The list of inventors is constantly being revised: Marconi and the radio, Bell and the telephone, Edison and the light bulb, Benz and the automobile… All are debatable and debated because, often, what they did was simply register the patent before others or develop a commercially viable model. The parachute is another example of multiple […]
Technology history
The Unusual German Bomber from World War II with a Delta-Wing Shape, Considered a Possible Cause of Early UFO Sightings
The NASM (National Air and Space Museum) is a Smithsonian Institute museum dedicated to the history and technology of aviation and spaceflight, one of whose locations is the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, near Dulles Airport. It’s a place that will delight any enthusiast who visits, offering the chance to discover fascinating artifacts like the original […]
Schienenzeppelin, the Strange Experimental German Train Powered by a Propeller That Held the Speed Record Until 1954
Although looking at the images might suggest a Japanese bullet train, this was actually an experimental German railcar named the Schienenzeppelin—“Zeppelin on Rails”—due to its resemblance to airships. Propelled by an airplane propeller mounted at the rear, it set a speed record in the year it was invented, 1929. However, the inability to add carriages […]
The Curious Connection Between Edison and a Japanese Shrine Through Bamboo
In 1964, Madeleine Edison Sloane traveled to Japan and visited Iwashimizu Hachimangu, a Shinto shrine located in Kyoto Prefecture near the city of Yawata. The purpose of her visit was not tourism but rather to personally see a memorial within its walls and take part in one of the two festivals held there in memory […]
Electromote, the Story of the First Trolleybus, Invented by the Founder of Siemens
The early steps in the history of motorized land vehicles left truly picturesque but charmingly pioneering brushstrokes. Seeing those cars with huge spoked wheels and horse carriage chassis makes us smile, the larger their level of extravagance, the more significant the grin. That’s why, sometimes, one must rub their eyes at the sight of primitive […]