Questions tagged [engineering-history]
Questions relating to the historical development of an engineering practice or process. Also, questions about the people and places involved in significant engineering developments and achievements.
70 questions
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Water-injection strokes
This wikipedia article mentions six-stroke engine concepts which add a water-injection and a steam-expelling stroke to the common four-stroke-cycle. At first glance it reads like a very convincing ...
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Where did the NDS screw pullout strength equation come from?
The American Wood Council National Design Specification for Wood Construction states that the withdrawal strength of a wood screw into side grain is given by the mysterious equation: $$2850G^2DL$$ ...
user68853
0 votes
3 answers
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What did the amount of seconds of "shake memory" that portable CD players had mean?
In the 1990s, I looked at catalogues showing portable CD players. Many of them featured an ever increasing number of seconds of "shake memory"*. Cheaper ones had a lower number of seconds ...
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"Increasing the water pressure" in the old pipes in the Palace of Knossos
In the Palace of Knossos, Crete, Greece there is an old piping system partially preserved, with the following commentary: Series of clay pipes with one end narrower than the other so that they could ...
- 290
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Did anyone ever make training wheels for the original Segway personal transporter device?
I am curious to know if Segway, or any other company, has ever made front and rear training wheels for the original version of the Segway personal transporter device. To help illustrate what I mean by ...
user33377
1 vote
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98 views
1960s coloring in manufacturing of fabric and plastic
I'm a art historian and would like to know why, in the 1960s, clothes and plastic products seem to have come in limited colours (e.g. white, yellow, red), whereas the 70s saw for instance orange, ...
- 11
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Examining the structure of old buildings
Generally speaking, many cities were built across long periods of time. When a city is expanded, still in general, the old part becomes the center, and the new parts increase the size of the city from ...
- 13
1 vote
1 answer
73 views
When was the phrase "lumped thermal capacitance" first coined?
As per the title, when was the phrase "lumped thermal capacitance" to describe a particular way of analysing multi-component heat transfer and energy storage systems first coined, please? I ...
user28774
4 votes
1 answer
362 views
Why aren't these spokes radial?
Have a look at this water wheel (located at Hama, Syria). Most spoked wheels seem to be designed with spokes that radiate outward from the center of the hub (bicycle wheels being the notable exception)...
- 305
1 vote
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Would a modern mercury vapor / steam combined rankine cycle be more efficient than a steam only cycle?
During the first half of the 20th century mercury vapor turbines were in use in commercial power stations. The mercury vapor was the working fluid for a high temperature Rankine cycle and the mercury ...
- 264
1 vote
1 answer
3k views
How realistic is the "death by CRT monitor" scene from Final Destination?
First of all, I realize that not only is this a fictional scene in a movie, but a movie (series) particularly infamous for its ridiculous, over-the-top death scenes. Yet, I have heard of basically ...
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Is it somehow dangerous to spray compressed air into a CRT TV? [duplicate]
I am planning to unscrew the plastic chassis of my big old CRT TV, after having it unplugged for 24 hours, and then spray compressed air all over the internals to remove all the heavy layers of dust ...
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Why does my 1989 TV have two separate power buttons on the front?
First, there is a big, square one always visible, which seems like the "master" power button (besides the cable). It is pressed in and you clearly "feel" that the TV is turned off. ...
- 1
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What does the "RGB" button do on the front of my old TV?
JVC, AV-S280ENT. This button exists on my 1989 TV. What exactly does it do? It seems like it would "enable RGB" for one SCART connector at a time, but what does that even mean? Why don't ...
- 1
0 votes
1 answer
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Is it dangerous for a child (or anyone) to bang away with a hammer and unscrew an old clothes washing machine?
In the mid-1990s at the latest, possibly something like 1992-1993, our family's clothes washing machine, presumably from sometime in the 1980s, broke down. My dad brought it out on the driveway ...
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