The Tom Miller Dam in Austin, Texas spans the Colorado River generating hydroelectric power for the city. It’s 100 feet tall and just under 1600 feet long, with 9 floodgates. It’s the third dam on this site. The original dam gave way during torrential rains late in the morning of 7 April 1900, killing several people, including two children. The second failed with no loss of life. So far, so good with this third structure.
Archive for History of Science
In the days before adding machines and graphing calculators, Hoy D. Orton (1842-1877) was himself a lightning calculator. He gave demonstrations and lectures, dazzling all with his ability to add long columns of numbers and compute interest – simple and compounded – quickly, accurately, and in his head. The Times-Picayune proclaimed that Orton’s free lecture should be “attended by all who are interested in the mysteries and wonders of mathematics” (19 Jan. 1870).