Page 139 - DK Children's Encyclopedia
P. 139
Flight
In 1903, American brothers
Wilbur and Orville Wright built
a glider with a light engine.
Although Flyer took off for
only 12 seconds over 120 ft
The Wright’s
Flyer, built in (37 m), it was the first-ever
1903. powered flight.
Plastics
Plastics are cheap to make, Antibiotics
easy to shape, and last a long
time. They can be hard, soft, or Infection-fighting
bendy. The first human-made antibiotics battle bacteria inside
plastic was made by Belgium-born the body. They were discovered by
chemist Leo Baekeland in 1905. accident in 1928, when Scottish Antibiotic pills
Now plastics are all around us. scientist Alexander Fleming noticed
bacteria dying around mold in his lab.
The bacteria-killing chemical
penicillin has since saved
many lives.
Thomas Edison (1847–1931) was an
American master of invention, patenting
1,093
ideas in his lifetime, including
batteries and light bulbs.
Computers
Computers are electric machines
that follow instructions. Modern
computers can do billions of
sums every second. We use
them to find, store, and share
The first
electronic computer, information. The idea of a
ENIAC, was huge, computer was invented by
filling a room English engineer Charles
measuring 50 ft Babbage in the 1830s.
(15 m) long.
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