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Elgin National Watch Company Observatory
The Elgin National Watch Company Observatory is a historic building in Elgin, in the U.S. state of Illinois. It was built in 1910 to serve the Elgin National Watch Company two blocks to the west. The two-story observatory provided data on time that was scientifically accurate to a tenth of a second. Manufacturers could then produce a more accurate watch. The observatory was an important part of the company's legacy, and they even changed their motto to reflect this. By 1950, the Elgin National Watch Company could no longer compete with wristwatch companies. The observatory was donated to a local school district and became known as the School District U-46 Planetarium/Observatory. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. History Elgin was first settled in 1834. In 1850, the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad connected to the city, bolstering the economy. Fourteen years later, two employees at the American Watch Company decided to build their own w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elgin, Illinois
Elgin ( ) is a city in Cook and Kane counties in the northern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. Elgin is located northwest of Chicago, along the Fox River. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 114,797, the seventh-largest city in Illinois. History The Indian Removal Act of 1830 and the Black Hawk Indian War of 1832 led to the expulsion of the Native Americans who had settlements and burial mounds in the area and set the stage for the founding of Elgin. Thousands of militiamen and soldiers of Gen. Winfield Scott's army marched through the Fox River valley during the war, and accounts of the area's fertile soils and flowing springs soon filtered east. In New York, James T. Gifford and his brother Hezekiah Gifford heard tales of this area ripe for settlement, and they traveled west. Looking for a site on the stagecoach route from Chicago to Galena, Illinois, they eventually settled on a spot where the Fox River could be bridged. In April 1835, they e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thermometer
A thermometer is a device that temperature measurement, measures temperature or a temperature gradient (the degree of hotness or coldness of an object). A thermometer has two important elements: (1) a temperature sensor (e.g. the bulb of a mercury-in-glass thermometer or the pyrometric sensor in an infrared thermometer) in which some change occurs with a change in temperature; and (2) some means of converting this change into a numerical value (e.g. the visible scale that is marked on a mercury-in-glass thermometer or the digital readout on an infrared model). Thermometers are widely used in technology and industry to monitor processes, in meteorology, in medicine, and in scientific research. History While an individual thermometer is able to measure degrees of hotness, the readings on two thermometers cannot be compared unless they conform to an agreed scale. Today there is an absolute thermodynamic temperature scale. Internationally agreed temperature scales are designed to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Warner & Swasey Company
The Warner & Swasey Company was an American manufacturer of machine tools, instruments, and special machinery. It operated as an independent business firm, based in Cleveland, from its founding in 1880 until its acquisition in 1980. It was founded as a partnership in 1880 by Worcester Reed Warner (1846–1929) and Ambrose Swasey (1846–1937). The company was best known for two general types of products: astronomical telescopes and turret lathes. It also did a large amount of instrument work, such as equipment for astronomical observatories and military instruments (rangefinders, optical gunsights, etc.) The themes that united these various lines of business were the crafts of toolmaking and instrument-making, which have often overlapped technologically. In the decades after World War II, it also entered the heavy equipment industry with its acquisition of the Gradall brand. History In 1866, Swasey and Warner met as fellow apprentices at the Exeter Machine Works in Exeter, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lath
A lath or slat is a thin, narrow strip of straight-grained wood used under roof shingles or tiles, on lath and plaster walls and ceilings to hold plaster, and in lattice and trellis work. ''Lath'' has expanded to mean any type of backing material for plaster. This includes metal wire mesh or expanded metal that is applied to a wood or metal framework as matrix over which stucco or plaster is applied, as well as wallboard products called gypsum or rock lath.Ching, Frank. ''A visual dictionary of architecture''. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1995. 198. Print. Historically, reed mat was also used as a lath material. One of the key elements of lath, whether wooden slats or wire mesh, are the openings or gaps that allow plaster or stucco to ooze behind and form a mechanical bond to the lath. This is not necessary for gypsum lath, which relies on a chemical bond. Etymology The word is recorded from the late 13th century and is likely derived from the Old English word *, a var ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Planetarium
A planetarium ( planetariums or ''planetaria'') is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation. A dominant feature of most planetariums is the large dome-shaped projection screen onto which scenes of stars, planets, and other celestial objects can be made to appear and move realistically to simulate their motion. The projection can be created in various ways, such as a star ball, slide projector, video, fulldome projector systems, and lasers. Typical systems can be set to simulate the sky at any point in time, past or present, and often to depict the night sky as it would appear from any point of latitude on Earth. Planetaria range in size from the 37 meter dome in St. Petersburg, Russia (called “Planetarium No 1”) to three-meter inflatable portable domes where attendees sit on the floor. The largest planetarium in the Western Hemisphere is the Jennifer Chalsty Plan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elgin Area School District U46
Elgin Area School District U46, often referred to as "U-46", is a unit school district headquartered in Elgin, Kane County, Illinois. Covering , the district serves portions of eleven communities in the northwest suburbs of Chicago in Cook, DuPage and Kane Counties. School District U-46 serves over 40,000 children in grades preK-12. The district ranks as the second largest in Illinois with forty elementary schools, eight middle schools and five high schools. Tony Sanders is the CEO as of August 2022. Special programs *Center House *Central School Programs *DREAM Academy, an alternative school *High School Academy Program, a program for gifted students in High School *Preschool Programs *Radio station WEPS (88.9 FM) *School Within a School (SWAS) Program, a program for gifted students in 4th-8th Grade; also called Inquiry and Gifted Network for Ingenuity Talent and Exploration (IGNITE) Program * Planetarium/Observatory Schools, alphabetically See also *List of school dis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Timex Group USA
Timex Group USA, Inc. (formerly known as Timex Corporation) is an American global watch manufacturing company founded in 1854 as the Waterbury Clock Company in Waterbury, Connecticut. In 1944, the company became insolvent but was reformed into Timex Corporation. In 2008, the company was acquired by Timex Group B.V. and was renamed Timex Group USA. Thomas Olsen purchased the Waterbury Clock Company in New York in 1941 and renamed it ''Timex'', inspired by the names of ''Time'' magazine and Kleenex. History Waterbury Clock Company (1854–1944) Brass manufacturer Benedict & Burnham created Waterbury Clock Company in 1854 to manufacture clocks using brass wheels and gears. Waterbury Clock Company was legally incorporated on March 27, 1857 as an independent business with $60,000 in capital. The American clock industry was producing millions of clocks with scores of companies located in Connecticut's Naugatuck River Valley, earning the region the nickname "Switzerland of Ame ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagion began around September and led to the Wall Street stock market crash of October 24 (Black Thursday). It was the longest, deepest, and most widespread depression of the 20th century. Between 1929 and 1932, worldwide gross domestic product (GDP) fell by an estimated 15%. By comparison, worldwide GDP fell by less than 1% from 2008 to 2009 during the Great Recession. Some economies started to recover by the mid-1930s. However, in many countries, the negative effects of the Great Depression lasted until the beginning of World War II. Devastating effects were seen in both rich and poor countries with falling personal income, prices, tax revenues, and profits. International trade fell by more than 50%, unemployment in the U.S. rose to 23% and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest outside of the Chicago metropolitan area (after Rockford), and the largest in central Illinois. Approximately 208,000 residents live in the Springfield metropolitan area. Springfield was settled by European-Americans in the late 1810s, around the time Illinois became a state. The most famous historic resident was Abraham Lincoln, who lived in Springfield from 1837 until 1861, when he went to the White House as President of the United States. Major tourist attractions include multiple sites connected with Lincoln including the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Lincoln Home National Historic Site, Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices State Historic Site, and the Lincoln Tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery. Springfield lies in a valley and pla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weather Vane
A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , meaning "flag". Although partly functional, wind vanes are generally decorative, often featuring the traditional cockerel design with letters indicating the points of the compass. Other common motifs include ships, arrows, and horses. Not all wind vanes have pointers. In a sufficiently strong wind, the head of the arrow or cockerel (or equivalent) will indicate the direction from which the wind is blowing. Wind vanes are also found on small wind turbines to keep the wind turbine pointing into the wind. History The oldest textual reference in China to a weather vane comes from the ''Huainanzi'' dating from around 139 BC, which mentions a thread or streamer that another commentator interprets as "wind-observing fan" (, ). The Tower of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rain Gauge
A rain gauge (also known as udometer, pluvia metior, pluviometer, ombrometer, and hyetometer) is an instrument used by meteorologists and hydrologists to gather and measure the amount of liquid precipitation over a predefined area, over a period of time. It is used for determining the depth of precipitation (usually in mm) that occurs over a unit area and thus measuring rainfall amount. History The first known rainfall records were kept by the Ancient Greeks, at around 500 BCE. People living in India began to record rainfall in 400 BCE Ian Strangeways, A History of rain gauges, TerraData, 2010 The readings were correlated against expected growth. In the Arthashastra, used for example in Magadha, precise standards were set as to grain production. Each of the state storehouses were equipped with a rain gauge to classify land for taxation purposes. In 1247, the Song Chinese mathematician and inventor Qin Jiushao invented Tianchi basin rain and snow gauges to reference rain, snowfa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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