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So, steam power had by the last third of the nineteenth century wrought revolutions in mining, manufacturing, and transportation on land, the rivers, and the oceans. That would seem to be enough. But the inventors of the nineteenth century would wrest yet one more revolution from steam, by generating from it electric light, and then…
Created in 1913 to make the dressing process more practical, it was used by sailors, enraged the puritans and even reached the Moon. This invention also became part of the feminist debate, as back zippers took away women’s independence when it came to dressing
The day must come when electricity will be for everyone, as the waters of the rivers and the wind of heaven. It should not merely be supplied, but lavished, that men may use it at their will, as the air they breathe. - Emile Zola, “Travail”, 1901
What Albert Einstein was to theoretical physics, Thomas Alva Edison was to invention, innovation and technology discovery. That’s according to armchair technologists who have accorded both men the dubious honour of household name status.
Whitcomb Judson of Chicago invented the clasp-locker in 1893, now known today as the zipper. It revolutionized fashion and is now one of the most common devices in the world.