- Steel Plow
- Steam Shovel
- Postage Stamp
- Vulcanized Rubber
Steel Plow
When American settlers moved to the Great Plains, they found that the heavy iron plow of Europe would not work because the soil of the plains would stick to the plow. John Deere saw this problem, and went to work experimenting with different polished metals to see which one would move through the soil easiest. He decided on steel, which gave birth to the steel plow. The steel plow was a little like the heavy plow, just made with steel. The soil would not stick, and now the great plains could be farmed. The plow spread as the main plow for sticky soil, and John Deere started a large farm equipment company that is with us today.
Steam Shovel
William Otis invented the steam shovel by using steam to move a cable, which makes a bucket go up and down, collecting dirt. It can also rotate to move the dirt. You could now dig faster with one steam shovel than two or three men, which (I think with the earliest models) it takes to operate a steam shovel. You also have to do much less labor, as the operator(s) of the steam shovel aren’t actively digging, just operating the levers and feeding the fire. You can make bigger, longer, and deeper holes with a steam shovel. Otis died soon after receiving his patent, so the need for railroads and expiration of the patent made the demand for steam shovels increase.
Postage Stamp
The UK postage system had many faults, such as the recipient had to pay the fare, not the sender. Many people, such as Rowland Hill, wanted the system reformed. So Hill did just that. The new system was the modern one, so, as you probably know, the sender, not the recipient, has to pay for the stamp. The postmark prevented stamps from being used again. The price of mail went down. The use of mail went up. Western Frontiersmen families could keep in touch with home.
Vulcanized Rubber
Before vulcanized rubber was invented, rubber was VERY sticky and could not be used in the many applications it is used in today. Imagine a sticky tire. Joseph Priestley had figured out how to use rubber in pencil erasers. That is where “rubber” gets its name. It “rubs” off graphite well. Charles Goodyear wanted to find a way to make rubber less sticky. He was doing a demonstration on what he thought was the right mixture, and it fell on a hot oven. The oven heated it, and he came out with the truly right mixture. Heat was the key. Here is the formula for vulcanized rubber: Natural, sticky rubber + sulfur + heat = vulcanized rubber. Goodyear died not long after his his invention was patented, but another person founded the rubber company “Goodyear” and that company is still with us today.