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.
The Debunker: When Were the First Shots of the Civil War Fired? The month of April is inseparably connected with the American Civil War. The traditional bookends for the warâthe firing on Fort Sumter in 1861, and Leeâs surrender at Appomattox in 1865âboth took place in early April.