Glowing electric cord

Energy Use in the U.S.

By LaFemmeDemon

  • Commerical Coal Production Begins in the U.S. in 1748

    Commerical Coal Production Begins in the U.S. in 1748
    The first commerical production of coal begins in the mines around Richmond, Virginia. During the first documented mining of coal, 50 tons of coal was mined. (Exact date unknown.)

  • Benjamin Franklin's Famous Kite Experiment

    Benjamin Franklin's Famous Kite Experiment
    Benjamin Franklin did not discover electricity, despite the common belief. However, he did prove that lightening was nothing but large amounts of static electricity as was according to his theory. (Exact date unknown.)

  • First Natural Gas Well Dug

    First Natural Gas Well Dug
    William Hart, a gunsmith, drilled the first commercial natural gas well in 1821 in Fredonia, Chautauqua county, New York. The well was dug in the shale that out cropped the area and it was 27 feet in depth. (Exact date unknown.)

  • First Known Commercial Use of Geothermal Energy

    First Known Commercial Use of Geothermal Energy
    Hot Springs, Arkansas, where, in 1830, Asa Thompson charged one dollar each for the use of three spring-fed baths in a wooden tub, and the first known commercial use of geothermal energy occurred. (Exact date unknown.)

  • Edwin Drake Drilled the First Oil Well in Pennsylvania in 1859

    Edwin Drake Drilled the First Oil Well in Pennsylvania in 1859
    Edwin Drake, a career railroad conductor, devised a way to drill a practical oil well in Titusville, Pennsylvania. (Exact date unkown.)

  • John D. Rockefeller Develops Petroleum as Major Energy Source in U.S.

    John D. Rockefeller Develops Petroleum as Major Energy Source in U.S.
    Rockefeller's efforts and advances caused petroleum to be the primary energy source not only in the United States, but also in societies around the world. (Exact date unknown)

  • Hydropower and the Wolverine Chair Factory

    Hydropower and the Wolverine Chair Factory
    Michigan's Grand Rapids Electric Light and Power Company generated DC electricity, using hydropower at the Wolverine Chair Factory. A dynamo belted to a water turbine at the factory generated electricity to light 16 brush-arc lamps in the store front. (Exact date unknown)

  • First Power Plant established by Thomas Edison in 1882

    First Power Plant established by Thomas Edison in 1882
    Thomas Edison built the first power plant. This power plant, Pearl Street Power Station, made electricity for 85 buildings. (Exact date unkown.)

  • Chicago Pile-1

    Chicago Pile-1
    Scientists demonstrate the Chicago Pile-1, the first self-sustaining nuclear reaction. The world enters the nuclear age.

  • First Nuclear Power Plant in America

    First Nuclear Power Plant in America
    The first nuclear power plant in the United States became operational in Shippington, Pennsylvania, in 1957.When nuclear power became a usable source of energy for producing electricity in the 1950s it was thought that it would be the new power for the future. (Exact date unknown.)