The Westinghouse Time Capsules are two time capsules prepared by the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company (later Westinghouse Electric Corporation). One was made in 1939 and the other in 1965. They are filled with contemporary articles used in the twentieth century way of life in the United States. The items are intended for people of the 7th millennium (~ year 6900 ) to receive for historical significance.
The capsules are specially designed non-corrosive metal tubes 90 inches long and about nine inches in diameter. The tubes were made with electrical properties in mind that enhanced the characteristics of each tube's unique metal chemical make-up. Each was formulated to resist corrosion over time, rather than being allowed to waste away to dust. The capsules were buried fifty feet in the ground at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in New York City and are positioned about ten feet apart.
There were record books about these time capsules given to thousands of libraries, museums, and other depositories worldwide to preserve the knowledge that they exist. Included was the information that they shouldn't be opened before the seventh millennium and where they can be located. Duplicates of the contents of the objects held for these people of the future are currently held at the Heinz History Center.
Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company prepared time capsules for two world's fairs. They are both buried 50 feet below Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, the site of the fairs. Time Capsule I was created for the 1939 New York World's Fair and Time Capsule II was created for the 1964 New York World's Fair. The second capsule is placed ten feet north of the first capsule. The capsules are filled with physical objects of that time period of social and scientific interest. They are to be opened at the same time in the year 6939. [1]
New York publicist George Edward Pendray was editor for Literary Digest when in 1936 he interviewed Thornwell Jacobs, organizer of Oglethorpe University's millennia-spanning time crypt of objects preserved for the people of 8113 AD. He then published an article about this in his October magazine. Westinghouse then took this concept and started developing in 1938 their Time Capsule of Cupaloy for the 1939 New York World's Fair. [2] [3]
The time capsules are bullet-shaped, measure 90 inches (2.3 m) in length, and have an exterior casing of about 8.75 inches (22.2 cm) in diameter. [4] Time Capsule I weighs about 800 pounds (360 kg), while Time Capsule II weighs about 400 pounds (180 kg). [5] Time Capsule I was made of a non-ferrous alloy called Cupaloy, created especially for this project. [6] Designed to resist corrosion for 5,000 years, the alloy was made of 99.4% copper, 0.5% chromium, and 0.1% silver. [7] Westinghouse claims that Cupaloy has the same strength as steel, yet will resist most corrosion over thousands of years because it becomes an anode in electrolytic reactions, receiving deposits instead of wasting away like most iron-bearing metals. [8]
Time Capsule II was made of a stainless steel metal called Kromarc. Westinghouse Research Laboratories determined, with extensive chemical testing, that this new super-stainless steel alloy would resist corrosion, much like the alloy used for Time Capsule I. [9] Kromarc is an alloy of iron, nickel, chromium, manganese, molybdenum, and trace amounts of other elements. [10] The contents of the time capsules were sealed inside an insulated, airtight, glass envelope with an interior diameter of 6.5 inches (17 cm) and a length of about 81 inches (210 cm). [4] The interior of the glass envelope of Capsule I was filled with nitrogen. [4] Capsule II, weighing 300 pounds, was filled with the inert gas argon. [11]
Among the 35 small, everyday items placed inside Time Capsule I were a fountain pen and an alphabet block set. Time Capsule I also contained 75 types of fabrics, metals, and plastics. Modern literature, contemporary art, and news events of the 20th century were recorded on a microfilm "Micro-File" for placement in Time Capsule I; the "Micro-File" holds over ten million words and a thousand pictures, and has a small microscope for viewing. There are also instructions included on how to make both a large microfilm viewer and a motion picture projector for the newsreels.
Also included in the capsule were copies of Life magazine, a kewpie doll, one dollar in change, a pack of Camel cigarettes, a 15-minute RKO Pathe Pictures newsreel, a Lilly Daché hat, and millions of words of text put on microfilm rolls which included a Sears Roebuck catalog, a dictionary, and an almanac. A variety of seeds were placed in the time capsule including wheat, corn, oats, tobacco, cotton, flax, rice, soy beans, alfalfa, sugar beets, carrots, and barley. Organic items (e.g. seeds) were placed in sealed glass vials. [12]
Pendray supervised the items in the capsule that were selected to chronicle 20th-century life in the United States. During packaging of the contents, under the direction of representatives of the United States National Bureau of Standards, each object was examined to determine whether it could be expected to endure 5,000 years. Pendray was sent a letter by anthropologist Clark David Wissler that he felt most things were well represented in a draft list of the items going into the time capsule, except perhaps that of a sewing machine and noteworthy ceremonies (i.e. religious, weddings). Rose Arnold Powell, known for attempting to get Susan B. Anthony represented on Mount Rushmore, [13] sent Pendray a telegraph requesting that he get an input from women's suffrage activist Carrie Chapman Catt. He then added the only pencil handwritten page in the capsule, listing items that were represented by 20th century women, such as culinary preparation tracts and women's exploits noted in World Almanacs and film. [14] Care was taken to select items that are not reactive and do not decompose into harmful gases or acids. [15]
Five categories of objects were placed inside Time Capsule I. [16]
Five main categories of objects were placed in Capsule II:
The "other" category included images of a guest book signed by visitors to the Westinghouse pavilion at the 1964 fair. Signers received tin pins, about 1.2 inches (30 mm) across (roughly the size of an American fifty-cent piece), stating, My name is in the Westinghouse Time Capsule for the next 5,000 years. [21] The book's pages were photographed onto acetate microfilm and the roll of film placed into the time capsule for the people of the 70th century that open the capsule and find all the contents from the 20th century. [22] There were an estimated 750,000 signatures collected. [23] The first one was that of United States President Lyndon B. Johnson. [24] The signature of Pope Paul VI was among the signatures of notable people that signed the Westinghouse guest book. [25]
The contents of Time Capsule I were recorded in a Book of Record of the Time Capsule of Cupaloy . The purpose of this book is to preserve knowledge of the existence of the time capsule for 5,000 years, and to provide assistance to the people of the year 6939 in locating and recovering it. More than 3000 copies of the book were distributed to museums, monasteries, and libraries worldwide. [26] In order to avoid confusion about the 1965 time capsule, a supplement announcing Time Capsule II was sent to the original 3,000 depositories of the 1938 edition. [27]
If present-day methods of determining time are lost, future generations will be able to calculate the age of the time capsules using astronomical data. In the year 1939, there were two eclipses of the moon, falling on the third of May and the twenty-eighth of October. There were also two eclipses of the sun, an annular eclipse on the nineteenth of April, the path of annular eclipse grazing the North Pole of the earth, and a total eclipse on the twelfth of October, the total path crossing near the South Pole. The heliocentric longitudes of the planets on the first of January at zero-hours Greenwich time were as follows: [7]
| degrees
| minutes
| seconds
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The mean position of the North Star Polaris (Alpha Ursae Minoris) on the first of January was Right Ascension, 1 hour, 41 minutes, 59 seconds; North Polar distance, 1 degree, 1 minute, and 33.8 seconds. Astronomers of the early twentieth century determined that such a combination of astronomical events is unlikely to recur for many thousands of years. It is thought that this information will allow people of the future to determine the number of years that have elapsed since the capsule was buried by computing backward from their time. [28]
Time Capsule I was lowered at noon on September 23, 1938, the precise moment of the Autumnal Equinox. The latitude and longitude coordinates of its burying place, as determined by the U.S. National Geodetic Survey, was recorded in the Book of Record as 40°44′34.09″N73°50′43.84″W / 40.7428028°N 73.8455111°W within 1 inch (2.5 cm). [29] The coordinates lead to The Westinghouse Time Capsule. The time capsule will likely move vertically or horizontally for geological reasons, [29] so an alternate electromagnetic field method was provided. This method involves constructing a loop of wire 10 feet (3.0 m) in diameter and putting an alternating current (between 1,000 and 5,000 hertz) through it with a power of at least 200 watts. A secondary loop of wire, about 1 foot (0.30 m) in diameter, will detect a "distortion field", thus indicating the exact location of the two metal alloy time capsules, assuming no other large metal objects are in the vicinity. [30]
At the close of the 1965 World's Fair, a seven-ton "permanent sentinel" granite monument, made by the Rock of Ages Corporation, was installed. The 50-foot-long (15 m) shaft was filled using pitch, concrete and earth, and the monument placed to mark the position where the two time capsules are buried. [31] [32]
Flushing Meadows is approximately 7 feet (2.1 m) above sea level. [33] The park is extremely vulnerable to flooding because of its topography and because of sea level rise caused by global warming. Climate scientists had predicted that parts of the park would be flooded regularly by the 2050s [34] and that the entire park could be underwater by the 2080s. [35]
The Book of Record, a copy of which was microfilmed and put inside Time Capsule I, contains written messages from three important men of the time:
Albert Einstein's message,
Our time is rich in inventive minds, the inventions of which could facilitate our lives considerably. We are crossing the seas by power and utilise power also in order to relieve humanity from all tiring muscular work. We have learned to fly and we are able to send messages and news without any difficulty over the entire world through electric waves. However, the production and distribution of commodities is entirely unorganised so that everybody must live in fear of being eliminated from the economic cycle, in this way suffering for the want of everything. Further more, people living in different countries kill each other at irregular time intervals, so that also for this reason any one who thinks about the future must live in fear and terror. This is due to the fact that the intelligence and character of the masses are incomparably lower than the intelligence and character of the few who produce some thing valuable for the community. I trust that posterity will read these statements with a feeling of proud and justified superiority. [36]
Robert Andrews Millikan's message,
At this moment, August 22, 1938, the principles of representative ballot government, such as are represented by the governments of the Anglo-Saxon, French, and Scandinavian countries, are in deadly conflict with the principles of despotism, which up to two centuries ago had controlled the destiny of man throughout practically the whole of recorded history. If the rational, scientific, progressive principles win out in this struggle there is a possibility of a warless, golden age ahead for mankind. If the reactionary principles of despotism triumph now and in the future, the future history of mankind will repeat the sad story of war and oppression as in the past. [37]
Thomas Mann's message,
We know now that the idea of the future as a "better world" was a fallacy of the doctrine of progress. The hopes we center on you, citizens of the future, are in no way exaggerated. In broad outline, you will actually resemble us very much as we resemble those who lived a thousand, or five thousand, years ago. Among you too the spirit will fare badly. It should never fare too well on this earth, otherwise men would need it no longer. That optimistic conception of the future is a projection into time of an endeavor which does not belong to the temporal world, the endeavor on the part of man to approximate to his idea of himself, the humanization of man. What we, in this year of Our Lord 1938, understand by the term "culture" a notion held in small esteem today by certain nations of the western world is simply this endeavor. What we call the spirit is identical with it, too. Brothers of the future, united with us in the spirit and in this endeavor, we send our greetings. [37]
The term "time capsule" was coined by Pendray for the 1939 World's Fair Westinghouse exhibit in New York City for objects of the time placed in a tube for people of the future. [6]
The exterior of the 1938 time capsule is die-stamped with this message to anyone who might stumble upon it prior to the scheduled opening year of 6939. [38]
TIME CAPSULE OF CUPALOY, DEPOSITED ON THE SITE OF THE NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIR ON SEPTEMBER 23,1938,
BY THE WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING COMPANY. IF ANYONE SHOULD COME UPON THIS CAPSULE
BEFORE THE YEAR A. D. 6939 LET HIM NOT WANTONLY DISTURB IT, FOR TO DO SO WOULD BE TO DEPRIVE THE
PEOPLE OF THAT ERA OF THE LEGACY HERE LEFT THEM. CHERISH IT THEREFORE IN A SAFE PLACE. [38]
The 1965 time capsule exterior has no message. An exact duplicate of the capsule's articles resides at the Heinz History Center beside a replica capsule of Time Capsule I. [39] [14]
The Book of Record requests that its contents be translated into new languages as they develop. [40] It contains a key with illustrations devised by Dr. John P. Harrington of the Smithsonian Institution to help future archaeologists with the English language, [41] since it was felt that existing languages could be lost. [42] It also includes an illustration showing exactly where each of the 33 sounds of 1938 English are formed in the oral cavity in what Dr. Harrington refers to as a "mouth map." [43] [44]
A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a period of time, typically between three and six months.
Flushing Meadows–Corona Park is a public park in the northern part of Queens in New York City, New York, U.S. It is bounded by I-678 on the east, Grand Central Parkway on the west, Flushing Bay on the north, and Union Turnpike on the south. Flushing Meadows–Corona Park is the fourth-largest public park in New York City, with a total area of 897 acres (363 ha).
The 1964 New York World's Fair was an international exposition at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, United States. The fair included exhibitions, activities, performances, films, art, and food presented by 80 nations, 24 U.S. states, and nearly 350 American companies. The five sections of the 646-acre (261 ha) fairground were the Federal and State, International, Transportation, Lake Amusement, and Industrial areas. The fair's theme was "Peace through Understanding", and its symbol was the Unisphere, a stainless-steel model of Earth. Initially, the fair had 139 pavilions, and 34 concessions and shows.
The Unisphere is a spherical stainless steel representation of the Earth at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, United States. The globe was designed by Gilmore D. Clarke for the 1964 New York World's Fair. Commissioned to celebrate the beginning of the space age, the Unisphere was conceived and constructed as the theme symbol of the World's Fair. The theme of the World's Fair was "Peace Through Understanding", and the Unisphere represented the theme of global interdependence, being dedicated to "Man's Achievements on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe".
The 1939 New York World's Fair was an international exposition at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, United States. The fair included exhibitions, activities, performances, films, art, and food presented by 62 nations, 35 U.S. states and territories, and 1,400 organizations and companies. Slightly more than 45 million people attended over two seasons. It was based on "the world of tomorrow", with an opening slogan of "Dawn of a New Day". The 1,202-acre (486 ha) fairground consisted of seven color-coded zones, as well as two standalone focal exhibits. The fairground had about 375 buildings.
The Westinghouse Electric Corporation was an American manufacturing company founded in 1886 by George Westinghouse and headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was originally named "Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company" and was renamed "Westinghouse Electric Corporation" in 1945. Through the early and mid-20th century, Westinghouse Electric was a powerhouse in heavy industry, electrical production and distribution, consumer electronics, home appliances and a wide variety of other products. They were a major supplier of generators and steam turbines for most of their history, and was also a major player in the field of nuclear power, starting with the Westinghouse Atom Smasher in 1937.
A time capsule is a historic cache of goods or information, usually intended as a deliberate method of communication with future people, and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians. The preservation of holy relics dates back for millennia, but the practice of preparing and preserving a collection of everyday artifacts and messages to the future appears to be a more recent practice. Time capsules are sometimes created and buried during celebrations such as world's fairs or cornerstone layings for building or at other ceremonies.
The Crypt of Civilization is an impenetrable, airtight, room-sized time capsule, built between 1937 and 1940, at Oglethorpe University in Brookhaven, Georgia. The 2,000-cubic-foot (57 m3) repository is meant not to be opened before 8113 AD. It contains numerous artifacts and sound recordings that illustrate civilization and human development to the 20th century. Classic literature and religious texts were also deposited, as well as items showing the extent of scientific progress to 1939.
The Mets–Willets Point station is a rapid transit station on the IRT Flushing Line of the New York City Subway. Located near the Citi Field baseball stadium, it is served by the 7 train at all times and by the express <7> train during rush hours in the peak direction or after sporting events. This station is located near Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Willets Point, Queens, on Roosevelt Avenue between 114th and 126th Streets.
The Queens Museum is an art museum and educational center at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, United States. Established in 1972, the museum has among its permanent exhibitions the Panorama of the City of New York, a room-sized scale model of the five boroughs originally built for the 1964 New York World's Fair. Its collection includes a large archive of artifacts from both the 1939 and 1964 World's Fairs, a selection of which is on display. As of 2018, Queens Museum's director is Sally Tallant.
Elektro is a robot built by J.M. Barnett, Jack Weeks Sr., Harold Gorsuch, and other engineers at the Westinghouse Electric Corporation's Mansfield, Ohio, facility between 1937 and 1938.
Queens Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located at 43-50 Main Street in Flushing, Queens, New York City. The 39-acre (16 ha) site features rose, bee, herb, wedding, and perennial gardens; an arboretum; an art gallery; and a LEED-certified Visitor & Administration Building. Queens Botanical Garden is located on property owned by the City of New York, and is funded from several public and private sources. It is operated by Queens Botanical Garden Society, Inc.
The R15 was a New York City Subway car model built by the American Car and Foundry Company in 1950 for the IRT A Division. A total of 100 cars were built, arranged as single units. Two versions were manufactured: Westinghouse (WH)-powered cars and General Electric (GE)-powered cars.
The Flushing River, also known as Flushing Creek, is a waterway that flows northward through the borough of Queens in New York City, mostly within Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, emptying into the Flushing Bay and the East River. The river runs through a valley that may have been a larger riverbed before the last Ice Age, and it divides Queens into western and eastern halves. Until the 20th century, the Flushing Creek was fed by three tributaries: Mill Creek and Kissena Creek on the eastern bank, and Horse Brook on the western bank.
Terrace on the Park is a banquet hall at 52-11 111th Street, within Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, in the Corona neighborhood of Queens in New York City, New York, U.S. The building was constructed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey as the Port Authority Pavilion, an exhibition building and heliport for the 1964 New York World's Fair. The building was designed by chief architect Allan Gordon Lorimer, engineers John Kyle and Ray Monte, and planning chief E. Donald Mills. It is south of the New York Hall of Science.
The New York State Pavilion is a pavilion at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, United States. Constructed for the 1964 New York World's Fair, it was designed by the architects Philip Johnson and Richard Foster, with Lev Zetlin as the structural engineer. The pavilion consists of three reinforced concrete-and-steel structures: the Tent of Tomorrow, observation towers, and Theaterama. It is owned by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Queens Theatre, formerly Queens Theatre in the Park and before that Queens Playhouse, is an American professional theatre at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, United States. Artistic and Executive Directors have included Joseph S. Kutrzeba, founder and producer; Robert Moss, Sue Lawless, Jeffrey Rosenstock and Ray Cullom, formerly Managing Director of Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, and since 2011, Taryn Sacramone, former Executive Director of Astoria Performing Arts Center.
The Flushing Meadows Corona Park Aquatics Center and Ice Rink, also known as the Flushing Meadows Corona Park Aquatics Center or Flushing Meadows Natatorium, is a 110,000-square-foot (10,000 m2) facility in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens, New York City, with an Olympic-sized pool and an NHL-standard rink. Built in 2008, the $66.3 million project is the first indoor public pool to open in New York City in four decades. Initially, the building was intended to serve as the venue for water polo events during the 2012 Summer Olympics, but when the city's bid was lost to London, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation proceeded to build the pool anyway. The result is an innovative building with 130-foot-high twin masts and a swooping roof form. The masts are an architectural feature extending up into the Queens skyline as well as the structural supports for the cable-stayed roof. This design provides the clear spans necessary to house an Olympic swimming pool along with an ice skating rink.
Kissena Creek is a buried stream located in the neighborhoods of Flushing, Fresh Meadows, Hillcrest, and Kew Gardens Hills in the New York City borough of Queens. Kissena Creek originates in a now-filled swamp within Kew Gardens Hills and Pomonok in central Queens, flowing east to Hillcrest. The creek then travels mostly north and west, largely flowing beneath Kissena Park Golf Course, Kissena Park, Kissena Corridor Park, and Queens Botanical Garden, before merging with the Flushing River in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park.
Underbridge Dog Run is a dog run named after the pedestrian bridge connecting it to the adjacent Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, the fourth-largest city-operated park in New York City and site of the 1939–40 and 1964–65 World's Fairs. The park is located on Grand Central Parkway between 64th Avenue and 64th Road. The section of the park located opposite the Underbridge Dog Run contains Meadow Lake, the largest lake within New York City.