"The Alexanderson radio alternator was a high-power, radio-frequency source which provided reliable transoceanic radiotelegraph communication during and after World War I. Ernst F.W. Alexanderson (1878-1975), a General Electric engineer, designed radio alternators with a frequency range to 100 kHz and a power capability from 2 kW to 200 kW.
IEEE
Term Image
YearAdded:
Image Credit: Public Domain; Produced prior to 1/1/1923Image Caption: Alexanderson Radio AlternatorEra_date_from: 1904
1992
"Electricity produced here in the spring of 1891 was transmitted 2.6 miles over rugged and at times inaccessible terrain to provide power for operating the motor-driven mill at the Gold King Mine. This pioneering demonstration of the practical value of transmitting electrical power was a significant precedent in the United States for much larger plants at Niagara Falls (in 1895) and elsewhere. Electricity at Ames was generated at 3000 volts, 133 Hertz, single-phase AC, by a 100-hp Westinghouse alternator."
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Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/Ray Wood (CC BY-SA 3.0) Image Caption: The Ames Hydroelectric Generating Plant, and behind it the trees of the Uncompahgre National ForestEra_date_from: 1891
1988
The Arecibo Observatory has the largest radio telescope ever constructed. Maintaining the greatest electromagnetic wave gathering capacity of any telescope, it has been an essential tool in modern astronomy, ionosphere and planetary studies. Several feats of mechanical engineering went into the construction of this observatory, most notable of which is a drive system which allows all active parts of the antenna to be kept focused with millimeter precision regardless of environmental factors—such as thermal expansion.
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Image Caption: NAIC/Arecibo RadiotelescopeEra_date_from: 1963
2001
When the Adams Plant went into operation on August 26, 1895, it represented a key victory for alternating-current systems over direct-current. The clear advantage of high voltage AC for long distance power transmission and the unprecedented size of the plant (it reached its full capacity of ten 5,000-HP generators in May 1900) influenced the future of the electrical industry worldwide.
In August 1895 the Adams No. 1 generating station of the Niagara Falls Power Company first supplied electric power to local industries in Niagara Falls, New York.
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Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/Lvklock (CC BY-SA 3.0)Image Caption: Adams Hydroelectric Generating PlantEra_date_from: 1895
1990
"At 10:30 p.m., 29 October 1969, the first ARPANET message was sent from this UCLA site to the Stanford Research Institute. Based on packet switching and dynamic resource allocation, the sharing of information digitally from this first node of ARPANET launched the Internet revolution."
(The plaque can be seen at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 405 Hilgard Ave., Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.)
The deployment of the ARPANET set in motion a train of developments that led to the Internet as we know it today.
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Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/FastLizard4 (CC BY-SA 2.0)Image Caption: The original Interface Message Processor, a primitive router, and considered widely to be the beginning (or "birth") of the internetEra_date_from: 1969
2009
The Georgetown Steam Plant, a surprisingly complete and operable steam power plant after a career of nearly seventy-five years, was built in the early 1900s when Seattle's inexpensive hydroelectric power attracted manufacturers. Much of the power produced at this plant operated the streetcars. It marks the beginning of the end of the reciprocating steam engine's domination in the growing field of electrical energy generation for lighting and power.
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Image Caption: Georgetown Steam Hydro Generating PlantEra_date_from: 1906
1980
The Decew Falls Hydro-Electric Development was a pioneering project in the generation and transmission of electrical energy at higher voltages and at greater distances in Canada. On 25 August 1898 this station transmitted power at 22,500 Volts, 66 2/3 Hz, two-phase, a distance of 56 km to Hamilton, Ontario. Using the higher voltage permitted efficient transmission over that distance. The Cataract Power Company of Hamilton Limited (the predecessor to the Dominion Power and Transmission Company) was organized in 1896.
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Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/ontariopowergeneration (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: Decew Falls Hydro-Electric PlantEra_date_from: 1898
2004
John Vincent Atanasoff conceived basic design principles for the first electronic-digital computer in the winter of 1937 and, assisted by his graduate student, Clifford E. Berry, constructed a prototype here in October 1939. It used binary numbers, direct logic for calculation, and a regenerative memory. It embodied concepts that would be central to the future development of computers.
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Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Joe Wolf (CC BY-ND 2.0)Image Caption: Atanasoff-Berry ComputerEra_date_from: 1939
1990
On this site during the 1939-45 World War, 12,000 men and women broke the German Lorenz and Enigma ciphers, as well as Japanese and Italian codes and ciphers. They used innovative mathematical analysis and were assisted by two computing machines developed here by teams led by Alan Turing: the electro-mechanical Bombe developed with Gordon Welchman, and the electronic Colossus designed by Tommy Flowers. These achievements greatly shortened the war, thereby saving countless lives.
"SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis) was created at UC Berkeley as a class project in 1969-1970. It evolved to become the worldwide standard integrated circuit simulator. SPICE has been used to train many students in the intricacies of circuit simulation.
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Image Credit: Courtesy UCLAImage Caption: Birthplace of the SPICE Circuit Simulation ProgramEra_date_from: 1969
2011
Innovations
