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The Telegraph
Samuel Morse developed the telegraph. -
The Telegram
Samuel Morse sent the first telegram from Baltimore to Washington, D.C.. -
Railroad Track
The United States already had about 30,000 miles (48,280 km) of railroad track. -
Telegram Lines
The United States had thousands of miles of telegraph lines. -
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New Inventions
The government granted more than 400,000 patents for new inventions. -
Across Atlantic
Cyrus Field managed to lay a telegraph cable across the Atlantic Ocean. -
The Typewriter
Christopher Sholes invented the typewriter. -
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More Tracks
Workers laid an average of 11 miles (18 km) of track every day. -
The Telephone
Bell made great advances in developing a device for transmitting speech, the telephone. -
Invention Business
Edison decided to go into the invention business. He set up a workshop in Menlo Park, New Jersey. -
Bell Telephone Company
Bell formed the Bell Telephone Company. -
The Lightbulb
Edison developed the first workable lightbulb. -
Steel Tracks
Railroads began using tracks of steel. Steel was stronger than iron. -
Lit Park
Edison used 40 bulbs to light up Menlo Park. -
The Central Electric Power Plant
Edison built the first central electric power plant in New York City that provided electric light to 85 buildings. -
Transformers
Westinghouse developed and built transformers, which could send electric power more cheaply over longer distances. -
Adding Machine
William Burroughs invented the adding machine. -
The Kodak
George Eastman invented a small box camera,the Kodak. It made it easier and less costly to take photographs. -
Selling Phones
Bell sold hundreds of thousands of phones. -
Model Airplane
American astronomer Samuel Langley built a model airplane that was powered by a steam engine. -
The Vacuum Cleaner
John Thurman developed a vacuum cleaner which simplified housework. -
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Gliders
Wilbur and Orville Wright built and tested a series of non-powered gliders. -
Henry Ford
Henry Ford started his own auto-making company in Detroit. -
Gasoline Plane
In Wilbur and Orville Wright began testing this new plane they designed that was powered by a gasoline engine at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. -
Pilots
Wilbur and Orville Wright each piloted their plane. -
Model T
Ford introduced the Model T to the public. -
Electric Lights
Americans in cities drove cars through streets lit with electric lights.