A Timeline of U.S. Energy

By anotherusername
  • Petroleum Develops as a Primary Energy Source

    Petroleum Develops as a Primary Energy Source

    The timeline that I get all my events from.John D. Rockefeller founded Standard Oil in Ohio, where he increased oil exploration over the next 9 years, at which point petroleum became the main energy source for the entire world, not just the U.S.
  • First Solar Cell Developed

    First Solar Cell Developed

    The timeline I get all my events fromWilliam Gryllis Adams and his student Richard Evans Day were able to start an electric current in a selenium cell by exposing it to light, although they were unable to produce enough energy to power any electrical device.
  • First Electric Plant Built

    First Electric Plant Built

    The timeline I get all my events fromThomas Edison built the fist American commercial power plant, called the Pearl Street Station, in New York City near Wall Street. This plant only provided power to wealthy and powerful corporations within a single square-mile radius.
  • First Commercial Hydroelectric Plant Becomes Active

    First Commercial Hydroelectric Plant Becomes Active

    The timeline I get all my events from In Appleton, Wisconsin, one of the earliest hydroelectric plants was used for commercial purposes for the first time.
  • First Electricity-Generating Windmill Invented

    First Electricity-Generating Windmill Invented

    The timeline I get all my events from In Cleveland, Ohio, Charles F. Brush developed the first large-scale windmll that was used to generate energy.
  • First Engine to Run on Vegetable Oil Demonstrated

    First Engine to Run on Vegetable Oil Demonstrated

    The timeline I use for all my events In the !900 World's Fair in Paris, the French government had the Otto Company design an engine that could run on peanut oil. Although it worked, petroleum was cheaper, so people stopped using vegetable oil for engines for decades.
  • First Geothermal Plant Bilt

    First Geothermal Plant Bilt

    The timeline I get all my events from In California, the world's first geothermal power plant was built on top of The Geysers and was used to power the resort there. However, the materials could not withstand the steam and the drilling was too difficult, it failed to compete with other easier and cheaper energy sources.

  • First Federal Law to Control Oil Industry Pollution is Passed

    The timeline I get all my events from The Oil Pollution Control Act of 1924 was passed to regulate dumping fuel in the sea. However, the law was not strongly enforced and was specific only to dumpin fuel at sea. Still, it was the first milestone in the fossil fuel regulation history.
  • First Controlled Nuclear Fission

    First Controlled Nuclear Fission

    The timeline I get all my events from When F.D.R. authorized the Manhattan project, physicist Enrico Fermi, who had worked with Einstein on studying nuclear fission, was relocated to Chicago, where he and his colleagues performed the first successfully controlled nuclear chain reaction.
  • First Nuclear Power Plant Built

    First Nuclear Power Plant Built

    The timeline I get all my events from The first nuclear power plant, the Experimental Breeder Reactor 1, was built in Idaho, and could barely power 4 100-Watt lightbulbs.