Chapter 9
●
139
Airports and
Automobiles
P
ennsylvania took an active part
in the industrial development of
the automobiles and airplanes. The
improved methods for making steel and
aluminum greatly helped the births of the
automobile
and
airplane
industries.
One other invention was needed before
these two industries could develop. That
invention occurred in Germany (1876)
when the
gasoline engine
was developed.
However, it took about 20 years before it
began to replace steam as a means of
moving people and goods.
Once the gasoline engine was applied to
wings, the airline industry “took off!”
Airplanes need airports in which to land.
Companies were formed to start airlines
and to build airports. Air travel became
quite popular after the 1920s, and
developed very rapidly after 1945.
Today,
Philadelphia
and
Pittsburgh
have modern airports. Along with four
other cities, these airports handle flights
from our nation and all over the world.
Pennsylvania nowhas over 800 airports for
local travel. Our state has the fourth
greatest number of airports in the nation.
Our airline industry moves huge amounts
of people, mail, and goods throughout the
state, country, andworld.
Now, let us look at the car, or automobile,
industry. Perhaps more than any other
invention, the gasoline engine had a huge
influence on the way people lived and
workedduring the 1900s. The steam engine
was the “workhorse” of the 1800s, but the
gasoline engine became the workhorse of
the 1900s. Inventors had been trying for
years to place a gas engine on a wheeled
buggy or carriage. In 1893,
Charles
Dureya
was successful inmaking the first
practical car in the United States. Along
with his brother, they formed a company
to build cars. Later, they moved their
company to
Reading
, Pennsylvania. Then,
the automobile was thought to be for the
rich, and it was!
The gasoline engine
had
competition
. Com-
petition is where two or
more businesses try to get
people to buy their
product. Remember how
the steam engine was
used to move ships and
railroads during the
1800s. The thinking was
This Stanley Steamer
was powered by a
steam engine.
