In 1856, who invented the process whereby 5 tons of steel could be made in 30 minutes instead of in 50lb batches over 10 days and nights, at a tenth of the cost?
History of the steel industry (1850–1970) the carbon and silicon out of the pig iron, releasing heat and causing the temperature of the molten metal to rise. Henry Bessemer demonstrated the process in 1856 and had a successful operation going by 1864. By 1870 Bessemer steel was widely used for ship plate. By the 1850s, the speed, weight, and quantity of railway traffic was limited by the strength of the wrought iron rails in use. The solution was to turn to steel rails, which the Bessemer process made competitive in price. Experience quickly proved steel had much greater strength and durability and could handle the increasingly
History of the iron and steel industry in the United States decline are disputed. Among the many causes alleged have been: dumping of foreign imports below cost, high labor costs, poor management, unfavorable tax policies, and costs of environmental controls. One recent study found that hypotheses based on declining domestic production (such as foreign imports displacing domestic product) cannot explain the magnitude of the decline in employment, as shipments of domestic steel products in 2005 were similar to the level of the early 1960s, whereas employment in the domestic sector had plummeted by approximately 75% over the same time period. Instead, the majority of the losses could be accounted for by