In 1889 – The first long-distance transmission of electricity took place, sending power from a hydroelectric generator at Willamette Falls 14 miles west to 55 street lights at 4th and Main in Portland, Oregon. In 1948 – Ed Brown Jr., a former Navy pilot, opened a fly-in movie theater near Wall Township, New Jersey....

In 1883 – Thomas Edison and Stephen D. Field built built the world’s first elevated electric railway. It was a narrow-gauge 3-foot-wide track in the gallery around the edge of the main exhibition building of the Chicago Railway Exhibition. It ran nine miles per hour. In 1896 – Guglielmo Marconi applied for British Patent...

In 1890 – The U.S. Census Bureau began using Herman Hollerith’s tabulating machine for the first time. This gave Hollerith the basis to later found his Tabulating Machine Company, which was one of four companies that merged to form IBM. In 1944 – The Colossus Mark 2 was put into service at Bletchley Park...

In 1941 – Electric eye detectors were first used to measure high-jumping height attained. A track meet of the Schenectady, NY, Patrolmen’s Association used equipment designed by General Electric, comprising of a movable light source and four electric eyes. In 1943 – Chief consultant John Mauchly and chief engineer John Presper Eckert began leading...