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News - Once upon a time... the industry

24 September 1888: the fabulous odyssey of the Gymnote

This week, we tell you the story of the first operational electrically-powered missile-launching submarine, launched on this date. A major world first for which France can claim credit – jointly with Spain which launched a comparable vessel at the same time.   1 - A STORY OF MEN Behind the Gymnote was a man, Admiral Théophile Aube, leader of the “Young School”. This iconic current of French naval thinking at the end of the 19th century was based on a break with

29 August 1885: Gottlieb Daimler patents the first motorcycle

This week, we tell you about the origins of a means of transport which was as revolutionary as its inventor.   THE MONTAIGNE AND LA BOÉTIE OF THE MOTOR INDUSTRY When Gottlieb Daimler was born on the 17th of March 1834 in Schorndorf, 20 miles from Stuttgart, if his pastry chef father had been told he was going to become a legend of industry, the new “sugar daddy” would have had eyes as wide as saucers. However, contrary to the cookie cutter cliché that children

19 August 1913: Adolphe Pégoud takes the leap

What happened this week in the History of Industry? It is to answer this question that Global Industrie invites you to rediscover, every week, a key event which occurred around this time… in another age. Let’s look back more than a century to the human (and industrial) feat accomplished by a somewhat forgotten pioneer of aviation who, on the 19th of August 1913, became the first man to parachute out of a plane… which he was flying.   LOOKING FOR ADVENTURE Although

13 August 1826: life and death of René Laennec, inventor of the stethoscope

What happened this week in the History of Industry? It is to answer this question that Global Industrie invites you to rediscover, every week, a key event which occurred around this time… in another age. Let’s look back today at the life – and premature death, on the 13th of August 1826 – of a French doctor who revolutionized medicine and literally breathed new life into his profession.   A MAN WITH BOTH PROFESSIONAL AND HUMAN QUALITIES René Laennec –

5 August 1914: the first electric traffic light is installed in Cleveland

What happened this week in the History of Industry? It is to answer this question that Global Industrie invites you to rediscover, every week, a key event which occurred around this time… in another age. This week, we take you on "road trip" 107 years back in time to the heart of the United States, on the 5th of August 1914 in Cleveland, Ohio, where the world’s first electric traffic lights were installed. At least officially…   A FIRST ATTEMPT WHICH MISFIRED The

28 July 1945: the Empire State Building and the B-25 accident

What happened this week in the History of Industry? It is to answer this question that Global Industrie invites you to rediscover, every week, a key event which occurred around this time… in another age. This week, let’s discover a little-known episode in the history of one of the most famous buildings in the world, an accident which unfortunately foreshadows the fateful events of September 11, 2001.    AN ICONIC WORLD WAR II AIRCRAFT Although its name probably means

21 July 1969: the man who walked on the Moon

What happened this week in the History of Industry? It is to answer this question that Global Industrie invites you to rediscover, every week, a key event which occurred around this time… in another age. Hergé had imagined it twenty years earlier, and Neil Armstrong did it on the 21st of July 1969: a man walked for the first time on the Moon! Although the story of this event is famous, we are less familiar with its very quiet main protagonist. For good reason… We look back on

15 July 1840: Jean-Baptiste Godin, a red-hot industrialist

This week, we present a close-up of the life and work of an exceptional industrialist and exceptional man. A story which doesn’t just warm the heart…    A HEAVY METAL FAMILY Jean-Baptiste André Godin was born on the 26th of January 1817 in Esquéhéries in Aisne. While the north of France is famous for its mines, this son of Picardy was born even more particularly under the sign of metalwork, his father being a locksmith. However, if there was a

9 July 1962: Starfish Prime, Atomic Star Wars!

What happened this week in the History of Industry? It is to answer this question that we invite you to rediscover, every week, a historical event which occurred around this time… in another age.  Today, let’s go back nearly sixty years to take a look at a nuclear test carried out under Kennedy’s presidency, a relatively little-known event but one which had consequences worthy of a (bad) science fiction movie.     THE ATOLL AND THE ATOM  The image

1st of July 1899: Fiat hits the road in Turin

What happened this week in the History of Industry? It is to answer this question that we invite you to rediscover, every week, a historical event which occurred around this time… in another age. This week, let’s look back to the beginnings of a legendary success story with the creation of a future world giant of the car industry: the Fiat group.   HISTORY GETS UNDERWAY There was nothing about the young Giovanni Agnelli – who was only 32 on the 1st of July 1899 –

27 June 1857: Ferdinand Carré and the refrigerator

What happened this week in the History of Industry? It is to answer this question that we invite you to rediscover, every week, a historical event which occurred around this time… in another age. Keen to bring you a bit of coolness in this beautiful month of June, we tell you today about the creation of one the earliest refrigerators, the patent for which was filed by a Frenchman exactly 164 years ago.   PICARDY FREEZE-OUT Ferdinand Carré was a die-hard Picard. Born in Moislains

11 juin 1959 : la grande aventure de l'hovercraft