The Bessemer Process, developed independently by British manufacturer

Henry Bessemer and American iron maker Williams Kelly around 1850,

soon came into wide spread use.   This technique involved injecting air into

molton iron, which removed the carbon and sparked its fiery transformation

into steel.  By 1880 manufacturers used the new method to produce more than

90 % of the nation’s steel.  In this age of rapid change and innovation, even

the successful Bessemer Process was bettered by 1886 and was eventually

replaced by the open-hearth process.  With this technique, manufacturers could

produce quality steel from scrap metal as well as from raw materials.