Anthills, all over South Africa, but particularly in Rhodesia, are of proportions unknown in America, reaching sometimes a height of 25 ft. or more, and, in spite of the steepness of their sides, covering a very large ground area. They are made of clay, sunbaked to the hardness of bricks, and are the outcome of [...]
This set of 52 engraved playing cards is the work of Thomas Tuttell (ca. 1674–1702), a British mathematical instrument maker who was appointed Instrument Maker to the King in 1700. The set was probably issued by Tuttell as a trade catalogue, a clever and entertaining way of broadcasting the high quality of his workmanship and [...]
A one-wheeled roller skate, with cushion tires, of the extraordinary design shown in the illustration, has been invented by a Swiss engineer, who claims that the one wheel enables the skater to execute turns impossible on other skates. He intends to increase the value of his invention by driving the skates by motor power derived [...]
This gigantic spiral tower, designed to reach a height of 534 ft., with trolley cars for ascent, is the idea of a well known professor of structural engineering at the Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, N.Y. If his plans are successfully carried out the tower will be constructed in New York, and from it sightseers [...]
In the late 1800s, Chicago turned heads by reversing the flow of the Chicago River, an impressive engineering feat that would forever change the city and surrounding landscape. In 1894, photographers began documenting this massive undertaking, recording more than 22,000 views, capturing the changing landscape and the effect on the region. The Lost Panoramas: When [...]
The Eiffel Tower…the colossus of iron is worthy of its position as the triumphal porch of the Exhibition of 1889. It is the great Edifice of the close of that 19th century whose discoveries mark it as the greatest of all epochs during which humanity has been working out its evolution. Half the world will come to admire the efforts which France has thought fit to make to show her vitality; and none will deny that the amount of talent displayed on the Champ de Mars [...]
For the Peninsula, the construction of the Naval base was a boon in bad times. It meant an average of 500 construction jobs a month in a time when jobs were hard to come by. Merchants in local communities also looked forward to the purchasing power that would come with the 500 people expected to [...]
For almost eight years from 1925, the skies above Sydney rang with the sounds of metal on metal as a massive tangle of raw steel was beaten, welded and riveted into the great arch of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It would link the North Shore to the heart of the city, forging a lasting monument to [...]
At the time the Florida East Coast Railway constructed this bridge it was acclaimed as the longest bridge in the world, an engineering marvel. It was the most costly of all Flagler’s bridges in the Key West Extension. Since the beginning it has served as the one and only vital link between Miami and Key [...]
The bridge spans a small canal which was put through the thin but long sand spit named Minnesota Point (commonly referred to as Park Point by locals) in 1870–71. The natural mouth of the St. Louis River is about seven miles (11 km) farther southeast, and is split between Minnesota and Wisconsin. Creating this gap in the tiny peninsula meant that residents who lived on the new island needed to have [...]
From Aperture: From 1906 to 1934, municipal worker Eugene de Salignac took thousands of incredible photos of Manhattan as the city was reborn as a modern metropolis. Through his remarkable images, he documented the creation of the city’s urban structure and infrastructure that make New York the metropolitan capital it is today. Although, his striking [...]
From wikipedia: The 650 feet Dale Creek Crossing, completed in 1868 in southeastern Wyoming Territory presented engineers of the United States’ first transcontinental railroad one of their most difficult challenges. Dale Creek Bridge, the longest bridge on the Union Pacific Railroad, reached 125 feet above Dale Creek, two miles west of Sherman, Wyoming. The eastern [...]
From Wikipedia: One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the Panama Canal has had an enormous impact on shipping between the two oceans, replacing the long and treacherous route via either the Strait of Magellan or Cape Horn at the southernmost tip of South America. A ship sailing from New York to San Francisco via the canal travels 5,900 miles, well under half the 14,000 mile [...]
With the opposing armies locked in a protracted struggle around Petersburg and Bermuda Hundred, the James and Appomattox Rivers assumed added importance. In August 1864, Union Gen. Benjamin Butler began excavations at Dutch Gap. When completed, his canal would bypass nearly five miles of the James River. Several powerful Confederate artillery batteries menaced that stretch [...]
Hoover Dam went into operation 75 years ago today. It took five years, thousands of workers and claimed over one hundred lives – all of this during the height of the Great Depression. The following excerpt was taken from an article in the September 1933 issue of Fortune Magazine. At that time the name of [...]
