I was going to finish this update, but I got distracted by a wikiwalk that ended up at
telephone newspapers.
So here's the first part.
Part Ninety-Four: Turn of the Century Technology
The Wheels of Revolution:
Of the major technological breakthroughs that happened around the turn of the 20th century, the developments in transportation were some of the most groundbreaking. The development of the pneumatic rubber tire may not seem like a large development, but it greatly improved the safety and comfort of all wheeled vehicles. The first application of this was in the development of the modern bicycle. The modern bicycle with rubber tires, as well as the installation of a drive chain, was invented and first marketed by Frenchman André Jules Michelin in 1883[1]. The bicycle became a success in Paris as boardwalks were built along the Seine, and the popularity of bicycles soon spread to the United States. While it slowed during the Silver Depression in the United States, bicycles remained a major craze in Northeastern cities such as New York and Brooklyn, and boardwalk or concrete paths were constructed along the waterfronts in several cities. Some of these original paths survive to this day, most notable the section of boardwalk along the Brooklyn Bridge.
Another influential invention during the latter decades of the 19th century was the automobile. The 1870s and 1880s were also the time of vast advances in the efficiency of both electric and internal combustion engines. With these new engines, the modern automobile began to spread into society and replace the horse and carriage. The automobile was invented by Otto Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in 1889. While the two were from Baden, Daimler and Maybach began marketing their auto in Germany and soon founded their first plant for the Preussischer Motor Werke, now PMW, in Cottbus. Over the next decades, both gasoline and electric autos grew in popularity as mass production and the assembly line made them cheap enough that most people could afford one. In the United States, Indianapolis quickly grew as a center of auto production as the initial plethora of auto start-up companies died out and merged into a few larger companies. The major Indianapolis companies to survive and thrive during this early period were Stutz, Tippecanoe, and Studebaker[2].
During this early period, a split soon arose in auto production between gasoline and electric autos. While electric autos were the most popular at first, the discovery of new sources of oil during the early 20th century made gasoline engines more efficient. However, this did not doom the electric autos but rather refined its purpose. Electric autos have remained the most chosen for intracity transit and taxi services, as well as for short travel within the city. Duesenberg, which has specialized in electric autos throughout the company's history, was for a long time the top supplier of trams and other electric vehicles for many municipal governments in the United States. Gasoline vehicles were often bought for longer trips or rural use where a lot of work was required. This made gas powered autos popular among farmers. Additionally, many upper class families in the United States would own an electric auto for daily city driving and a gasoline auto for more extensive travels outside the city.
The other major development in transportation in the turn of the 20th century was the invention of the airplane. With more powerful engines being developed, many pioneers attempted to build machines which could achieve sustained powered flight. The first successful motorized flight took place on May 12, 1897 in the town of Guildford in southern England. Percy Pilcher, who had tinkered extensively with gliders since leaving the Royal Navy, built his motorized triplane and achieved a height of 20 feet and flew for a length of 175 feet. In the next decades, numerous other pioneers experimented with motorized flight, and soon many countries' militaries began using airplanes for reconnaissance over the larger and slower balloons and airships.
Traveling the Wires:
The turn of the 20th century also saw revolutionary advances in the harnessing and production of electricity. After the first electrical generators were set up, small power stations were installed in a number of European and American cities. One of the notable examples is the steam generator that was set up in Vienna as an initiative by the Worker's Republic of Austria. The generators were installed in the early 1880s as part of a public works project and provided electric lighting for much of the center of Vienna until 1890 when Austria was annexed by Germany. Later on these generators would be replaced by alternating current generators. In the United States, the pioneer of commercial electricity was George Westinghouse. After working closely with Edward H. Johnson[3], Westinghouse started the Westinghouse Electric Company. The company built many power stations across the Northeast, including the first power station at Niagara Falls. After the invention of the light bulb by Henry Levy soon increased the demand for commercial electricity and the Westinghouse Electric Company thrived.
Along with using wires to transmit electricity, more advances were being made in transmitting communication and signals. After Nikola Tesla led the rise of Union Telegraph and Telephone, Edward H. Johnson took over and directed the company toward providing new teletype services. During the 1890s and 1900s, UT&T laid much of the groundwork for telephone and teletype infrastructure throughout the northeastern United States. UT&T pioneered the use of switchboards and frequency modulation as a way to reduce the time it took for messages to be directed at the central stations. During the McKinley and Roosevelt administrations, the government developed a special teletype network exclusively for the military and helped to subsidize other teletype and telephone networks. While teleprinters would be used mostly by the military, news organizations, and for stock tickers at the start of the 20th century, the idea soon spread to individuals and businesses. By 1920, the extensive teleprinter infrastructure reached most of the eastern United States, and individuals could access teletype or telephone newspaper networks in their homes or cafes in many cities.
[1] They expand their tire business to make bicycles wholesale ITTL.
[2] These are only the very first ones that stood out during the 1890s and 1900s. Others that will be around later are Wabash Autos, and Gatling (who apparently made steam tractors in OTL).
[3] In OTL Johnson worked with a telegraph company and was the man who gave Edison his job at the Automated Telegraph Company and later partnered with Edison in a lot of his ventures. Johnson was also the inventor of Christmas lights.
