A form of apparatus often used for testing specimens of steel consists of a small electric furnace in which to heat the specimen, and a special thermo-couple pyrometer (see  Pyrometers ) for indicating the range of temperatures through which the steel passes.
Where the American Civil War Began. Decades of growing strife between North and South erupted in civil war on April 12, 1861, when Confederate artillery opened fire on this Federal fort in Charleston Harbor. Fort Sumter surrendered 34 hours later. Union forces would try for nearly four years to take it back.
As commander of the Confederate forces at Charleston, S. C., Beauregard ordered the bombardment of Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, firing the first shot of the Civil War. Like many Civil War troops and officers, Beauregard received his early combat experience in the Mexican War of 1846-1848.