Important US Events

1852: Ben Franklin discovers electricity

Ben Franklin believed that electricity could be harnessed from lightening. He had a creative idea for an experiment to test this theory. "Franklin prepared the kite by tying a handkerchief to two crossed sticks of proper length. Extending vertically about a foot from the vertical stick was a wire. The apparatus was extended into the air by a length of string. Along the string of the apparatus was a metal key that would apparently conduct the electricity" (MrNussbaum.com) His experiment was a success and Franklin was able to harness the power of electricity by building a lightning rod on his house. 

Connection across time: After Franklin was able to harness electricity, everyone used it. This is similar to how in modern times, Mark Zuckerberg created the widely used social networking site, Facebook. At first, many people though Zuckerberg was crazy an would never be able to fulfill his ideas. They thought the same about Franklin and electricity. Now, everyone uses electricity and almost everyone uses Facebook. 

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1787: The First cotton mill in America was founded

This is the Beverly Cotton Manufactory,  the first cotton mill to be built in America. It was built by the Thomas Somers and the Cabot brothers. It was the largest cotton mill of its era. It was also a significant milestone in the research and development of cotton mills in the future. The mill was originally designed to be powered by horses, but that turned out to be ineffective. Thus, a water powered milling structure was developed to power the mill.

Connection across time:
The Boeing Everett Factory was built in 1967. It is the largest building in the world, by volume. It can be compared to the Beverly Cotton Manufactory because it is the largest building of this era, like the Manufactory was the largest cotton mill of its era. Both buildings were also new ideas at the time they were built in America.