modern managed corporation possible. economy / technology ●●●

October 1851 Founding of Reuters 0 cit. Paul Julius Reuter opens a telegraph office in London transmitting stock prices between London and Paris. His agency becomes one of the world's dominant news services. culture / economy / technology ●●●

October 1851 Reuters news agency founded 0 cit. Paul Julius Reuter opened a telegraph-based news office in London in 1851, transmitting stock prices and news between financial centers. Reuters became one of the dominant global wire services. economy / technology ●●●

1 May 1851 The Great Exhibition 0 cit. Britain displayed the industrial products of the world in the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park. The event showcased the nation's industrial and imperial confidence at its height. culture / technology ●●●

1851 Krupp exhibits a cast steel cannon at the Great Exhibition 0 cit. At the 1851 Great Exhibition in London Krupp showed a large flawless block of cast steel and a steel cannon. The display announced the firm's move into steel artillery. technology / war ●●●

c. 1852 Krupp perfects the seamless railway tyre 0 cit. In the early 1850s Krupp developed the seamless steel railway tyre that made the firm's fortune. Three interlocking rings from this product became the company's emblem. economy / technology ●●●

16 April 1853 The First Railways in India 0 cit. India's first passenger railway opened between Bombay and Thane. British-built railways spread across the subcontinent, tying it together for administration, trade, and troop movement. economy / technology ●●●

1856 The Bessemer process for steel 0 cit. Henry Bessemer devised a way to mass produce cheap steel by blowing air through molten iron. Abundant steel built railways, bridges, ships and skyscrapers. economy / technology ●●●●

1856 Bessemer patents his steel converter 0 cit. Henry Bessemer devised a converter that blew air through molten iron to burn off impurities and make steel cheaply. Cheap steel transformed rails, ships, and building. economy / technology ●●●●●

16 August 1858 The first transatlantic telegraph cable carries messages 0 cit. A submarine cable briefly linked Britain and North America by telegraph before it failed. A durable cable laid in 1866 gave lasting instant communication across the ocean. exploration / technology ●●●●

1858 Fingerprinting is born as a tool of colonial control 0 cit. Fingerprinting entered official use not as forensics but as a technology of colonial control. William Herschel, a British administrator in Bengal, began taking handprints and fingerprints from 1858 to bind Indians to contracts and pensions and to tell colonial subjects apart. Edward Henry later systematized the method in India before carrying the Henry Classification to Scotland Yard. The same logic reached Kenya in the Native Registration Ordinance, whose kipande fingerprinted every African man for labour control. politics / society / technology ●●

27 August 1859 Drake drills the first commercial oil well 0 cit. Edwin Drake strikes oil at 69 feet using a steam engine and driven pipe, proving that petroleum could be pumped from the ground on purpose. The well set off a drilling rush in western Pennsylvania and marked the birth of the modern oil industry. economy / technology ●●●

29 December 1860 HMS Warrior launched 0 cit. The Royal Navy launched HMS Warrior, Britain's response to France's Gloire, the world's first ocean-going ironclad. Warrior combined an iron hull and armor with steam propulsion and sail, instantly making existing wooden battle fleets obsolete. Its launch opened an arms race in armored warship design among the naval powers. technology / war ●●

c. 1860 Kerosene lamps replace whale oil 0 cit. Refiners learned to distill cheap kerosene from crude oil for lamp fuel, undercutting expensive whale oil almost overnight. Lighting, not fuel for engines, was the first mass market that made oil valuable and drove the early industry. economy / society / technology ●●

1861 Self-Strengthening Movement 0 cit. Reformist officials tried to modernize the military and industry by adopting Western technology while keeping Confucian institutions. The effort produced arsenals and shipyards but did not save the dynasty. economy / technology ●●●

8 March 1862 Battle of Hampton Roads 0 cit. The Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia and the Union ironclad USS Monitor fought the first battle between armored steam warships, ending in a tactical draw after hours of cannon fire that neither ship's armor could penetrate. The battle demonstrated that wooden warships were now obsolete against ironclads. Navies worldwide accelerated conversion to armored, steam-powered fleets afterward. technology / war ●●

17 May 1865 International Telegraph Convention 0 cit. Convention among twenty states standardizing telegraph networks and tariffs and founding the International Telegraph Union, the oldest international organization still operating. It began formal international cooperation on technology. diplomacy / politics / technology ●●●

17 May 1865 Founding of the International Telegraph Union 0 cit. Twenty European states sign the International Telegraph Convention in Paris, founding the world's first modern international organization to standardize telegraph networks. It became the International Telecommunication Union in 1932. diplomacy / technology ●●●

12 May 1865 Founding of Nokia 0 cit. Mining engineer Fredrik Idestam wins a permit for a wood pulp mill in Tampere, Finland. The paper company later diversifies and, more than a century on, becomes the world's largest mobile phone maker. economy / technology ●●●

1865 The Siemens-Martin open-hearth process is developed 0 cit. The open-hearth furnace, drawing on the Siemens regenerative design and the Martin brothers' work, made large batches of steel from scrap and pig iron. It gave finer control than the Bessemer converter and came to dominate steelmaking. economy / technology ●●●●

July 1866 First lasting transatlantic telegraph cable 0 cit. A durable transatlantic telegraph cable entered service in July 1866 after earlier attempts failed, linking North America and Europe by wire. Messages that had taken days by ship now crossed the ocean in minutes. exploration / technology ●●●

27 July 1866 The Transatlantic Telegraph Cable 0 cit. A durable submarine cable linked Britain to North America, allowing messages to cross in minutes rather than weeks. It began the global telegraph network that let London govern its empire in near real time. technology ●●●●

c. 1866 Moltke's General Staff directs Prussian mobilization by rail 0 cit. Chief of the General Staff Helmuth von Moltke the Elder used detailed rail timetables prepared in peacetime to mobilize and concentrate Prussian armies faster than rival powers during the Austro-Prussian War, and again in 1870 against France. This showed that a permanent planning staff, rather than an individual commander's improvisation, could decide the opening phase of a war. Other European powers built their own general staffs and rail-mobilization plans in direct response. technology / war ●●●

1866 The global submarine telegraph network 0 cit. The first lasting transatlantic telegraph cable was completed in 1866, and over the following decades British firms laid a worldwide web of undersea cables. The largely British-owned network, later called the All Red Line, carried messages between London and the empire in minutes. Control of global communications gave Britain an edge in commerce, diplomacy, and naval command. diplomacy / economy / technology ●●●

1867 Dynamite 0 cit. Alfred Nobel stabilized nitroglycerin into dynamite, a safer and controllable explosive. It transformed mining, tunneling and construction and also warfare. economy / technology ●●●

c. 1867 Singer builds factories abroad and pioneers the modern multinational 0 cit. The Singer sewing machine company opened a factory in Glasgow, one of the first cases of an American firm manufacturing overseas rather than just exporting. Singer built a global sales and production network decades before the term multinational existed. Business historians often treat it as the template for the modern company that operates across many national borders at once. economy / technology ●●

1868 Founding of the Empire of Japan 0 cit. The Meiji Restoration returned power to the emperor and launched rapid modernization. Japan transformed into an industrial and imperial power within a generation. politics / technology ●●●●

17 November 1869 The Opening of the Suez Canal 0 cit. The canal cut the sea journey between Europe and Asia by thousands of miles. It became the lifeline of the British Empire, shortening the route to India and the Far East. economy / technology ●●●●

10 May 1869 The first transcontinental railroad is completed 0 cit. Rail lines from east and west met in Utah, linking the United States coast to coast by rail. The route cut a cross-country journey from months to about a week. economy / technology ●●●●●

17 November 1869 The Suez Canal opens 0 cit. The Suez Canal joined the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, letting ships avoid the long route around Africa. It shortened trade routes between Europe and Asia and boosted world commerce. economy / technology ●●●●●

c. 1870 The Steamship and Imperial Shipping Lines 0 cit. Steam power and companies like P&O created reliable scheduled links between Britain and its colonies. Faster, cheaper travel bound the empire together for trade, migration, and administration. economy / technology ●●●●

c. 1870 to c. 1900 The United States overtakes Britain in industrial output 0 cit. Vast resources, a large market, and heavy investment made the United States a leading industrial power. Steel, railways, oil, and machinery grew on an enormous scale. economy / technology ●●●●

10 January 1870 John D. Rockefeller founds Standard Oil 0 cit. John D. Rockefeller and partners incorporated the Standard Oil Company of Ohio on 10 January 1870. It grew rapidly by controlling refining, transport and distribution. economy / technology ●●●●●

1870 to 1871 Krupp guns prove decisive in the Franco-Prussian War 0 cit. Krupp steel breech-loading artillery gave Prussian forces a marked advantage in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 to 1871. The victory confirmed Krupp as the leading arms maker of the new German Empire. technology / war ●●●●

1871 Gramme builds a practical dynamo 0 cit. Zenobe Gramme built a dynamo that produced a steady electric current for industrial use. Reliable generators made large-scale electric power possible. science / technology ●●●●

c. 1871 Minor Keith lays rails and plants the first bananas 0 cit. The American entrepreneur Minor Keith takes over building a railroad from the Costa Rican highlands to the coast, a project that cost thousands of workers their lives. To make the line pay, he plants bananas along the track and ships them north. The railroad, the land grants, and the banana trade became the seed of a business empire. economy / technology ●●●

c. 1872 The All Red Line Telegraph Network 0 cit. A web of submarine cables connected Britain to India, Australia, Canada, and Africa, running as far as possible through British territory. The network gave London instant communication with the whole empire. technology ●●●●

9 October 1874 Founding of the Universal Postal Union 0 cit. The Treaty of Bern creates the General Postal Union, soon renamed the Universal Postal Union, unifying the world's postal systems into a single territory for the exchange of mail. diplomacy / society / technology ●●●

20 May 1875 Metre Convention 0 cit. Treaty among seventeen states establishing the International Bureau of Weights and Measures and uniform metric standards. It created the framework that still governs the world's measurement units. diplomacy / science / technology ●●●

1 April 1876 Founding of Ericsson 0 cit. Lars Magnus Ericsson opens a telegraph repair workshop in Stockholm. The firm moves quickly into telephones and becomes one of the world's leading telecom equipment makers. economy / technology ●●

7 March 1876 Bell patents the telephone 0 cit. Alexander Graham Bell patented a device that sent speech over a wire as an electric signal. The telephone soon connected homes and businesses and changed communication. technology ●●●●●

1876 Otto builds the four-stroke internal combustion engine 0 cit. Nikolaus Otto built a practical four-stroke engine that burned fuel inside its cylinder. The design became the basis for the engines that powered cars and machines. technology ●●●●●

10 May 1876 Centennial Exposition 0 cit. The first official world's fair held in the United States marked the centennial of American independence and drew about 10 million visitors. Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated the telephone there, and the giant Corliss steam engine became the fair's centerpiece symbol of American industrial ambition. economy / technology ●●

9 July 1877 Founding of the Bell Telephone Company 0 cit. Alexander Graham Bell's backers organize the Bell Telephone Company to commercialize his telephone patent. It evolves into AT&T, which dominates American telecommunications for a century. economy / technology ●●●●

1877 Edison invents the phonograph 0 cit. Thomas Edison built a machine that could record sound onto a tinfoil cylinder and play it back. For the first time, music and speech could be captured and heard again. technology ●●●●●

1879 The practical incandescent light bulb 0 cit. Thomas Edison developed a long lasting incandescent bulb suitable for everyday use. Electric light replaced flame and extended work and social life past sundown. science / technology ●●●●●

22 October 1879 Edison demonstrates a practical incandescent lamp 0 cit. Thomas Edison produced a long-lasting incandescent light bulb and a system to power it. Electric lighting began to replace gas and oil in homes and streets. science / technology ●●●●

c. 1880 British dominance of world shipping 0 cit. British-registered vessels carried a large share of the world's seaborne trade, and at times owned roughly half of the world's merchant tonnage. British shipyards built ships for much of the world, and British firms ran the liner routes and cargo services that linked the continents. Merchant shipping and naval power reinforced each other, one carrying the trade and the other guarding it. economy / technology ●●●

1882 Central electric power station 0 cit. Edison's Pearl Street Station began supplying electricity to customers over a distribution grid. Central power stations made electricity a public utility and powered homes, industry and cities. science / technology ●●●●●

4 September 1882 Edison opens the Pearl Street power station 0 cit. Edison's Pearl Street station supplied electricity to customers in lower Manhattan from a central plant. It launched the electric power utility as a business. economy / technology ●●●●

20 March 1883 Founding of the Paris Union for the Protection of Industrial Property 0 cit. Eleven states sign the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, creating the first international union for patents and trademarks, an ancestor of today's WIPO. diplomacy / economy / technology ●●

1 October 1883 Founding of Benz & Cie 0 cit. Karl Benz founds Benz & Cie in Mannheim and two years later builds the Patent-Motorwagen, the first practical automobile. The company later merges with Daimler to form Mercedes-Benz. economy / technology ●●●●

October 1884 Greenwich Mean Time and Global Standardization 0 cit. An international conference adopted the Greenwich meridian as the world's prime meridian and basis for global time. British maritime and commercial dominance placed the center of world time at London. science / technology ●●●●

6 December 1884 Washington Monument Completed 0 cit. Workers set the aluminum capstone on the Washington Monument, completing construction 36 years after the cornerstone was laid. At 555 feet, it became the tallest structure in the world, a title it held briefly until the Eiffel Tower surpassed it in 1889. It remains the tallest stone obelisk ever built. Its scale made it the most visible symbol of 19th-century America's Egyptian Revival taste, though its construction was overseen by the US Army Corps of Engineers, not by any Masonic body. culture / technology ●●●

c. 1884 The Maxim gun and the firepower gap 0 cit. Hiram Maxim's recoil-operated machine gun could fire hundreds of rounds a minute and was in colonial service by the mid-1880s. Combined with breech-loading rifles and artillery, it let small European columns cut down far larger African armies. Hilaire Belloc's often-quoted lines, "Whatever happens, we have got the Maxim gun, and they have not," captured the deadly imbalance. technology / war ●●●

1885 The automobile and internal combustion engine 0 cit. Karl Benz built the Patent Motorwagen, the first practical car driven by an internal combustion engine. The car reshaped transport, cities and daily life in the century that followed. technology ●●●●●

1885 Benz builds the first petrol motor car 0 cit. Karl Benz built a three-wheeled vehicle driven by an internal combustion engine and patented it in 1886. It is widely regarded as the first practical automobile. technology ●●●●●

8 January 1886 Founding of Westinghouse Electric 0 cit. George Westinghouse founds Westinghouse Electric in Pittsburgh to develop alternating current power. Backing Tesla's AC system, it wins the war of the currents against Edison's direct current. economy / technology ●●●

1887 Berliner patents the gramophone 0 cit. Emile Berliner replaced Edison's cylinders with flat discs that were easy to copy. The disc record became the standard format for selling recorded music for a century. technology ●●●●