| Date | Text | |
|---|---|---|
30 Nov 1899
Aluminium conductor |
Aluminium conductor In 1899, aluminium was first used commercially in the U.S.as an electrical transmission conductor. The Hartford Electric Light Company of Hartford, Connecticut for a transmission to Hartford, Conn. from its waterpower plant at Tariffville, Conn., on Farmington River, at Spoonville, just before Case's Island. The company'a 250-foot concrete dam created a 29 foot head of water which was used to power their hydroelectric plant. The dam powered 2 pairs of 1300-hp water wheels, each connected to a 750-kilowatt generator in a brick powerhouse. The plant opened on Thanksgiving day in 1899 providing electricity from there to Hartford. It was washed away in the flood of 1955. |
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30 Nov 1899
Andrew J. Moyer |
birth Andrew J. Moyer Born 30 Nov 1899; died 17 Feb 1959 at age 59. Andrew Jackson Moyer was an American microbiologist who invented a method for mass-producing the antibiotic penicillin. While working for the US Agriculture Department laboratory (1940-57), he discovered a technique for antibiotic fermentation using continuous shaking of a culture broth of corn steep liquor (a by-product of the corn starch manufacturing process) and lactose. His method improved on prior methods producing 2 to 8 Oxford units/ml of broth, to in excess of 200 Oxford units/ml. By making possible the large-scale production of penicillin, the process is credited with saving thousands of lives during World War II. Corn steep liquor was adopted for other commercial fermentation processes making many other antibiotics, and the method is still in use today. |
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