Steel is the heart of industry, and has been since before the Industrial Revolution. The history of modern mankind is the history of steel. This wonderful alloy has been around since roughly 4,000 BC. Tough, high-carbon steel was being made in crucibles in Britain at around 500 BC, and the Romans favored Spanish steel for their swords. In the mid-19th century, producing steel in industrial quantities was made possible using the Bessemer and Siemens-Martin processes, and later in the 20th century by the Basic Oxygen Steelmaking (BOS) process.
Steel, these days, goes into millions of products, from automobiles to surgical devices. The United States has, in the past, been a champion among the steel-making nations. That may be happening again: On Friday, President Trump announced that a famous old name, United States Steel, will be remaining in Pittsburgh, a…
