Shows A - Z : How's That Work? : Electric Outlet, Water Purifier, Speaker : Home & Garden Television

Electric Outlet, Water Purifier, Speaker
Electricity first flowed into American homes in 1882. That's when Thomas Edison built his pearl street power plant, located in New York city's lower Manhattan. The first homes that were "plugged in" to this power had electric outlets that looked much like today's light-bulb sockets. For more than 40 years the electric socket didn't change, then engineers added a third prong to act as a ground wire to make things safer. Next, water purification took its next big turn in 1966. That's when German Heinz Hankammer discovered that forcing water through pieces of carbon was an easy way to quickly cleanse it. Hankammer started a company based on his process and affectionately named it after his daughter, Brita. This system has since become the most popular way to make earth's most precious liquid clean. Finally, Thomas Edison created a speaker that used a diaphragm to produce sound. The speaker's design took a huge step forward in the 1920s, first by Frenchman André Charlin, then by Americans Chester Rice and Edward Kellogg. In the years since, speakers have been improved, but this same basic design survives.

Home and Garden Ideas from our sponsors