The other day I was talking to my mom about how technology is such a large part of our everyday lives. I really started to feel old when we started reminiscing about my college days (1993-1997). It is hard to believe that my friends and I survived WITHOUT cell phones, computers (I did have a trusty word processor) and the internet through all 4 years of college!! Imagine going out to dinner with your friends and…SHOCKER….having to actually make conversation instead of checking the latest Instagram, Twitter or Facebook posts. I can say…I remember when!
If I felt old, then I am guessing my mom felt even older when she remembered her childhood days when her family would gather around to listen to the popular radio shows. Radio programs were the dominant form of media entertainment in the 1950’s until most homes scored their first television set (black and white with maybe 3 channels).
Since my great-grandfather, August G. Erickson, lived to be almost 102 years old, I thought it would be fun to research all the ‘inventions’ he lived to see. Below is a timeline of August’s life with inventions he lived to witness.
August G. Erickson:
– 1876 (Telephone) Alexander Graham Bell won the first U.S. patent for the device.
– 1879 (Electricity) The American inventor, Thomas Edison, was finally able to produce a reliable, long-lasting electric light-bulb in his laboratory.
–August was Born August 25, 1880 (Springfield, Minnesota)
– 1881 (Metal Detector) In 1881, Alexander Graham Bell invented the first metal detector as President James Garfield lay dying from a fatal gunshot wound. Despite an effort to locate the lodged bullet, Bell’s invention proved to be unsuccessful as the metal detector was confused by the metal-framed bed which the assassinated president laid on.
– 1881 (Iron) The electric iron was invented in 1881 and patented in 1882 by Henry W. Seely of New York.
– 1884 (Skyscraper) The edifice known as the world’s first skyscraper was the 10-story Home Insurance Company Building built in 1884. It was designed by the Massachusetts-born architect William Le Baron Jenney.
– 1886 (Electric Fan) Between the years 1882 and 1886, New Orleans resident Schuyler Skaats Wheeler invented the first electric fan.
– 1900 (AM Radio) Human voice transmitted wirelessly (by radio) for the first time by Roberto Landell de Moura. The first AM radio factory is opened in 1912.
– 1903 (Airplane) On December 17, 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright made four brief flights at Kitty Hawk with their first powered aircraft. The Wright brothers had invented the first successful airplane.
– 1928 (Penicillin) is first observed to exude antibiotic substances by Nobel laureate Alexander Fleming.
– 1933 (FM Radio) FM radio is patented by inventor Edwin H. Armstrong.
– July 1945 (Atomic Bomb) The atomic bomb is first successfully developed by the United States, Britain and Canada as a part of the Manhattan Project and swiftly deployed in August 1945 in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, effectively causing the end of World War II.
– December 20, 1951 (production of Electricity) First use of nuclear power to produce electricity for households in Arco, Idaho.
– 1970 (Calculator) The pocket calculator is invented in Japan.
– 1972 (Video Games) The first video game console, used primarily for playing video games on a TV, is the Magnavox Odyssey.
– 1973 (VHS) is invented by Yuma Shiraishi and Shizuo Takano.
– 1981 (MS-DOS) is invented by Microsoft.
–August Died August 14, 1982 (Springfield, Minnesota)
August Erickson – In 1906, when he was elected, August was the youngest County Attorney in Minnesota
August buys last train passenger ticket from Springfield to New Ulm, Minnesota October 25, 1960
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