The Transcaucasus Railway is completed
The Transcaucasus Railway was the first railway in South Caucasus. It was funded by the Russian Empire as a strategic railway connecting the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea.
Technology & innovation
The world’s first underground railway, the London Underground, opens
The world’s first underground railway, it opened in January 1863 between Paddington and Farringdon in London using gas-lit wooden carriages hauled by steam locomotives.
Gaston Planté invents the lead acid battery, the first rechargeable battery
Planté’s first model consisted of two lead sheets separated by rubber strips and rolled into a spiral. His batteries were first used to power the lights in train carriages while stopped at a station.
Peter von Rittinger of Austria invents the world’s first functional heat pump
A heat pump is a device that uses electricity to transfer heat from a colder place to a warmer place. Air-source heat pumps are now among are most effective climate solutions. In 1856, Rittinger recognized the principle of the heat pump while conducting experiments on the use of water vapor’s latent heat for the evaporation of salt brine. As a result, the heat pump was used to dry salt in salt marshes in Austria.
Antonio Torres of Spain invents the modern classic guitar
The form of the modern classical guitar is credited to Spanish guitar maker Antonio Torres circa 1850. Torres increased the size of the guitar body, altered its proportions, and invented the “fan” top bracing pattern.
John Deere invents the first commercially successful steel plow
The wrought-iron framed plow had a polished steel share. This made it ideal for the tough soil of the Midwest United States and worked better than other plows.
Samuel Morse invents Morse code
In an emergency, Morse code can be sent by improvised methods that can be easily “keyed” on and off, making it one of the simplest and most versatile methods of telecommunication.
Thomas Davenport invents what is perhaps the world’s first electric vehicle
As early as 1834, Davenport developed a battery-powered electric motor. He used it to operate a small model car on a short section of track, paving the way for the later electrification of streetcars.
William Sturgeon invents the electromagnet
British scientist William Sturgeon invented the electromagnet in 1824. His first electromagnet was a horseshoe-shaped piece of iron that was wrapped with about 18 turns of bare copper wire.
Nicolas Appert invents canning, revolutionizing food storage
In 1809, Nicolas Appert, a French confectioner and brewer, observed that food cooked inside a jar did not spoil unless the seals leaked, and developed a method of sealing food in glass jars.