Lesson 41 Steel Plow. John Deere invented the steel plow in 1837 to help farmers plow the sticky soil. He used steel for his plow because soil wouldn’t stick when polished. People loved the plow because it worked as advertised and they could try it before buying it. It was a major factor for western expansion because it made it easier to plow fields, led to modern crop production, but was wrongly blamed for the dust bowl.
Lesson 42 Steam Shovel. William Smith invented the steam shovel in 1835. It increased the speed and efficiency of digging holes. Railroads drove demand for the steam shovel and increased the speed of building roads and skyscrapers. Construction projects like the Panama canal were possible because of the steam shovel.
Lesson 43 Postage Stamp. Rowland Hill invented the postage stamp in 1838 to reform the postal system. The postage stamp certifies that the sender has paid the postage. His efforts were pushed through to parliament with the help of merchants. Stamps made their way to America which helped westward expansion.
Lesson 44 Vulcanized Rubber. Charles Goodyear invented vulcanized rubber by accident. Vulcanizing rubber prevents it from melting or shattering. Goodyear died bankrupt but a company was named after him and became popular. Goodyear is one of the top ten rubber companies today and relies on rubber seals.
My favorite lesson is vulcanized rubber. I like it because it showed that amazing things can be created by accident. The Goodyear rubber company was popular and sold tires, wheels, and poker chips. Rubber can be made in different ways to receive different properties.