Miscellaneous Technology

January 29, 1886

Karl Benz patents the first successful gasoline-driven automobile. He would eventually go on to found the Mercedes Benz company.

Janaury 27, 1880

Thomas Edison patents the electric incandescent lamp. While other incandescent lamps were created before his, Edison’s version was able to outstrip the others because of a combination of three factors: an effective incandescent material, a higher vacuum than others were able to achieve (by use of the Sprengel pump) and a high resistance that made power distribution from a centralized source economically viable.

January 25, 1959

The first transcontinental commercial jet trip was made by an American Airlines Boeing 707, from Los Angeles to New York.

January 24, 1950

The original microwave oven patent was issued to Percy LeBaron Spencer under the title “Method of Treating Foodstuffs.” Five years earlier, Spencer accidentally discovered that microwave energy could heat food when a chocolate bar in his pocket melted while he was experimenting with a microwave tube. Microwave tubes were originally designed for RADAR systems.

January 23, 1855

The first bridge over the Mississippi River opens in what is now Minneapolis, Minnesota, a crossing made today by the Father Louis Hennepin Bridge.

January 22, 1947

KTLA, the first commercial television station west of the Mississippi River, begins operation in Hollywood, California. Bob Hope emceed the inaugural broadcast. A total of 322 televisions are in the Los Angeles viewing area.

February 29, 2012

Construction of the Tokyo Skytree broadcast tower, delayed two months due to the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami, is completed on leap day – February 29th, 2012. The Tokyo Skytree is the tallest structure in Japan and the world’s tallest tower.