Gyroscopes
GyroscopesMost of you have probably played with a spinning top. A gyroscope is based on this same principle. An eighteenth-century English scientist, John Serson, noticed that a spinning top had a...
View ArticleDavid Livingstone
David Livingstone (1813–1873)Scottish explorer, missionary, and philanthropist, David Livingstone was born in Blantyre Works, Lanarkshire. Of humble origins, he was nonetheless able to save suffi cient...
View ArticleMachine Gun
Machine GunA generic term for an automatic weapon capable of fi ring small-arms ammunition continuously and rapidly. The first cyclic firing weapon constructed was probably James Puckle’s Defence gun...
View ArticleSurveyors
Surveyors Despite their generally poor training, colonial surveyors played an important role in shaping the early American landscape. Their primary instrument was the Gunter’s Chain, which helped...
View ArticleAlidade
AlidadeThe term alidade is derived from an Arabic phrase meaning “the revolving radius of a circle.” First appearing in English in the 1400s, the term came to be applied to specific surveying and...
View ArticleCarl Peters
Carl Peters (1856–1918)Explorer, adventurer, and colonial enthusiast behind the colonization of German East Africa. Convinced that Germany’s economic survival depended on the acquisition of colonies,...
View ArticleBathyscaph
BathyscaphThe bathyscaph (also spelled bathyscaphe) was the first successful deepwater diving vessel, an early SUBMERSIBLE with its own pressurized oxygen supply and not tethered to a ship on the...
View ArticleHistory of Electricity
History of ElectricityThis concept emerged during the first quarter of the seventeenth century, closely associated with magnetism. It soon became important within the development of matter theory and...
View ArticleGuglielmo Marconi
Guglielmo MarconiGuglielmo Marconi was an Italian inventor and electrical engineer. He is recognized for his development of wireless telegraphy, also known as radio. Prior to Marconi’s work, telegraph...
View ArticlePatents and Trademarks
Patents and TrademarksThe Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce that examines and issues/registers patents and trademarks. The Patent Office was created in...
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