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Monday, April 28, 2025

Some famous architecture is celebrating an anniversary this week ...

Monday, March 24, 2025

This week will mark the March 22, 1895 anniversary of the Lumière brothers' Paris premiere of Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory ...

Monday, March 3, 2025

This image of a worker at the Pennsylvania Railroad's car shops ...

Monday, November 18, 2024

On this date, November 18, in 1963, Bell Telephone began offering the world's first commercial service ...

Monday, September 30, 2024

September 30th marks the anniversary of the publication of U.S. Patent No. 9020702A, granted in 1902 to chemists ...

Monday, August 19, 2024

This week marks a historic anniversary in the history of invention and photography ...

Monday, July 15, 2024

This week marks a milestone in food history ....

Monday, March 11, 2024

This image of a woman working in the Pennsylvania Railroad's tin shop was scanned from a negative created 105 years ago this week ...

Monday, February 5, 2024

We're looking at a week of sunshine and relatively warm winter weather today ...

Monday, January 22, 2024

This week's Hagley Vault image is from a series of photographs taken on January 22, 1921 documenting the aftermath of a wheel mill explosion ...

Monday, December 18, 2023

This glass negative showing the interior of a E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company boiler house ...

Monday, November 27, 2023

These industrial design drawings were created on November 29, 1949 ...

Monday, November 13, 2023

The New York and Harlem, the world's first street-railroad, began rolling this week in ...

Monday, November 6, 2023

On November 6, 1899, the Packard Brothers debuted the Packard Model A in Warren, Ohio. ...

Monday, August 7, 2023

This week will mark the anniversary of America's first full-time appointment of an Inspector of Milk, a position created in the city of Boston ...

Wednesday, April 12, 2023

The American Civil War began on this date, April 12, in 1861 when Confederate forces ...

Monday, April 10, 2023

Today, Arbor Day is recognized on the last Friday of April ....

Monday, April 3, 2023

This photograph shows the christening of the freighter Cape Race ...

Wednesday, March 15, 2023

On March 15, 1892, the American inventor and engineer ....

Monday, March 13, 2023

On March 13 in 1882, the English photographer Eadweard J. Muybridge ...

Thursday, February 16, 2023

On this date, February 16, in 1937, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. was granted U.S. patent ...

Friday, January 20, 2023

It's sometimes said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day ...

Monday, January 9, 2023

Children, gather round. Grampa wants to tell you about his sphere again ...

Friday, January 6, 2023

On this date, January 9th, in 1951, Zenith Radio Corporation ...

Monday, December 5, 2022

Happy Repeal Day! On this day, December 5, in 1933, the repeal of thirteen years of Prohibition ...

Thursday, November 10, 2022

On this date, November 10, in 1885 the 17 year old son of the German inventor and engineer Gottlieb Daimler ...

Thursday, November 3, 2022

On this date, November 3, in 1952, the inventor, entrepreneur, and naturalist Clarence Birdseye ...

Thursday, October 27, 2022

On this date, October 27, in 1873, the farmer and inventor Joseph Farwell Glidden (1813-1906) filed a patent for an "improvement in wire-fences" ...

Thursday, October 20, 2022

On this date in 1906, inventor and electronics pioneer ...

Friday, October 14, 2022

This weekend will mark a historic moment in communications and aviation history ....

Thursday, October 6, 2022

On this date in 1956, Dr. Albert Sabin announced ....

Monday, September 19, 2022

On this date, September 19, in 1876 ....

Thursday, September 8, 2022

Today marks the birthdate of Ida Henrietta Hyde ...

Wednesday, August 31, 2022

On this date, August 31, in 1836 ...

Wednesday, August 24, 2022

On this date, August 24, in 1869 ....

Friday, August 19, 2022

Say cheese! On this day in 1839 ....

Monday, August 15, 2022

On this date in 1877, inventor Thomas Edison suggested "Hello" to the president ...

Monday, August 8, 2022

Today, we're joining the women of the Women's Organization for National Prohibition Reform (W.O.N.P.R.) ....

Tuesday, August 2, 2022

Nailed it! On this date, August 2, in 1791 ...

Monday, July 25, 2022

On this date, July 25, in 1946 the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School of Electrical Engineering completed work on ....

Monday, July 18, 2022

Today's featured photo hits close to home ...

Thursday, July 14, 2022

We're posting this 1930 catalog for bedroom furniture today on account of Sarah Elisabeth Goode ...

Monday, July 11, 2022

This photograph shows Maj. William Kepner, Lorena Berry ....

Thursday, July 7, 2022

This photograph, taken #OTD in 1931, shows June Croll ...

Wednesday, June 29, 2022

Industrial design—the practice of optimizing the function, value, and appearance of products ...

Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Roll up the rugs! Today, we're celebrating the invention of the saxophone, patented #OTD in 1846 ...

Monday, June 20, 2022

This cyanotype of the Maryland Steel Company of Baltimore County's fitting out shop was taken on this date ...

Tuesday, May 24, 2022

On this date, May 24, in 1938 ....

Thursday, May 19, 2022

American botanist and artist Catharine Furbish was born on this date, May 19 ...

Tuesday, May 10, 2022

The Centennial International Exhibition, the first major U.S. world's fair, opened #OTD ...

Tuesday, April 12, 2022

#OTD in 1831, the Allegheny Portage Railroad began work on the the first railroad tunnel ...

Monday, March 21, 2022

Spring is here and love is in the air ....

Thursday, March 10, 2022

On this date in 1876, Alexander Graham Bell conveyed the now-famous line ...

Monday, March 7, 2022

This photograph of students in front of the outside Alexis I. du Pont School (School for the Brandywine) ....

Thursday, February 24, 2022

On this date in 1938 ...

Thursday, February 10, 2022

The first U.S. patent on a fire extinguishing system for buildings was granted on this date ...

Wednesday, February 2, 2022

The first observance of Groundhog Day in Punxsatawney, Pennsylvania ...

Thursday, January 27, 2022

Today's date, January 27th, marks the anniversary of the death of the English plumber and inventor Thomas Crapper ...

Thursday, January 20, 2022

On this date in 1964 ...

Wednesday, January 12, 2022

On this date in 1896 ...

Thursday, January 6, 2022

On this date, January 6, in 1954, the first commercially successful TV dinner ...

Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Your patent history fact of the day today is a little less auspicious than our usual fare, but perhaps a bit tastier ..

Thursday, December 16, 2021

The first U.S. patent for an automatic liquid vending machine ...

Monday, November 29, 2021

The first U.S. patent for a traffic signal was issued on this date ...

Tuesday, November 16, 2021

On this date, November 16, 1896, the Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power & Manufacturing Company ...

Monday, November 8, 2021

On this date, November 8, in 1875 ...

Wednesday, November 3, 2021

This photograph shows the crashed U.S. Air Mail flown by a 24-year-old Charles Lindbergh ...

Monday, November 1, 2021

The world’s first all-steel railroad bridge went into service on this date ...

Thursday, October 21, 2021

Talk about a bright idea ...

Wednesday, October 13, 2021

On this date in 1860 ...

Monday, September 27, 2021

We’re starting off the work week today with a look at the "Tippencanoe" Harrison and Morton Club ...

Monday, September 20, 2021

Oh my stars! On this date in 1859 .....

Thursday, September 16, 2021

Cocaine was first used as a local anesthetic on this date in 1884 ...

Monday, September 13, 2021

Here's a little fun for a Monday morning ....

Thursday, September 9, 2021

Happy birthday, California!

Tuesday, August 31, 2021

This photograph shows a class of engineering cadets ...

Friday, August 27, 2021

On this date in 1878 ....

Monday, August 16, 2021

On this date in 1898 ...

Thursday, August 12, 2021

On this date, August 12, in 1851 ....

Thursday, August 5, 2021

Here's a photograph that's absolutely ....

Wednesday, August 4, 2021

Today's #WorkerWednesday is a real pick-me-up ...

Monday, July 26, 2021

Happy birthday to the U.S. postal system!

Tuesday, July 20, 2021

Today marks the anniversary of the July 20, 1969 date when Apollo 11 ....

Thursday, July 15, 2021

On this date, July 15, in 1916 ....

Monday, July 12, 2021

We're starting the week off on the right track today with this photograph of steam-powered Pennsylvania Railroad locomotive traveling over the Elkview Viaduct near Oxford, Pennsylvania.

Tuesday, June 29, 2021

Industrial design—the practice of optimizing the function, value, and appearance of products—is a central component in America’s culture of consumerism ...

Monday, June 28, 2021

June has traditionally been the most popular month to for weddings ...

Tuesday, June 15, 2021

According to some accounts, Benjamin Franklin conducted his now famous, possibly apocryphal, electrical experiment with a kite in a lightning storm on this date, June 15, in 1752.

Thursday, June 10, 2021

Girls of summer #OTD

Wednesday, June 2, 2021

On this date, June 2, in 1940, over 160,000 people gathered in Philadelphia’s Municipal Stadium for Cardinal Dennis Joseph Dougherty’s Golden Jubilee Mass...

Tuesday, June 1, 2021

On this date, June 1, in 1494, John Cor, a Tironensian monk at Lindores Abbey in Fife, Scotland, recorded the first known written reference to scotch whisky ...

Thursday, May 27, 2021

On this date, May 27, in 1927, the Ford Motor Company ceased manufacturing its iconic Ford Model T automobile ...

Thursday, May 20, 2021

On this date in 1873, Levi Strauss (1829-1902) and Jacob W. Davis (1831–1908) made fashion history ...

Monday, May 17, 2021

Today, we marking the anniversary of the United States Supreme Court's landmark 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas.

Tuesday, May 11, 2021

On this date in 1910, the U.S. Congress created Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana. 

Monday, May 10, 2021

On this date in 1876, the Centennial International Exhibition opened in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Thursday, April 29, 2021

Here at Hagley, we love inventions, big and small ...

Tuesday, April 27, 2021

We're wishing a .... .- .--. .--. -.-- / -... .. .-. - .... -.. .- -.-- today to Samuel Finley Breese Morse ...

Monday, April 19, 2021

We're flashing back to 1900 in celebration of Bicycle Day...

Tuesday, March 30, 2021

On this date in 1822, the U.S. Congress merged the recently...

Thursday, March 11, 2021

In 1887, the Pennsylvania Steel Company constructed a steel...

Monday, March 1, 2021

Today's train wreck of a post features photographs taken on this...

Friday, February 26, 2021

On this date, February 26, in 1919, President Woodrow Wilson...

Thursday, February 18, 2021

National Battery Day was established around the year 2000 on the...

Monday, February 15, 2021

We're observing ENIAC day today and the people that made IT...

Wednesday, February 10, 2021

On this date, February 10, in 1989 Ron Brown (1941-1996) was...

Thursday, February 4, 2021

On this date (February 4) in 1941, Kinetic Chemicals, Inc., a...

Monday, January 25, 2021

On this date, January 25, in 1915, Alexander Graham Bell...

Tuesday, January 19, 2021

On this date in 1883, the first electric lighting system used...

Thursday, January 14, 2021

On this date in 1954, the Hudson Motor Car Company merged with...

Tuesday, January 5, 2021

The construction of the Golden Gate Bridge began on this date,...

Wednesday, December 30, 2020

We're getting our Wednesday off to a smashing start with these...

Tuesday, December 29, 2020

On this date, December 29, in 1845 the United States annexed the Republic of Texas...

Thursday, December 17, 2020

On this day, December 17, in 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright's...

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

On this date, December 15, in 1890, the Hunkpapa Lakota...

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

The Ford Model A became commercially available on this day in...

Monday, November 23, 2020

On this day in 1899, San Francisco's Palais Royale...

Wednesday, November 18, 2020

On this date in 1963, Bell Telephone began offering the world's...

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

On this brisk fall day, we're getting on board #TrainTuesday...

Monday, November 16, 2020

On this date in 1973, NASA launched Skylab 4...

Monday, November 9, 2020

On this day, November 9, in 1906, Theodore Roosevelt...

Friday, November 6, 2020

James Naismith, the Canadian-American gym teacher who invented...

Friday, October 16, 2020

This arresting photograph was taken on this day, October 16th,...

Thursday, October 15, 2020

Thomas Edison's Edison Electric Light Company began operations...

Wednesday, October 14, 2020

On this day, October 14, in 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King,...