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History is studied in periods of time, much like we are doing as we look at the years from the late 18th century to the early 19th century. But we must not forget there was history before, and history after these dates. The events on January 1,1880 were effected by everything that lead up to that date.
Inventors and their inventions are a significant part of the second industrial revolution (1850 -1910). It seems today that our new technology is much like another industrial revolution. It is interesting that
as you research the internet, quite often sites come up that refer to today's history as the second industrial revolution. Ours is the digital revolution where in the 18th century, the revolution came from new machinery and scientific discoveries.

Look at this list of inventors and inventions. You will find names that are familiar to you because of their inventions - Karl Benz (Mercedes Benz) built the first automobile - George Westinghouse (electrical and railroad inventions) - Alexander Graham Bell (telephone) - Alfred Nobel (dynamite and his peace prize) - Rudolph Diesel (diesel engine) - George Eastman (Eastman Kodak) cameras -

To get a look at inventions from the United States, check out this interactive technology timeline for the years 1750 - 1990. What inventions can you find from 1880 - 1910 ?

One inventor that preceded the second industrial revolution, and affected all inventions that followed was Samuel Morse. His code established a new way to communicate.

Morse code is still used today. In it's day this was a communications
revolution. Some the world most important inventions have come in the
field of communications starting with: Guettenburg (movable type for
printing words) - Alexander Graham Bell with the telephone, to today
with the Internet. Without Samuel Morse's code, Thomas Edison
and Alexander Graham Bell's inventions would not have taken place.

Alexander Graham Bell is know for inventing the telephone, but he experimented in many areas of science. He was intrigued with the human ability to speak and his early days were spent teaching the deaf. Bell experimented with flying machines, hydrofoils on water, but his greatest achievement will always remain the telephone.
Thomas Edison was one of the most significant inventors of his time. His early inventions were improvements on the telegraph. One of his first jobs was to string a telegraph line from the Port Huron Michigan railway station to the village of Port Huron. Edison also worked in the local telegraph office.

Edison's first big financial success came in 1874 with the quadruplex telegraph system. This was a way of sending more than one message in one direction over a single wire in this case, two messages in opposite directions simultaneously. Telegraph companies were eager for such a scheme because it let them send more messages over fewer wires, increasing their profits while cutting their costs.

The number of Edison's inventions is quite large, and the impact they have had on our society are immense. Edison was awarded 1,368 separate and distinct patents during his lifetime. To look at what many consider his three most important inventions check out this site. Also at this site you will find some excellent resources to frequently asked questions about Thomas Alva Edison.

It also gives the facts behind several Edison fables that still appear in films, textbooks and documentaries. See if you can tell the difference between fact and fable.

The progress the United States made in communication and transportation were hallmarks of the late 1800's. Although man had proven that he could fly in balloons, gliders, and the dirigible, sustained flight with a motor driven airplane was not accomplished until the Wright Brothers did so at Kitty Hawk NC. They were not the first to try, and to get a complete picture of the history of flight this "Invention of the Airplane" site will give you many details that led up to the Wright Brothers first flight.

Henry Ford did not invent the automobile. Like many inventors during the second industrial revolution, his contribution was revolutionizing how the automobile was made. In 1913 Ford introduced the first moving automobile assembly line at his plant in Michigan. This allowed for his cars to be produced faster, and more affordable for the common worker. The assembly line process soon found its way to many other industries.

Lifestyles and Culture

Music was a big part of this time period, 1880 - 1910, but you must remember that CD players and home DVD movie systems were invented in the 1980's, not 1880's . So what music was popular during these times, and how did people go about enjoying the music of the day?
In this time period, people were active participants with their music. A popular pastime was singing around
the family piano. A new music industry, Tin Pan Alley, came into existence to fill the peoples need for entertainment.

The history of Tin Pan Alley is a history of the United States as seen by its song writers. An incredible variety of songs document every aspect of American life from the beginning of Tin Pan Alley in the1890s. We can chronicle the changing musical tastes of Americans, along with our social, economic and political concerns, by the kinds of popular music that was bought, played and listened to by the public.

An ancestor of MTV in the late 1800's was a mix of live music and projected photographic images known as live model illustrated songs. Invented by George Thomas this was one of the first times music was put together with images to entertain an audience. This became a nationwide craze by 1900. At one time, as many as 10,000 small theaters across the country featured illustrated songs. These theaters performed the newest popular tunes, and were a gold mine for music publishers.

Leisure time during the first decade of the twentieth century was spent at family get-togethers, baseball, and picnics. In the evenings families gathered around the piano for a sing-along. Sheet music to popular songs sold over a million copies. Song salesmen carried pianos on their horse drawn carts and performed for crowds who bought this music from these vendors or dime stores.
Ragtime music by Scott Joplin started a whole new style of playing the piano. For a great site to hear many different piano rags, click here.

Nickelodeon was new hottest rage beginning in 1905. Nickel arcades came along soon where you paid a nickel to enjoy a short moving picture projected onto a screen. These were enormously popular. Musical theater, and the more common vaudeville were quite a hit with the the public too.
Vaudeville was a collection of variety acts which also featured sketches and short plays, often featuring leading actors. Vaudeville was one of the most popular forms of entertainment from the turn of the century untilaround 1930. But vaudeville with its liveliness and energy, could not compete with the movies. By 1931, the Palace Theater in New York was the only remaining large vaudeville house in the nation.

People in the late 1800's enjoyed going out and enjoying live music. A very famous composer and band conductor of this time was John Philip Sousa. Sousa was the conductor of the "Presidents Own" Marine Corps band in Washington DC, and under his leadership the band became world famous. After leaving the Marine Corps Band, he formed his own professional band which toured all over the world. Today Sousa marches are played by bands everywhere.
Baseball was the National Pastime - and many songs were written about the sport. Even John Philip Sousa's band had their own baseball team. Click here for the team picture.

Effects of Technology on Lifestyles of the early 1900's

If I'm a kid in early 1900's, what's the technology I'm dying to get my hands on? Hand held games, were they the rage in the early 1900's? Only if that game meant holding a baseball bat. You can check out this site to see how inventions were starting to effect the lives of the everyone in the United States.

Edison's inventions, the phonograph, incandescent light bulb, and later the moving pictures changed the way we looked at the world. The phonograph was invented in 1877 at the Menlo Park New Jersey lab. A piece of tin-foil was wrapped around the cylinder in the middle. You shouted a short message into the piece on one side of the cylinder while you turned the handle. Inside this piece was a needle. Your voice would make the needle shake, or vibrate. The sound vibrations would go through the needle and make a line, or groove, into the tin-foil. A needle on the other side could play back what you had just recorded.

Can you imagine not having electric lights? Edison's invention of the incandescent light bulb was an improvement on earlier light bulbs. His bulb was practical, and would light for hours and hours. He and his assistants also had to invent hundreds of other parts to make the lights in your home work. Things like,light switches, electric meters, wiring--all these had to be invented too. This took several years of experimentation.

The world grew smaller because of communication inventions of Samuel Morse and Alexander Graham Bell. The impact of the telegraph, and then the telephone allowed information to spread worldwide in seconds, rather than days.

Likewise travel in the United States became much more common because of the work of Henry Ford and the Wright Brothers. It is interesting to note that progress in transportation first came from the bicycle, if you remember that the Wright Brothers' business in Dayton Ohio was a bicycle shop. Also the work of cyclist in the late 1800's and early 1900's brought about the first improvement in roads, long before automobiles were affordable to the common man. These road improvements paved the way for commercial use of Henry Ford's automobiles, the Model A and Model T.