Safety
5 inventions in this category
Fire hydrant
A city becomes less flammable the moment water stops hiding underground. Before the fire hydrant, urban firefighting often relied on a brutal sequence...
Geordie lamp
Methane made Britain's coalfields brighter and deadlier at the same time. Mines needed flame to work, yet the deeper they went the more likely that fl...
Respirator
Miners had always known the dangers lurking in underground air. 'Firedamp'—methane seeping from coal seams—could explode without warning when it reach...
Safety lamp
On May 25, 1812, an explosion at the Felling Colliery near Newcastle killed 92 miners and boys—the worst mining disaster in British history to that po...
Snow goggles
Snow can blind as surely as darkness. In the Arctic spring, sunlight bounces off ice from every angle until eyes water, swell, and stop focusing. Snow...