#granville

[queenie435]

THE WORLD'S FIRST ELECTRIC ROLLER COASTER

Granville T. Woods (April 23, 1856 – January 30, 1910) introduced the “Figure Eight,” the world's first electric roller coaster, in 1892 at Coney Island Amusement Park in New York. Woods patented the invention in 1893, and in 1901, he sold it to General Electric.

Woods was an American inventor who held more than 50 patents in the United States. He was the first African American mechanical and electrical engineer after the Civil War. Self-taught, he concentrated most of his work on trains and streetcars.

In 1884, Woods received his first patent, for a steam boiler furnace, and in 1885, Woods patented an apparatus that was a combination of a telephone and a telegraph. The device, which he called "telegraphony", would allow a telegraph station to send voice and telegraph messages through Morse code over a single wire. He sold the rights to this device to the American Bell Telephone Company.

In 1887, he patented the Synchronous Multiplex Railway Telegraph, which allowed communications between train stations from moving trains by creating a magnetic field around a coiled wire under the train. Woods caught smallpox prior to patenting the technology, and Lucius Phelps patented it in 1884. In 1887, Woods used notes, sketches, and a working model of the invention to secure the patent. The invention was so successful that Woods began the Woods Electric Company in Cincinnati, Ohio, to market and sell his patents. However, the company quickly became devoted to invention creation until it was dissolved in 1893.

Woods often had difficulties in enjoying his success as other inventors made claims to his devices. Thomas Edison later filed a claim to the ownership of this patent, stating that he had first created a similar telegraph and that he was entitled to the patent for the device. Woods was twice successful in defending himself, proving that there were no other devices upon which he could have depended or relied upon to make his device. After Thomas Edison's second defeat, he decided to offer Granville Woods a position with the Edison Company, but Woods declined.

In 1888, Woods manufactured a system of overhead electric conducting lines for railroads modeled after the system pioneered by Charles van Depoele, a famed inventor who had by then installed his electric railway system in thirteen United States cities.

Following the Great Blizzard of 1888, New York City Mayor Hugh J. Grant declared that all wires, many of which powered the above-ground rail system, had to be removed and buried, emphasizing the need for an underground system. Woods's patent built upon previous third rail systems, which were used for light rails, and increased the power for use on underground trains. His system relied on wire brushes to make connections with metallic terminal heads without exposing wires by installing electrical contactor rails. Once the train car had passed over, the wires were no longer live, reducing the risk of injury. It was successfully tested in February 1892 in Coney Island on the Figure Eight Roller Coaster.

In 1896, Woods created a system for controlling electrical lights in theaters, known as the "safety dimmer", which was economical, safe, and efficient, saving 40% of electricity use.

Woods is also sometimes credited with the invention of the air brake for trains in 1904; however, George Westinghouse patented the air brake almost 40 years prior, making Woods's contribution an improvement to the invention.

Woods died of a cerebral hemorrhage at Harlem Hospital in New York City on January 30, 1910, having sold a number of his devices to such companies as Westinghouse, General Electric, and American Engineering. Until 1975, his resting place was an unmarked grave, but historian M.A. Harris helped raise funds, persuading several of the corporations that used Woods's inventions to donate money to purchase a headstone. It was erected at St. Michael's Cemetery in Elmhurst, Queens.

LEGACY

▪Baltimore City Community College established the Granville T. Woods scholarship in memory of the inventor.

▪In 2004, the New York City Transit Authority organized an exhibition on Woods that utilized bus and train depots and an issue of four million MetroCards commemorating the inventor's achievements in pioneering the third rail.

▪In 2006, Woods was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

▪In April 2008, the corner of Stillwell and Mermaid Avenues in Coney Island was named Granville T. Woods Way.

#black history #black history month #roller coaster #granville #Granville T Woods #1910s #circa 1885 #1884

[javiroa226]

#black and white photography #monocrome #seascape #sea of clouds #Granville #Basse-Normandie #France #Javi Roa

[damn-these-eyes]

#street photography #neon #vancouver #granville #signs #orpheum theatre #reflections #architecture

[unteriors]

Irving Avenue, Granville, New York.

#Granville #New York

[chicinsilk]

Christian Dior Haute Couture Collection Spring/Summer 1955.

Dorian Leigh wears “Musique de Fête” Marie-Antoinette blue organdy evening dress, decorated with pink flowers at the waist.

Christian Dior Collection Haute Couture Printemps/Été 1955. Dorian Leigh porte "Musique de Fête" robe du soir en organdi bleu Marie-Antoinette, ornée de fleurs roses à la taille.

Photo Guy Arsac

#haute couture #christian dior #french designer #french style #fashion 50s #printemps/été #spring/summer #1955 #musique de fête #dorian leigh #guy arsac #evening gown #robe du soir #marie antoinette #organdy #organdi #musée christian dior #granville #dior en roses #ligne a

[0pooleart]

The Boogeyman but he's British

See his drawing timelapse: https://youtu.be/jUhz9vFOTvQ

#granville #oc #original character #character design #boogeyman #shadow #monster design #art #artists on tumblr

[dutchjan]

April 07, 2024

#granville #musée dior #christian dior #dior #museum #tentoonstelling #couturier visionnaire #roze

[postcard-from-the-past]

Casino of Granville, Normandy region of France

French vintage postcard

#postkaart #carte postale #french #briefkaart #old #sepia #france #postkarte #vintage #postal #photography #ephemera #normandy #postcard #casino #tarjeta #photo #ansichtskarte #granville #region #historic

[bigglesworld]

Granville Brothers Gee Bee Racer ‘Betty Paige’ with Rocketeer!

#Granville #Brothers #Gee Bee #Betty Paige #Rocketeer #racing aircraft

[haveyoubeentothiscity]

Population: 5,946

#city poll #granville #ohio #united states #north america #submitted

[ulyssephoto]

#photography #granville #harbour

[glassleafhouse]

#arcteryx #granville #arcteryxgranville #outdoors #gear #gearism #techgear #gearwhore #carry #carryology

[javiroa226]

#black and white photography #monocrome #architecture #seascape #sea of clouds #Cabane Vauban #Granville #Basse-Normandie #France #Javi Roa

[rickchung]

The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe x Pacific Theatre x South Granville. (via Emily Cooper)

Playwright Ron Reed's well-loved minimalist interpretation of C.S. Lewis' 1950 magical portal fantasy tale of Narnia efficiently runs through its layered source material in an impressively stripped-down two-hander with only a pair of actors portraying all the roles in an alleyway theatre setup. There's no shortage of magic or whimsy as all the stage elements come together to transport us away into a mythical world of childlike wonderment reflecting its traditional biblical Christian ideals.

Cast: John Voth as Peter and Rebecca DeBoer as Lucy.

Running live on stage until Dec. 23.

#reviews #yvr #features #media #live theatre #live theater #theatre #theater #cs lewis #the lion the witch and the wardrobe #narnia #chronicles of narnia #the chronicles of narnia #granville #south granville #granville street #vancouver #vancity #british columbia #lower mainland

[chicinsilk]

Christian Dior Haute Couture Collection Spring/Summer 1951. Catherine wears the “Tableau Final” grand gala dress. Black and white photo/colorized by Willy Maywald.

Christian Dior Collection Haute Couture Printemps/Été 1951. Catherine porte la robe de grand gala "Tableau Final". Photo noir et blanc/colorisée par Willy Maywald.

#haute couture #christian dior #french designer #french style #fashion 50s #1951 #spring/summer #printemps/été #willy maywald #catherine #tableau final #gala dress #robe de gala #dior en roses #granville #musée christian dior #ligne naturelle

[0pooleart]

It's not Halloween unless you try to carve your OC's face into a pumpkin

#oc #original character #character design #jack o lantern #Halloween #Granville