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Lightning
This isn't the actual month or day. Ben Franklin tied a key to a kite string during a thunderstorm, and proved that static electricity and lightning were the same thing. -
Natural Gas Energy Well
Not the actual day or month. In Fredonia, New York, William Hart dug the first successful well that was intended to produce natural gas. Hart dug a 27-foot well to try and bring a larger flow of gas to the surface. Expanding on Hart’s work, the Fredonia Gas Light Company was eventually formed, becoming the first American natural gas company. -
Windmills
Not the actual day, month, or year, but it did happen in the 1850's. Daniel Halladay and John Burnham worked to build and sell the Halladay Windmill, designed for the American West. It had an open tower design and thin wooden blades. They also started the U.S. Wind Engine Company. -
Brush Electric Co.
Not the actual day or month. Charles F. Brush used the first large windmill to generate electricity in Cleveland, Ohio. Windmills that produce electricity started to be called wind turbines. In later years, General Electric acquired Brush’s company, Brush Electric Co. -
Austin Dam
Not actual day and month. The Austin Dam, near Austin, Texas, was completed. It was the first dam specifically designed for generating hydropower. -
Albert Einstein Nuclear Energy
Not the actual day or month. Albert Einstein (U.S. immigrant from Germany) wrote the special theory of relativity. He created a new era of physics when he unified mass, energy, magnetism, electricity, and light. One of the most significant events of the 20th century was Einstein’s developing the formula of E=mc2 (that is, energy equals mass times the square of the speed of light) -
Hoover Dam
This is not the actual day or month. Boulder (later renamed Hoover) Dam was completed. A 287 kilovolt power line stretched 266 miles from the dam in Boulder City, Nevada, to Los Angeles, California. The Rural Electrification Act of 1936 was aimed at bringing electricity to farms across the country. -
Geothermal Energy
Not the actual day or month. The first commercial-scale development tools were placed in California at The Geysers, a 10-megawatt unitowned by Pacific Gas & Electric. -
Gas well productivity peaked
Not the actual day or month. Gas well productivity peaked at 435 thousand cubic feet per well per day -
Geothermal Research for Renewable Energy
Not the actual day or month. U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funding for geothermal research and development was increased substantially. The Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) of 1978 was enacted to promote greater use of renewable energy, cogeneration and small power projects
