We owe a majuscule debt to our veterans for their service in protect our land , but we owe them for our smartphones too .
The US armed force have stormed heater - riddled beach and kept the peace in hostile territory , but in doing so they unknowingly Beta tested slews of engineering science that end up switch how we endure , think , and interact in ways they could n’t have imagined . give thanks you for my freedom — and my gadgets ! [ Flickr ]
commander in the field have always read the tactical reward of an elevated post , but the whole plot changed when the Union Balloon Corps hit the sky during the Civil War . They were n’t the first to vanish balloons , but they did solve a mess of engineering problem — sour out using coal gas was n’t the best idea . It also turns out that balloons were n’t corking for scrap . But eyes in the sky during football games ? Righteous .
When you search at these one-time proto - wireless phones used during WWII , it produce you feel kind of stupid for arguing about the weight of the iPhone 4S vs. the Samsung Galaxy S II . The Motorola SCR300 pack FM portable two - means radio consider 36 pounds—164 times more than the Motorola Droid Razr . I get wind reception was a cunt . [ Technology ReviewandIllinois Engineering Hall of Fame ]
So we all screw that the GPS in our smartphones relies on a constellation of communications satellites that are shot into the sky by the government , right ? The government drive to launch navigation satellites for military enjoyment dates to the 1960 ’s , but the the first satellite of what would become our Global Positioning System was establish in 1973 . It was used by soldiers in the field almost at once . [ GPS.Gov ]
Think what you will of association football moms in SUVs , but the original gas - guzzle fauna is a classic in motor vehicle chronicle . At the beginning of WWII the Army only had huge 4×4 truck , but it want something easy , faster , and well-fixed to handle for reconnaissance . The result was the sporty Ford GP . [ Flickr ]
So all the nerveless kids own a Leatherman these days — they are American after all — but everybody knows the multi - tool was first make by the company that would become Victorinox in the 1890 ’s . Other tool cropped up along the agency , but the iconic primogenitor that brought them into our common vocabulary was the Swiss Army Knife — a name coined by American soldiers during World War II . [ Flickr ]
you could thank the Navy for the gaga diving helmet in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as well as for the best outing on your Caribbean holiday . The U.S. Navy Mark V Diving Helmet was first made in 1916 and was n’t replaced until 1984 . Even though they look more like steampunk nontextual matter than tool these days , the helmets have been continuously produced by DESCO since 1942 . [ DESCO ]
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