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USA Energy History

  • First commercial coal production

    First commercial coal production

    Near Richmond, Virginia, the first commercial U.S. coal production began.
  • Electrical Relay Invention

    Electrical Relay Invention

    Joseph Henry invented the electrical relay able to send electrical currents long distances.
  • First commercial well drilled

    First commercial well drilled

    Edwin Drake drilled the first commercial well and hit oil and natural gas at 69 feet below the earth’s surface.
  • Electric lights

    Electric lights

    Thomas Edison invented an incandescent light bulb that could be used for about 40 hours without burning out.
  • First large windmill to generate electricity

    First large windmill to generate electricity

    Charles F. Brush used the first large windmill to generate electricity in Cleveland, Ohio.
  • Niagara Falls

    Niagara Falls

    The Niagara Falls hydropower station opened.
  • Hoover Dam and Electrification Act

    Hoover Dam and Electrification Act

    Boulder (Hoover) Dam was completed. The Rural Electrification Act of 1936 was aimed at bringing electricity to farms across the country.
  • The Manhattan Project

    The Manhattan Project

    The Manhattan Project was formed in the United States to secretly build the atomic bomb for use in World War II.
  • Shippingport reactor

    Shippingport reactor

    The Shippingport reactor in Pennsylvania was the first nuclear power plant to provide electricity to customers in the USA.
  • The Arab oil embargo

    The Arab oil embargo

    The Arab Oil Embargo, several Arab OPEC nations stopped selling, oil to the United States and Holland to protest their support of Israel in the Arab-Israeli “Yom Kippur” War.
  • Energy Research and Development Administration

    Energy Research and Development Administration

    The Energy Research and Development Administration began operating
  • NAPAP study began

    NAPAP study began

    The National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program (NAPAP) study began.
  • The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990

    The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990

    The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 required many changes to gasoline and diesel fuels to make them pollute less.
  • Energy policy act of 2005

    Energy policy act of 2005

    Congress passed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 which promoted the use of coal through clean coal technologies