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Articles about Technology

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100 Bushel Club pushed corn yields in the 1950s

 By Bill Kemp. Published on September 18, 2016.
In this age of genetically modified crops, once unimaginable corn yields topping 200-plus bushels per acre are now becoming the norm....
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Airship pays visit to downtown Bloomington in 1910

 By Bill Kemp. Published on September 13, 2009.
For Bloomington, the age of aviation arrived on September 14, 1910. On that date, a one-man airship known as the Comet sailed over the ...
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Barns fast disappearing from Corn Belt countryside

 By Bill Kemp. Published on September 3, 2017.
One would be hard pressed to come up with a more iconic image of the Corn Belt than the old wood barn. It’s also an endangered remnant ...
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Electric cars sparked local interest long before Rivian

 By Bill Kemp. Published on February 13, 2022.
The startling success of electric automaker Rivian has shined an international spotlight on Bloomington-Normal. The company’s ever-spra...
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End of horse era spurs revolution in barn design

 By Bill Kemp. Published on November 6, 2016.
Though it may seem hard to believe, horses remained an integral part of Corn Belt farms well into the 1930s. And although the tractor b...
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Holidays bring turbulent year of ’68 to a close

 By Bill Kemp. Published on December 24, 2018.
Fifty years ago this week, December 1968, fast-approaching Christmas and New Year’s afforded many Americans an opportunity to reflect b...
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Short-lived performance hall once city’s finest

 By Bill Kemp. Published on May 20, 2018.
For a few years after the end of the Civil War, the Academy of Music was Bloomington’s most elegant concert and theater hall. And thoug...
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Water-pumping windmills forerunner to wind turbines

 By Bill Kemp. Published on February 26, 2017.
Today’s larger wind farms can include hundreds of 280-feet tall turbines and cover thousands of acres, generating enough megawatts to p...