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 Battle of the Ironclads, 1862. Printer Friendly Version >>>. One of the North's first acts at the outset of the Civil War was the attempt to force the Confederacy into submission by blockading its ports. The objective was to deny the South access to supplies and to shut down its export of cotton to England - its major source of revenue.