• August 01, 1904
• Collections - Artifact

Charles Steinmetz, August 1904

Charles Steinmetz excelled at applying mathematical theory and scientific methods to practical engineering, helping define the role of "scientist-engineer" in the American electrical industry. Steinmetz developed important theories on alternating currents, conducted breakthrough experiments on power loss, and authored a number of influential textbooks. His innovations shaped the electrical engineering profession and improved and expanded electrical distribution systems.

• October 21, 1903
• Collections - Artifact

Wright Brothers Piloting Their 1902 Glider in 1903, Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina

The Wright brothers' 1902 glider was their third aircraft tested at Kill Devil Hills in as many years. It was also the first built with aerodynamic calculations based on the Wrights' own wind tunnel tests. The improvements in performance were stunning. The brothers made more than 700 glides in 1902. Many were over 500 feet long, and some exceeded 600 feet.

• circa 1925
• Collections - Artifact

Portrait of Charles Francis Jenkins, circa 1925

Charles Francis Jenkins was a pioneering technology inventor. He made discoveries and improvements with motion picture cameras, mechanical scanning television, facsimile technology, and the transfer of images over wireless radio. Jenkins's television station W3XK began operating in 1928--it is believed to be the oldest station in the United States.

• August 30, 1898
• Collections - Artifact

Patent #610,040, Carburetor Improvements by Henry Ford, Granted August 30, 1898

Henry Ford received a patent in August 1898 for an improved automobile carburetor -- the device that mixes the fuel and air sent to an engine's cylinders. It was part of Ford's work to design and build his first marketable automobile. Ford's first company, the Detroit Automobile Company, was formed in July 1899 but closed after 15 months.

• November 05, 1929
• Collections - Artifact

Thomas Edison at His Laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey, 1898

This photograph shows inventor Thomas Alva Edison at work in his West Orange, New Jersey, laboratory. Edison directed teams of research assistants here for nearly fifty years -- from 1887 until his death in 1931. More than half of Edison's 1,093 patents resulted from the collaborative work done in this complex, which became a model for modern research and development laboratories.

• circa 1924
• Collections - Artifact

Thomas Edison Napping at His West Orange Laboratory, New Jersey, circa 1924

• 1930-1950
• Collections - Artifact

Portrait of Vladimir. K. Zworykin, 1930-1950

Vladimir Zworykin was an early pioneer of television development, employed by Westinghouse and the Radio Corporation of America. Zworykin's iconoscope and kinescope picture tubes were breakthroughs in television history. Together they allowed electronic television to become a viable technology. Zworykin also headed the creation of the electron microscope and infrared tubes used in night vision "sniperscopes" during WWII.

• 1887-1888
• Collections - Artifact

Thomas Edison at West Orange Laboratory, New Jersey, 1887-1888

• October 21, 1929
• Collections - Artifact

Francis Jehl's Notes to Thomas Edison for the Incandescent Lamp Lighting during Light's Golden Jubilee, 1929

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the incandescent electric lamp, Henry Ford hosted the Light's Golden Jubilee event in Dearborn, Michigan. During the festivities, Thomas Edison and former assistant Francis Jehl re-enacted the 1879 test of Edison's first successful light bulb in Greenfield Village's detailed reproduction of his Menlo Park Laboratory. Jehl provided the elderly inventor with handwritten notes to help guide Edison through the re-enactment.

• December 31, 1879
• Collections - Artifact

Cover of The Daily Graphic Newspaper for January 3, 1880, "Edison and His Electric Light"