Materials · 1856
Bessemer steel
Blowing air through molten iron makes steel in minutes.
Henry Bessemer announced his converter in 1856. Steel prices fell by roughly 80 percent, making steel rails, ships and skyscraper frames economical.
What it built on 1
What it led to 6
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Related measurements
The dashed line marks when it first worked.
UK railway network length Latest: 16.5k km (1993) Source: Our World in Data
US railway network length Latest: 231k km (1993) Source: Our World in Data
World GDP Latest: 180T int.-$ (2021) (2025) Source: Our World in Data