History in the making - engineering anniversaries in 2012

From the 75th anniversary of the invention of Whittle’s jet engine to the centenary of the tragic sinking of the Titanic, 2012 sees some significant engineering anniversaries. Here’s a quick look at some of them.

Three hundred years ago

The first known working Newcomen steam engine was built in 1712 by Thomas Newcomen and John Calley. It was used to pump water out of coal mines at Tipton, Staffordshire. The first practical means of harnessing the power of steam, Newcomen engines quickly became popular and hundreds were erected around the country.

Two hundred years ago

On 12 August 1812, the Middleton Railway, which served coal pits in Leeds, became the first railway to successfully use steam locomotives in regular service. Their first locomotive, Salamanca, was the first commercially successful steam locomotive. It was also the first to use two cylinders, and worked on a rack railway mechanism devised by John Blenkinsop and built by Matthew Murray.

One hundred years ago

On 15 April 1912, the Titanic was lost. An article looking at the Institution’s links with the Titanic will feature in April’s issue of Agenda.

23 June 1912 saw the birth of Alan Turing. Amongst his many contributions to the fields of computer science, mathematics, artificial intelligence and cryptanalysis, Turing worked on breaking German ciphers at the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park – the recipient of an Institution Engineering Heritage Award - during the Second World War. Here he designed the Bombe, an electro-mechanical device used to help break German Enigma machine-encrypted messages. To mark the centenary of Turing’s birth, the Turing Centenary Advisory Committee (TCAC) is coordinating a year-long series of events under the name Alan Turing Year. For more information, please see http://www.mathcomp.leeds.ac.uk/turing2012/

70 years ago

On 2 December,1942, the Chicago Pile-1, the first nuclear reactor in the world, went critical under the squash court at the University of Chicago, as a result of work by the Chicago Pile team which included Enrico Fermi and Leo Szilard. Remarkably, the first nuclear power station opened just 12 years later, at Obninsk, near Moscow.

10 years ago

More recently, 2012 see the tenth anniversary of two British transport innovations. On 28 April 2012, the first Class 390 Pendolino, operated by Virgin Trains, arrived at Euston Station. On 24 May the Falkirk Wheel, a rotating boat lift, opened to connect the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal.

The Institution’s archive contains sources on many aspects of engineering history. Original material relating to the Institution, personal and professional papers of engineers such as George and Robert Stephenson and Christopher Hinton, as well as the records of companies such as D Napier and Son and Livesey, Henderson and Company are held. Archive material is available for consultation in the Library during normal opening hours (9.15 to 5.30, Monday to Friday). Please see www.imeche.org/library or contact us for more information either by email (archive@imeche.org) or phone (020 7973 1265).