Shocking Friday 13th Facts!
Watch out! It’s Friday the 13th. Feeling superstitious? Unlucky? If you see a black cat today, break a mirror, or get stuck in an elevator, whether you believe in the myth surrounding the day or you don’t, here are some fun, and quite shocking Friday the 13th facts.
Thomas Edison’s first successful lightbulb burned for 13 hours.
In October of 1879, Thomas Edison successfully tested a filament that burned for 13 hours! In 1882, Edison helped form the Edison Electric Illuminating Company of New York, which brought electric light to parts of Manhattan. Only in 1925, did half of all the homes in the U.S. have electric power.
The first electric refrigerator for domestic use was invented in 1913.
Fred Wolf invented the first domestic electric refrigerator. It used condensation equipment that was housed in the home’s basement. By 1920, only a few thousand homes had refrigerators, which cost about $1,000 each!
It took John Watt’s 13 years to complete the first working steam engine.
The Scottish engineer, and instrument maker modified the Newcomen steam engine to increase its efficiency. He invented numerous techniques to improve the working of steam engine and patented them. This included rotary motion, double acting engine, parallel motion and invention of pressure gauge.
In 1882, Edward H. Johnson used 80 small red, white and blue electric bulbs to light the first known Christmas tree.
Thirteen years later in 1895, President Grover Cleveland ordered the family’s White House tree festooned with these multicolored electric lights. General Electric began selling Christmas-light kits in 1903.