Invention Timeline - James Ferguson, Scotch-American Civil Engineer and Astronomer; Civil Servant
b. August 31, 1797 and d. September 26, 1867
Scotch-American civil engineer and astronomer. He was assistant civil engineer on the Erie Canal in 1817-1819; assistant surveyor on the Boundary Commission under the Treaty of Ghent in 1819-1822; astronomical surveyor in 1822-1827; civil engineer for the State of Pennsylvania in 1827-1832; first assistant of the United States Coast Survey in 1833-1847, and assistant astronomer of the United States Naval Observatory from 1847 until his death. While there he discovered three asteroids.
These earthly godfathers of heaven’s lights,
That gives a name to every fix’d star,
Have no more profit of their shining nights,
Than those who walk, and wot not what they are.
—Love’s Labor Lost: Shakespeare
1761—James Brindley practiced pudding of clay in making the walls of canals water-tight.
1796—Parker patented Parker’s cement, an argillaceous stone, calcined in kilns and afterwards reduced to powder.
1818—Macadam’s improved roads were introduced in London.
1824—Portland cement was first mentioned.
1833-1893, November 25—Johann Bauschinger lived. He was foremost among German engineers in investigating the strength of materials. He was at the head of the mechanical and technical laboratory of the Royal Bavarian Polytechnikum.
