Hey, cabby! How much to take me to the station?
"Five bucks, sir."
"And how much for my suitcase?"
"No charge for the suitcase, sir."
"Okay. Take the case and I'll walk."
William HoweDied 19 Sep 1852 at age 49 (born 12 May 1803).American inventor who pioneered in the design of truss bridges for the developing railroads. His first bridge (1838-39) was a light, cheap and substantial structure across the Quaboag River at Warren, Mass., for the Boston and Albany Railroad. His truss patent (3 Aug 1840), was for a frame of top and bottom horizontal timber members, with diagonal wooden braces under compression, tied by vertical wrought-iron rods under tension. By 1842, he had spanned the Connecticut River with a truss bridge. In 1846, he patented a stronger truss. Although offered the job of superintendent of the structural work on a railroad in Russia between St. Petersburg and Moscow, he sent a substitute. His invention brought him fame and fortune, but he died at age 49. He was the uncle of Elias Howe who invented a sewing machine.« |
