1935 First clothes dryer To spare his mother having to hang wet laundry outside in the brutal North Dakota winter, J. Ross Moore builds an oil-heated drum in a shed next to his house, thereby creating the first clothes dryer. Moore’s first patented dryers run on either gas or electricity, but he is forced to sell the design to the Hamilton Manufacturing Company the following year because of financial difficulties. 1945 Magnetron discovered to melt candy, pop corn, and cook an egg Raytheon Corporation engineer Percy L. Spencer’s realization that the vacuum tube, or magnetron, he is testing can melt candy, pop corn, and cook an egg leads to the first microwave oven. Raytheon’s first model, in 1947, stands 5.5 feet tall, weighs more than 750 pounds, and sells for $5,000. It is quickly superseded by the equally gigantic but slightly less expensive Radarange; easily affordable countertop models are not marketed until 1967.
1947 First top-loading automatic washer The Nineteen Hundred Corporation introduces the first top-loading automatic washer, which Sears markets under the Kenmore label. Billed as a "suds saver," the round appliance sells for $239.95. 1947 First top-loading automatic washer The Nineteen Hundred Corporation introduces the first top-loading automatic washer, which Sears markets under the Kenmore label. Billed as a "suds saver," the round appliance sells for $239.95. 1952 First automatic coffeepot Russell Hobbs invents the CP1, the first automatic coffeepot as well as the first of what would become a successful line of appliances. The percolator regulates the strength of the coffee according to taste and has a green warning light and bimetallic strip that automatically cuts out when the coffee is perked. 1962 Spray mist added to iron Sunbeam ushers in a new era in iron technology by adding "spray mist" to the steam and dry functions of its S-5A model. The S-5A is itself an upgrade of the popular S-4 steam or dry iron that debuted in 1954. 1963 GE introduces the self-cleaning oven General Electric introduces the self-cleaning electric oven and in 1967 the first electronic oven control—beginning the revolution that would see microprocessors incorporated into household appliances of all sorts. 1972 First percolator with an automatic drip process Sunbeam develops the Mr. Coffee, the first percolator with an automatic drip process as well as an automatic cut-off control that lessens the danger of over-brewing. Mr. Coffee quickly becomes the country’s leading coffeemaker.
1978 First electronic sewing machine Singer introduces the Athena 2000, the world’s first electronic sewing machine. A wide variety of stitches, from basic straight to complicated decorative, are available at the touch of a button. The "brain" of the system is a chip that measures less than one-quarter of an inch and contains more than 8,000 transistors. 1978 First electronic sewing machine Singer introduces the Athena 2000, the world’s first electronic sewing machine. A wide variety of stitches, from basic straight to complicated decorative, are available at the touch of a button. The "brain" of the system is a chip that measures less than one-quarter of an inch and contains more than 8,000 transistors. 1990s Environmentally friendly washers and dryers Environmentally friendly washers and dryers that save water and conserve energy are introduced. They include the horizontal-axis washer, which tumbles rather than agitates the clothes and uses a smaller amount of water, and a dryer with sensors, rather than a timer, that shuts the appliance off when the clothes are dry. 1997 First prototype of a robotic vacuum cleaner Swedish appliance company Electrolux presents the first prototype of a robotic vacuum cleaner. The device, billed as "the world’s first true domestic robot," sends and receives high-frequency ultrasound to negotiate its way around a room, much as bats do. In the production model, launched in Sweden a few years later, eight microphones receive and measure the returning signals to give the vacuum an accurate picture of the room. It calculates the size of a room by following around the walls for 90 seconds to 15 minutes, after which it begins a zigzag cleaning pattern and turns itself off when finished.
In 1900 the average life expectancy in the United States was 47 years. By 2000 it was nearing 77 years. That remarkable 30-year increase was the result of a number of factors, including the creation of a safe water supply. But no small part of the credit should go to the century's wide assortment of medical advances in diagnosis, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and other forms of treatment. In 1900 the average life expectancy in the United States was 47 years. By 2000 it was nearing 77 years. That remarkable 30-year increase was the result of a number of factors, including the creation of a safe water supply. But no small part of the credit should go to the century's wide assortment of medical advances in diagnosis, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and other forms of treatment. Many of these improvements involved the combined application of engineering and biological principles to the traditional medical arts, giving physicians new perspectives on the body's workings and new solutions for its ills. From providing better diagnostic tools and surgical procedures to creating more effective replacements for the body's own tissues, engineering helped the 20th century's doctors successfully address such long-standing problems of human health as heart disease and infectious disease. All through the century, improvements in imaging techniques wrought by the development of new systems—from x-ray machines to MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scanners—enabled doctors to diagnose more accurately by providing a more exacting view of the body (see Imaging). One of the century's first such diagnostic devices created not a visual, but an electrical, image. In 1903, when Dutch physiologist Willem Einthoven developed the electrocardiograph, he paved the way for a more intensive scrutiny of the heart, spurring others to find better approaches and technologies for fixing its problems.
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