Standardization of Money
The origin of money begins with the same event that initiated almost everything else in modern society: the onset of agriculture. At the end of […]
History
Formation of Sand in Beaches and Industry
Few things are so synonymous with the beach that they are practically always expected to be present no matter the location of the shore-based point […]
How Fireworks Became a Global Celebratory Practice
According to legend, 2,000 years ago, a cook working in a Chinese field kitchen happened to mix together charcoal, sulfur, and saltpeter, all common kitchen […]
King Tut’s Dagger and the X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry Standard
It was revealed in May 2016 that the dagger found beside the thigh of King Tutankhamun in 1925 was made from iron taken from a […]
Invention of the Backspace Key
This early advertisement for the IBM Correcting Selectric II typewriter appeared on televisions in 1973. It demonstrates a typewriter that made use of a rotating […]
Blu-ray vs HD DVD: Standard Format War
The first high-definition televisions were released in 1998, but they didn’t gain popularity until the 2000s after becoming more affordable. During this time, in response […]
VHS vs Betamax: Standard Format War
The story of the format war between the VHS and Betamax standards begins in 1971, when Sony invented the U-matic, the first closed case video […]
Covered Bridges in Pennsylvania
ASTM International has developed and published 12,000 standards devoted to the testing and classification of materials used in manufacturing and production to assure that those […]
The Shifting Magnetic North Pole
Hundreds of years ago, scientists and explorers believed that the needle of a compass pointed north because it aimed itself towards the “Rupes Nigra”, a […]
Smart Manufacturing – The Fourth Industrial Revolution?
Smart Manufacturing has been dubbed the Fourth Industrial Revolution, since in recent years it has been modernizing industrial practices and has the potential to go […]