Summary
| Subject keyword(s) | Earth and space science, Energy, Energy sources, Physics, Science and technology |
|---|---|
| Grade level | Middle School, High School, Informal Education |
| Intended audience | Learner |
| Resource type | Instructional Material |
| Resource format | text, text/html |
| Rights | Copyright 2004, Iowa Public Television. |
Found in collection(s)
Click on the logo to get more information about the collection.
Content contained within the resource
Timeline Energy and Work Potential & Kinetic Energy Types of Energy Atoms Circuits Electrical Generation Our Sun Timeline Sources This timeline highlights some important events in energy. It is broken up into energy sources, uses, and issues. Biomass Fossil Fuels 4,300,000 B.C.E. Photosynthesis occurs in early plants 200 B.C.E. Chinese mine coal. 100 C.E. Plutarch writes about "eternal fires," probably a reference to natural gas 100 C.E. Romans use coal for heating 1300s Hopi Indians use coal for cooking, heating, firing pottery 1740 Commercial coal mining starts. 1880 Coal used to generate electricity 1821 First natural gas well drilled in Fredonia, New York 1859 First oil production well drilled in Pennsylvania 1891 First natural gas pipeline built. 120 miles long, from Indiana to Chicago Geothermal 1500 B.C.E. Hotsprings used for bathing, cooking, and heating by Romans, Japanese, Chinese, and others 1841 Drilling for geothermal water at Larderello, Italy intensifies due to new methods Hydrogen 1998 Chicago adds hydrogen cell buses to mass transit Nuclear 1898 Marie Curie, Polish discovers the radioactive elements radium and polonium 1938 Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman, German, demonstrate nuclear fission 1942 Manhattan Project is formed to secretly build the atomic bomb before the Germans 1944 The first nuclear reactor begins operation in Richland, Washington 1945 The U.S. explodes the first atomic device near Alamagordo, New Mexico 1945 The U.S. drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan surrenders 1946 The Atomic Energy Act is passed, establishing the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). The AEC places further development of nuclear technology under civilian (not military) control 1951 The first electricity producing breeder reactor is built by the Atomic Energy Commission 1961 President Kennedy advises Americans to build fallout shelters in case of a nuclear war 1974 The Atomic Energy Commission is abolished. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is developed 1976 The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act is passed to protect human health and the environment from the potential hazards of nuclear waste disposal 1977 The Voyager 2 spacecraft's electricity is generated by the decay of plutonium pellets 1979 Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania suffers a partial core meltdown 1983 The U.S. looks into a high-level nuclear waste repository (storage) 1986 Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor meltdown and fire occur in the Soviet Union. Massive quantities of radioactive material are released. Winds carry radioactivity across western Europe 2001 President Bush approves an energy policy that looks at nuclear energy as a significant part of America's energy Solar 5 billion B.C.E. Our sun forms 3rd century B.C.E. Greeks and Romans use magnifying glasses to burn the sails of enemy ships 50 C.E. Romans perfect making glass windows 1300s Anasazi Indians build cliff dwellings with southern exposures, providing passive solar heating and cooling early 17th century Solomon de Caux constructs a solar water pump 1695 Italian scientists Averoni and Targioni use a large glass and the sun's rays to melt a diamond 1866 August Mouchat, French, designs a solar food cooker 1826 Swedish born American john Ericsson builds a hot-air engine powered by the sun 1890s Abel Pifre, French, designs a solar engine used to run a printing press for a paper called Le Journal Soleil (Sun Journal) 1954 D.M. Chaplin, C.S. Fuller, and G.L. Pearson invent solar voltaic cells 1983 Wisconsin passes a law on the "right to light" for gardens Wind 644 C.E. First vertical axis windmill recorded in Iran 1100 C.E. Windmills introduced to Europe 1887 Charles Brush, American, builds first modern automatically operating wind turbine 1950s Johannes Juul developed the first alternating current (AC) windmill 1931 French engineer, George Darrieus, patents the wind turbine bearing his name Electricity 1875 Thomas Edison invents the telegraph machine 1891 Nikola Tesla invents the tesla coil 1904 The first geothermal powerplant is built in Laderello, Italy Manufacturing 1698 Steam pump invented by Thomas Savery 1712 Thomas Newcome's 2500 horsepower reciprocating steam engine ran every piece of equipment in Machinery Hall at the World's Fair 1760 Richard Arkwright invents the spinning frame (makes thread) 1785 Edmund Cartwright invents the water powered loom (makes fabric) 1789 Samuel Slater and Moses Brown create the first textile factory 1793 Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin 1801 Eli Whitney mass produces guns Transportation 1765 James Watt invents the steam engine 1769 Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot invents the first motorized carriage 1787 John Fitch invents the steamboat 1803 Richard Trevithick invents the steam locomotive (train) 1814 George Stephenson invents the railway locomotive 1834 Thomas Davenport invents the electric streetcar 1860 Etienne Lenoir invents the gasoline engine 1885 Karl Benz invents the gasoline powered automobile 1892 Rudolph Diesel invents the diesel engine 1902 The Wright Brothers build an airplane that flies Explore More: Future of Energy Copyright 2004, Iowa Public Television The Explore More project is supported by funds from the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust and the USDE Star Schools Program. Images for Explore More have been provided courtesy of the following: Iowa Public Television Missouri Division of Tourism National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) US Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service(USDA ARS) US Department of Energy(USDE) US Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service(USDA NRCS)