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Colt

Nov 26, 2025

History summary of lessons 56-59

This week I learned about four inventions. They are the rotary printing press, kerosene, antiseptics and the gas mask. These inventions were created around the 1840s, and the funniest part of it is that three of the inventions were created in the same year, 1847. 

The rotary printing press was a more efficient Gluten Burg printing press, that would stamp ink into the paper and do it again in a rotation motion. It was invented by Richard Hoe in 1843. Hoe was born in 1812 in New York. His father died and Hoe inherited his printing press company. Hoe knew that he must upgrade it, because it took one man 12hrs. to finish one page! Hoe proceeded to invent the rotary printing press. Although his story was short, he paved way to the modern printer today.

Kerosene is a thicker more dense gasoline, used in jets and some cars. It was invented by Abraham Pineo Gesner in 1846.  Abraham was born in 1797 in Canada. When he was a older he moved to England to become a doctor. He became interested in geology after meeting  Charles Lyell. He went back to Canada to study geology and medicine. He then invented kerosene. Kerosene was very vital and good thing for the jet industry, and it helped in cold wether. 

antiseptics, are chemicals used to kill germs. It was invented by Ignaz Semmelweis in 1847. Semmelweis was born in 1818, and in his 20s, he went into obstetrics. He worked for Vienna General Hospital. He decided to fix the problem of the two clinics. He started observing and recording the surgeries, and had a Eureka moment after observing his friends death, due to severe bacterial infection. He then proceeded to invent antiseptics. It really lowered the rate of death, and helped with scare free surgeries. 

The gas mask is a type of mask that filters out the bad gas from the air, and makes it so you can breathe. It was invented by Lewis P Haslett in 1847. We do not know when he was born, but my research suggests he was born in Kentucky. He grew up and invented the gas mask for coal miners because they had to breathe in toxic coal dust. It’s actually used in a lot of different things, like fire fighting, mining, and to train the military.

Out of all of these inventions, the gas mask is the coolest to me. It’s because I like the purpose they serve. Each of these inventions came from long ago, where people didn’t have much, so lets give thanks to God for getting us here today.