History of Science and Technology
Fact Sheet
The Second Industrial Revolution, 1850-1910
During the "second industrial revolution" new materials, fuels, engines, and forms of transportation began to replace those that had characterized the "first industrial
revolution." Steel and oil came into large scale production, the internal combustion engine and the steam turbine replaced the piston steam engine as the primary power source, while modern industrial chemistry produced dyes, plastics, and explosives. Ae
ronautics and radio also saw the first stages of their development.
Important inventions:
Bessemer process
open hearth process
Solvay process
internal combustion, diesel, and turbine engines
aniline dyes
celluloid
rayon
dirigible
glider
aeroplane
incandenscent light
telephone
radio
Important persons:
Isaac Singer (1811-1875) U.S.
Elisha Otis (1811-1861) U.S.
Henry Bessemer (1813-1898) Britain
August Hofmann (1818-1892) Germany, Britain
Edwin Drake (1819-1880) U.S.
Jean Etienne Lenoir (1822-1900) Belgium, France
Karl Wilhelm (William) Siemens (1823-1883) Germany, Britain
Nikolaus Otto (1832-1891) Germany
Alfred Nobel (1833-1896) Sweden
Heinrich Caro (1834-1910) Germany
Gottlieb Daimler (1834-1900) Germany
Louis Bernigaud, Comte de Chardonnet (1834-1924) France
Johann von Baeyer (1835-1917) Germany
John W. Hyatt (1837-1920) U.S.
William Perkin (1838-1907) Britain
Ferdinand, Count von Zeppelin (1838-1917) Germany
Ernest Solvay (1838-1922) Belgium
Karl Graebe (1841-1927) Germany
Karl Benz (1844-1929) Germany
George Westinghouse (1846-1914) U.S.
Otto Lilienthal (1848-1896) Germany
John A. Fleming (1849-1945) Britain
Rudolph Diesel (1853-1913) Germany
Charles Parsons (1854-1931) Britain
George Eastman (1854-1932) U.S.
Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) Hungary, U.S.
Leo Baekeland (1863-1944) U.S.
Charles Hall (1863-1914) U.S.
Paul Herault (1863-1914) France
Henry Ford (1863-1947) U.S.
Wilbur Wright (1867-1912) U.S.
Fritz Haber (1868-1934) Germany
Orville Wright (1871-1948) U.S.
Lee De Forest (1873-1961) U.S.
Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937) Italy
Important events and publications:
1851 The Great International Exhibition opens in London
1851 Isaac Singer patents the continuous stitch sewing machine
1852 Henry Giffard builds a steam powered dirigible
1852 Elisha Otis builds the safety elevator
1856 Bessemer invents the Bessemer process
1856 Siemens invents the regenerative gas furnace
1856 Perkin synthesizes aniline dyes
1856 The first transatlantic telegraph cable is laid
1859 Drake drills the first oil well in Titusville, Pennsylvania
1859 Lenoir invents the 2-stroke internal combustion engine
1862 Solvay develops the "Solvay process" for manufacturing soda
1862 Richard Gatling invents the multiple barrel "Gatling gun"
1863 Lenoir builds the first gas-powered car
1863 Baeyer synthesizes barbituric acid
1863 Hofmann synthesizes "Hofmann violets"
1867 Nobel invents dynamite
1867 Pierre Emile Martin develops the open hearth furnace
1869 Hyatt invents celluloid
1869 Graebe synthesizes alizarin
1875 Nobel invents gelignite
1876 Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone
1876 Otto invents the 4-stroke internal combustion engine
1878 Baeyer synthesizes indigo dye
1879 Edison and Swan invent the incandescent light
1880 The first Edison power station begins operation in London
1882 The first hydroelectric power plant opens in Appleton, Wisconsin
1883 Hiram Maxim invents the automatic machine gun
1884 Parsons invents the turbine engine
1884 Chardonnet synthesizes artificial silk
1885 Benz builds the first automobile
1886 Hall and Heroult discover the electrolysis of aluminum
1888 Eastman markets the first Kodak camera
1889 Chardonnet synthesizes rayon
1889 Lilienthal, Der Vogelflug als Grundlage der Fliegekunst
1891 Lilienthal builds his first glider
1893 Diesel invents the diesel engine
1896 Marconi sends the first wireless radio message
1900 Zeppelin launches the first aluminum frame dirigible
1902 Willis Carrier invents the air conditioner
1903 The Wright brothers build the first machine powered aeroplane
1904 Fleming invents the "Fleming valve", a diode rectifier tube
1907 De Forest invents the "Audion" amplifier (triode valve)
1908 Ford begins production of the "Model T"
1908 Haber develops the "Haber process"
1909 Baekeland produces "Bakelite"
1913 Ford introduces the assembly line