Inventors

On March 21, 1826, the Rensselaer School was incorporated in Troy, New York.  Later named the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, it’s considered the oldest continuously operating technological college in America and the English-speaking world.

On March 9, 1858, iron manufacturer Albert Potts of Philadelphia patented an early mail collection box.  His mailbox was affixed to a lamp post for the convenience of mailers.

On March 7, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell received the patent for the telephone. Three days later, Bell transmitted the first recognizable words over a telephone line.

On December 17, 1903, brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright made the first successful heavier-than-air flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

Eli Whitney was born on December 8, 1765, in Westborough, Province of Massachusetts Bay. Most well-known for his invention of the cotton gin, he was also pioneer in mass production.

Adding to his long list of inventions, Thomas Edison tested his first motion picture film on October 6, 1889.

On September 6, 1916, the first self-service grocery store as we know it today opened in Memphis, Tennessee.  The store was Piggly Wiggly, and it revolutionized the way people bought groceries.

Frederic Eugene Ives was born on February 17, 1856, in Litchfield, Connecticut. He developed the first successful half-tone process and invented the “Kromskop,” which projected three identical images through different colored filters to produce some of the first color photographs.

On February 15, 1946, the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) was unveiled to the public. It’s considered the first general-purpose electronic digital computer.