Science, technology, and innovations

by LeCount, Charles. One hundred fifty years ago, nearly all North Carolinians made their living by farming. And even the majority of those who did not actually farm were still tied to the state’s agricultural economy: [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Hill, Michael. Air-conditioning greatly changed the nature of life in North Carolina and the rest of the South. Willis H. Carrier, who had created an experimental cooling system in New York in 1902, installed the [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Parramore, Thomas C. At 10:35 a.m. on 17 Dec. 1903, the first powered flight of an airplane was made from the base of Kill Devil Hill, a sand dune four miles south of the village of Kitty Hawk on the Outer Banks. The [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Freeman, Joan E., Davis, R. P. Stephen, Jr., Lawrence, Richard W. Archaeology by Joan E. Freeman and R. P. Stephen Davis Jr., 2006. Additional research provided by Richard W. Lawrence. See also: American Indians; Archaeology of Early NC; Cherokee [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Freeman, Joan E., Davis, R. P. Stephen, Jr., Lawrence, Richard W. Archaeology by Joan E. Freeman and R. P. Stephen Davis Jr., 2006. Additional research provided by Richard W. Lawrence. Part 1: Archaeological Research in the Coastal Plain; Part 2: [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Freeman, Joan E., Davis, R. P. Stephen, Jr., Lawrence, Richard W. Archaeology by Joan E. Freeman and R. P. Stephen Davis Jr., 2006. Additional research provided by Richard W. Lawrence. Part 1: Archaeological Research in the Coastal Plain; Part 2: [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Ireland, Robert E. Automobiles by Robert E. Ireland, 2006 See also: Highways; Roads; Trucks and Trucking, Thomas Built Buses, Inc., Automobiles for K-8 Students Automobiles revolutionized the American [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Fick, Virginia Gunn. Beauty shops, or beauty parlors, have had a notable impact on the lives of North Carolina women since the early twentieth century. Cosmetologists delivered more than better looks; they became [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Vocci, Robert Blair. North Carolina is home to one of the most dynamic biotechnology industries in the United States. In the early 2000s, 10 percent of all biotechnology firms were based in the state, and North Carolina [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by . The North Carolina Award, the state's highest civilian honor, was established by the General Assembly in 1961 and the first award-winners were honored in 1964. Artist Romare Bearden was the first [...] (from NC Office of Archives and History.)

by Shore, Dee. Dr. Mike Boyette remembers the kinds of problems that kept his tobacco-farming father up at night—worries ranging from storms and drought to insects and diseases. What he did not imagine as a child, [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Moore, Cecelia. Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF) is an independent private foundation whose mission is to advance the medical sciences by supporting research and other scientific and educational activities. It was [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Carnes-McNaughton, Linda F. Cisterns, large receptacles built for the storage of water, were used in North Carolina for potables or fire protection in all types of urban and rural buildings prior to the advent of modern [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Nash, Jaquelin Drane. On 9 July 1933 the Tarboro Town Council voted to ask Frick and Company of Waynesboro, Pa., to design and install a refrigerating unit for its new municipal swimming pool. After operating for only [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Carpenter, Joanne G. Delco lights, invented in 1912 by C. F. Kettering in Kokomo, Ind., were used by many North Carolinians before the federal government's efforts to electrify the rural South during the Great [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Hill, Michael. Dixie Dynamo, the nickname given North Carolina in a 1962 article in National Geographic magazine, was widely adopted by the state's political leaders, businesspeople, and journalists as a way of [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Jones, Lu Ann. Electricity's Impact on Rural Life "The Day the Lights Came on" by Lu Ann Jones Reprinted with permission from the Tar Heel Junior Historian. Spring 1985. Tar Heel Junior Historian [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Hall, Lisa Coston. Gertrude Elion and Dr. George Hitchings By Lisa Coston Hall Reprinted with permission from The Tar Heel Junior Historian, Fall 2006. Tar Heel Junior Historian Association, NC Museum of [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Midgette, Nancy Smith. The Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society, founded in Chapel Hill in 1883 by Francis Preston Venable and other University of North Carolina scientists, served as a forerunner of the modern North [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williams, Wiley J. "Experimental Railroad" usually refers to the mile-and-a-quarter road built by the Experimental Railroad Company of Raleigh in 1832-33 (at a cost of $2,700) to allow horse-drawn cars to transport [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Anderson, Jean B. By Elizabeth A. Fenn, Peter H. Wood, Harry L. Watson, Thomas H. Clayton, Sydney Nathans, Thomas C. Parramore, and Jean B. Anderson; Maps by Mark Anderson Moore. Edited by Joe A. Mobley. [...] (from The Way We Lived in North Carolina, NC Office of Archives and History and UNC Press.)

by Mitchell, Thornton W. Reginald Aubrey Fessenden, physicist and inventor, was born in East Bolton, Quebec, Canada, the son of the Reverend Elisha Joseph and Clementina Trenholme Fessenden. When Fessenden was nine, the [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Foard, John Hanby, Jr. John Hanby Foard, textile executive, manufacturer, museum director, and Civil War historian, was born in Wilmington, the fourth child of Charles Deems (1863–1951) and Florence Hanby (1875–1932) [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Parramore, Thomas C. Inventor Richard Jordan Gatling was born in Hertford County in September 1818. Issued his first patent in 1844 for a rice-seed planter, he soon moved to St. Louis, Mo., and successfully marketed the [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Mewborn, Suzanne. When was aspirin invented? The father of modern medicine, Hippocrates, working between 460 and 377 BC, left records of pain-relief treatments that included the use of powder made from the bark and [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Rudersdorf, Amy, Agan, Kelly. History of the North Carolina Awards by Amy Rudersdorf, N.C. Government & Heritage Library, 2012; Kelly Agan, N.C. Government & Heritage Library, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, [...] (from NCpedia.)

by Sink, M. Jewell. William Rainey Holt, physician, public servant, and planter-enslaver, was born in Alamance County, the oldest son of Michael and Rachel Rainey Holt, and the grandson of Captain Michael and Jean [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williams, Wiley J., Moore, Mark Anderson. North Carolina is home to one of the world's most vibrant information technology (IT) industries, which generally includes businesses and organizations engaged in the electronic storage, [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Fulghum, R. Neil. North Carolinians have produced thousands of inventions-new machines, unique processes, and other original products-in home workshops, factories, and scientific laboratories and on farms. Since 1790 [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Davis, Lenwood. Many people are unaware of the numerous inventions and scientific breakthroughs that have happened in North Carolina. They probably have heard of Wilbur and Orville Wright and the first sustained, [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Bishop, RoAnn. Tom Haywood, of Croatan, knew that feeling and figured other folks might sometimes feel that way, too. So during the summer of 1937, he and local handyman Wilber Herring built a contraption that [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Stauter, Mark C. Fritz Wolfgang London, physicist and theoretical chemist, was born in Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland), the son of Franz and Luise Hamburger London. In 1904 his father, a professor of [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Mcarver, Charles H., Jr. Jacob Lott Ludlow, engineer, was born in Spring Lake, N.J., the son of Samuel and Nancy Johnson Ludlow. He completed his education at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa., where he received a degree in [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Bullock, Walter Richard, Jr. James Lytch, inventor, was the son of Archibald and Flora McEachin Lytch. His mother was the daughter of John McEachin (b. 1740) and his wife Mary Currie (b. 1750). John McEachin emigrated from [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Helms, J. Douglas. Priestly H. Mangum, a Wake County farmer, is generally acknowledged as the inventor of the Mangum terrace, a system of hillside ridges used to increase cultivatable land, conserve soil moisture, and [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Powell, William S., Stephenson, Richard A. The story of cartography, or mapmaking, in the North Carolina region may have begun with the Vinland map of 1440. Although its authenticity has been questioned, the map gives ample evidence, as [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Mewborn, Suzanne. Elisha Mitchell, one of North Carolina’s great scholars, observed that a mountain in the Black Mountain Range in western North Carolina seemed higher than the state’s Grandfather Mountain and higher [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Butler, Lindley S. Enoch William Moore, businessman and inventor, was born in Rockingham County, the son of James Wright and his second wife, Emily Branson Moore. James W. Moore's first wife was Marinda Branson, who in [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Bursey, Maurice M. Murphy, George Moseley by Maurice M. Bursey, 1991 1 June 1903–7 Dec. 1968 George Moseley Murphy, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Pishney, Jonathan, Martin, Margaret. The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences has inspired wonder for generations. Stories are still told about George, the fifteen-foot Burmese python that was a museum fixture and favorite for many [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Hill, Michael. North Carolina's NASA Tracking Station: Rosman Satellite Tracking and Data Acquisition Facility by Michael Hill Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and History, [...] (from Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and History.)

by Leuchtenburg, William E. In September 1978, the National Humanities Center at Research Triangle Park admitted its first class of fellows. In keeping with its stated purpose-"to encourage scholarship in the humanities and to [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Norris, Thomas L., Jr. Nickels for Know-How was the title of a program created following World War II to support scientific research to improve crop production and farming methods. Established by legislative action in [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Midgette, Nancy Smith. The North Carolina Academy of Science is a significant part of the professional lives of the state's scientists. Organized in 1902, the academy sought to fill the need for collegiality among [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by White, Peter S. The North Carolina Botanical Garden, a unit of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is a center for the study, display, interpretation, and conservation of plants and the natural areas of [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Bethea, Martha. The North Carolina Museum of Life and Science in Durham was founded in 1946 as the Children's Nature Museum. The original facility was a small trailside nature center adjacent to Northgate Park (then [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Sorrell, Mickey Jo.   North Carolina Natural Heritage Program by Mickey Jo Sorrell, 2014. North Carolina’s Natural Heritage Program (NCNHP) was established in 1976, and is a unit of the Office of Land [...] (from NC Natural Heritage Program, NC Dept. of Environment & Natural Resources.)

by Troxler, George W. North Carolina Rural Electrification Authority by George W. Troxler, 2006 See also: Electricity's Impact on Rural Life The North Carolina Rural Electrification [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stevenson, Alesia K. The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics opened in Durham in 1980. Governor Terry Sanford had first proposed the concept of a public residential science and mathematics school in the [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Scott, Ralph. North Carolina Shipbuilding Company "Wilmington Helps Weld an Allied Victory" by Ralph Scott Reprinted with permission from the Tar Heel Junior Historian. Spring 2008. Tar Heel Junior [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Murray, Elizabeth D. R. The North-Carolina Museum was one of the names associated with a short-lived effort in Raleigh in the 1810s to gather and display an assemblage of natural and manufactured objects, curiosities, and [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Murray, Raymond L. Nuclear energy first came to North Carolina in 1950 with the construction of a reactor for training and research at North Carolina State College (now North Carolina State University) in Raleigh. [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Bursey, Maurice M. Mary Maria Petty, chemist and educator, was the pioneer woman chemist in North Carolina. Born in the Quaker community of Bush Hill (since 1887, Archdale), she was the third of seven children of [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Trelease, Allen W. Piedmont Urban Crescent by Allen W. Trelease, 2006 See also: Research Triangle Park The Piedmont Urban Crescent is a semicircular band of cities and towns extending from Raleigh to [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Troxler, George W. Powell, Thomas Edward, Jr. by George W. Troxler, 1994 6 July 1899–3 Dec. 1987 Thomas Edward Powell, Jr., founder of the Carolina [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williams, Wiley J., McFee, Philip. Part 1: North Carolina's First Radio Stations, Part 2: Radio Enters Its "Golden Age" in North Carolina, Part 3: National Networks and Popular Local Shows and Personalities, Part 4: Radio Broadcasting [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Copeland, J. Isaac. Arthur Franklin Raper, social science analyst, was born in Davidson County, near Lexington, the third of eight children of William Franklin (Frank) and Julia S. Crouse Raper. Frank Raper was a farmer [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Copeland, J. Isaac. John Robert Raper, botanist of international note, was born in Davidson County, near the hamlet of Welcome. He was the youngest of eight children—seven sons and one daughter—of William Franklin [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Bursey, Maurice M. Charles Norwood Reilley, chemist and educator, was one of the world's guiding lights of the renaissance in analytic chemistry after World War II and only the second analytic chemist in modern times [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williams, Wiley J. Research Triangle Park, the largest planned research center in the United States, was created in 1959 through the efforts of Governor Luther Hodges and hundreds of scientists, politicians, and [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Bursey, Maurice M. Oscar Knefler Rice, chemist and educator, was cited in an honorary Sc.D. degree, awarded posthumously by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill a few days after his death, as "very likely [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Hinds-Brown, Lindsey. Lunsford Richardson II Inventor of Vicks VapoRub by Lindsey Hinds-­Brown Reprinted with permission from the Tar Heel Junior Historian, Fall 2006; Revised October, 2022. Tar Heel Junior [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Roberts, B. W. C. Riddick, Thomas Moore by B. W. C. Roberts, 1994 3 Jan. 1907–26 May 1975 Thomas Moore Riddick, consulting engineer and chemist, was born in Woodville, Perquimans County, the son of Dr. Thomas [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Powell, William S. Parker David Robbins, soldier, legislator, and inventor, was born in Bertie County, the son of John A. Robbins; his mother's name is unknown. A mulatto with Chowan Indian ancestors, Robbins was [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Dough, Wynne. Rocketry experiments were conducted in two locations along the North Carolina coast from the 1940s to the 1970s. After World War II, the U.S. Navy leased much of Topsail Island (Pender County) as a [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stevenson, George, Jr. Ropewalks were sites where hemp fiber was spun into yarn and then twine, cord, and rope of various dimensions. The name derived from the fact that production required the artisan, called the spinner, [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Hunt, James L. Although electric generation began in North Carolina in the 1880s, for most of the next 50 years electric service was primarily available only in the state's cities and towns. Extension to rural [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Sherwood, Mary Bates. Francis Webber Sherwood, agricultural scientist and college professor, was born in Raleigh, the son of Francis Webber and Mary Bates Sherwood. His ancestors can be traced to the Mayflower (John [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Powell, William S. Shorthand by William S. Powell, 2006 Shorthand was used as a means of rapid writing in ancient Greece, but a scheme akin to the modern form was developed in England beginning in the [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Kirkman, Stacy N. Willis Howard Slane, Jr., aviator and businessman, was born in High Point, the eldest son of Willis Howard and Meredith Clark Slane. His primary education included studies at Raymond Riredon School [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Sumner, Jim L. Barely a half century after the Wright brothers’ first flight, people were flying in outer space. Numerous North Carolinians have played important roles in this ongoing effort to explore the “final [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Williams, Wiley J. Streetcars by Wiley J. Williams, 2006 Streetcars, also known as street railways or trolley cars, began operating in Wilmington and Raleigh in 1887. Initially drawn by horses, they were soon [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Southern, David. From colonial times through the twentieth century, land surveying in North Carolina was an imperfect art at best, using old measurements such as furlongs, chains, and rods (or perches or poles) and [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by . Regenerative agriculture is a sustainable, multi-pronged approach to farming designed to reverse climate change. It first emerged as a movement in the Midwest in the 1990s as the need to return to [...] (from NCpedia.)

by Powell, William S. The telegraph was an electronic means for the rapid and reliable transmission of coded information over extended distances. In time it was also perfected to interpret and print the electronic symbols [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Horton, Clarence E., Jr. Telephones by Clarence E. Horton Jr., 2006 Telephones began to appear in North Carolina beginning in 1879, three years after Alexander Graham Bell's new invention had first been introduced [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by . What do you think are the top inventions of all time?  What technologies or inventions are the most important for your daily lives? Many people would say that the automobile is one of the greatest [...] (from NCpedia K-8 Collection.)

by Agan, Kelly. On July 11, 1979, the town of Boone celebrated the dedication of what was then hailed as the world’s largest windmill. The windmill, perched atop Howard’s Knob, had been installed as part of a [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Roberts, Ben. Before the Civil War, North Carolina was mostly an agricultural society with a large portion of its population living and working on farms. One of the main crops grown was tobacco, which was shipped [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Lawrimore, Erin. Tucker, Virginia Layden (Ginna) Originally published as "Trailblazing 'Human Computer' Virginia Tucker (class of 1930)" by Erin Lawrimore, 2015 Reprinted with permission. Virginia Layden [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Bowman, Charles H., Jr. Leonard Tufts, resort developer and geneticist, was born in Medford, Mass., the son of James Walker and Mary Emma Clough Tufts. He attended the Medford public schools until the age of fifteen, when [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stokes, Durward T. John William Turrentine, chemist, was born in Company Shops (later renamed Burlington), the son of William Holt and Ella Anvil Rea Turrentine and a descendant of Alexander Turrentine, a migrant from [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Lewis, Johanna Miller. Waterwheels harnessed the volume, force, and gravity of various bodies of water in North Carolina to provide the leading sourceof natural, inanimate power before the advent of the steam engine and [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Joyner, Whitmel M. The Whammy, the bane of lead-footed North Carolina drivers during the 1950s and 1960s, was officially a "Speed Watch," the first mechanical device used by North Carolina authorities to detect vehicle [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Edmonds, Marion M. John Williams, planter, judge, land speculator, and legislator, was born in Hanover County, Va., the son of John and Sarah Henderson Williams, both from long-established Virginia families. Around [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Dough, Wynne. Wireless experiments that Reginald Aubrey Fessenden (1866-1932) conducted in North Carolina for the U.S. Weather Bureau from January 1901 to August 1902 led to important advances in radiotelegraphy [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Troxler, George W. WRIGHT, ORVILLE by George W. Troxler, 1996 19 Aug. 1871–30 Jan. 1948 See also:  Wright, Wilbur (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography); Wright Brothers in North Carolina [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Troxler, George W. Wright, Wilbur by George W. Troxler, 1996 16 Apr. 1867–30 May 1912 See also:  Wright, Orville (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography); Wright Brothers in North Carolina (from Tar [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Horton, Clarence E., Jr. X-Ray Experiments by Clarence E. Horton Jr., 2006 See also: X-Rays for K-8 students On 8 Nov. 1895 Professor Wilhelm [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stevenson, George, Jr. The Indonesian volcano Tambora catastrophically erupted in the late spring of 1815, casting well over a million tons of dust into the upper atmosphere. These particles caused not only spectacular [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)