Massachusetts and William Loughton Smith of South Carolina both made long speeches during that first U.S. Congress meeting. The resolution on the table was regarding the search for a permanent location for the federal government.
Financial Bubble
In February 1637, during the Dutch Golden Age, Dutch tulip contracts sold for more than 10 times the annual income of a skilled craftsman. During this period, contract prices for bulbs of a newly introduced tulip reached extraordinarily high levels and then suddenly collapsed. This economic rise and fall is generally considered the first recorded financial bubble, sometimes referred to as a speculative bubble, a market bubble, or a price bubble. “Tulip mania” is still often used to refer to a large economic bubble.
Fingerprint
Aside from prints found on ancient fossilized clay tablets, the first fingerprints used for identification purposes date from around 1859. William Herschel, a British magistrate at Jungipoor in colonial India, required that on any official papers, the “signers” had to add their palm and fingerprints for identification purposes. He is also responsible for the idea of police recording and using fingerprint records to catch repeat offenders. Herschel also collaborated with scientist Francis Galton to establish the first fingerprint classification system, which was implemented by Scotland Yard.
Fire Extinguisher
In 1722, German Zachary Greyl invented the first fire extinguishing machine and successfully demonstrated it in Paris, France, to the Secretary-at-War and others of influence. The device worked by suffocating out a fire. It consisted of a wooden vessel holding a considerable quantity of water. In its center was a fixed tube of gunpowder attached to a fuse. During a fire, the device was quickly wheeled into the flaming room or building and then the fuse to the gunpowder was lit. The resulting explosion was so forceful that it pushed the water into all parts of the room and extinguished most of the major flames.
Flamethrower
In the seventh century, Greek fire (a term coined later by western European crusaders in the thirteenth century) was projected upon enemy forces in the fashion of a modern flamethrower. The Greek fire was a weapon the Byzantines employed that was instrumental in saving Constantinople from invasions by Muslim fleets. Although previous incendiary weapons had existed, Greek fire was discharged from bronze tubes mounted on the prows of Byzantine ships. These first flamethrow ers emitted a thunderous noise as they discharged. They were insidious, and the flaming discharge adhered to whatever it struck and couldn’t be extinguished with water. The exact nature of Greek fire was a state secret known only to a small circle of Byzantine elites.
Flea Circus
In 1578, Mark Scaliot, a blacksmith and locksmith in London, England, exhibited the world’s first flea performance to the London public. Scaliot skillfully devised a miniature lock of iron, steel, and brass composed of several pieces, including a pipe key. Along with it he fastened a very small 43-link chain of gold. All the items together weighed about 1 ⁄10 gram. Scaliot put the device around the neck of a flea, and the flea pulled it with ease. From this demonstration of Scaliot’s great craftsmanship, the “flea circus” had begun. Scaliot went on to expand this flea circus with more acts.
Fluorescent Lamp
In 1901, American inventor Peter Cooper Hewitt patented the first mercury vapor lamp, the prototype for today’s fluorescent lamp. Hewitt, who built upon the work of the nineteenth-century German physicist Julius Plucker and glassblower Heinrich Geissler, found that by passing an electric current through a glass tube containing tiny amounts of mercury, a bluish-green light was emitted. Exciting the mercury vapor created luminescence. Hewitt and George Westinghouse, another prolific inventor, formed Cooper Hewitt Electric Company in New York City to produce the
Financial Bubble
In February 1637, during the Dutch Golden Age, Dutch tulip contracts sold for more than 10 times the annual income of a skilled craftsman. During this period, contract prices for bulbs of a newly introduced tulip reached extraordinarily high levels and then suddenly collapsed. This economic rise and fall is generally considered the first recorded financial bubble, sometimes referred to as a speculative bubble, a market bubble, or a price bubble. “Tulip mania” is still often used to refer to a large economic bubble.
Fingerprint
Aside from prints found on ancient fossilized clay tablets, the first fingerprints used for identification purposes date from around 1859. William Herschel, a British magistrate at Jungipoor in colonial India, required that on any official papers, the “signers” had to add their palm and fingerprints for identification purposes. He is also responsible for the idea of police recording and using fingerprint records to catch repeat offenders. Herschel also collaborated with scientist Francis Galton to establish the first fingerprint classification system, which was implemented by Scotland Yard.
Fire Extinguisher
In 1722, German Zachary Greyl invented the first fire extinguishing machine and successfully demonstrated it in Paris, France, to the Secretary-at-War and others of influence. The device worked by suffocating out a fire. It consisted of a wooden vessel holding a considerable quantity of water. In its center was a fixed tube of gunpowder attached to a fuse. During a fire, the device was quickly wheeled into the flaming room or building and then the fuse to the gunpowder was lit. The resulting explosion was so forceful that it pushed the water into all parts of the room and extinguished most of the major flames.
Flamethrower
In the seventh century, Greek fire (a term coined later by western European crusaders in the thirteenth century) was projected upon enemy forces in the fashion of a modern flamethrower. The Greek fire was a weapon the Byzantines employed that was instrumental in saving Constantinople from invasions by Muslim fleets. Although previous incendiary weapons had existed, Greek fire was discharged from bronze tubes mounted on the prows of Byzantine ships. These first flamethrow ers emitted a thunderous noise as they discharged. They were insidious, and the flaming discharge adhered to whatever it struck and couldn’t be extinguished with water. The exact nature of Greek fire was a state secret known only to a small circle of Byzantine elites.
Flea Circus
In 1578, Mark Scaliot, a blacksmith and locksmith in London, England, exhibited the world’s first flea performance to the London public. Scaliot skillfully devised a miniature lock of iron, steel, and brass composed of several pieces, including a pipe key. Along with it he fastened a very small 43-link chain of gold. All the items together weighed about 1 ⁄10 gram. Scaliot put the device around the neck of a flea, and the flea pulled it with ease. From this demonstration of Scaliot’s great craftsmanship, the “flea circus” had begun. Scaliot went on to expand this flea circus with more acts.
Fluorescent Lamp
In 1901, American inventor Peter Cooper Hewitt patented the first mercury vapor lamp, the prototype for today’s fluorescent lamp. Hewitt, who built upon the work of the nineteenth-century German physicist Julius Plucker and glassblower Heinrich Geissler, found that by passing an electric current through a glass tube containing tiny amounts of mercury, a bluish-green light was emitted. Exciting the mercury vapor created luminescence. Hewitt and George Westinghouse, another prolific inventor, formed Cooper Hewitt Electric Company in New York City to produce the
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