Thread: History of US steel...

I've been having lots of fun watching the History Channel's America: The History of Us. I just finished up the episode that talks about the start of the industrial revolution. The mention that Andrew Carnegie is spending time in Sheffield, England and watches how Sheffield workers inject oxygen into molten steel to remove the impurities. Carnegie figured that he could ramp up the size of the batches that was being made so he returned to the US and built a refinery of massive scale compared to the ones in Sheffield. Despite putting his entire life savings into the project, it was a success.

Carnegie's success dropped the price of steel by 80% overnight and ushered in many of the early 1900's greatest inventions...high rise buildings, the auto industry, and american razors.

America The Story of Us — History.com Videos

Steel production and consumption is seen as a barometer of economic progress.
In 2008 We Brits produced about 14 million tonnes, the USA 91 million tonnes and the Chinese 500 million tonnes.
The world order is certainly changing