Boss: "Working hard here, Jimmy?"
Jimmy: "Ever since I heard you coming down the stairs, boss!"
DirigibleIn 1852, a new invention, the dirigible - a semi-rigid airship - was demonstrated in a flight from Paris to Trappe. Henri Giffard (1825-82) installed a small (3 h.p.) steam engine of his own design in the gondola of a 147-foot-long spindle shaped coal-gas balloon. This engine turned a 11 ft propeller producing a speed of 5 mph against the wind over a distance of 17 mile on a 3 hour trip. This was the first powered and controlled flight ever achieved. (In 1858 he patented a steam injector which became widely used in locomotives, making him rich. Nevertheless, Giffard was depressive and died by suicide in 1882, but left his fortune for humanitarian and scientific purposes.) |
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