Since early recorded history, people have utilized wind energy. It propelled boats along the Nile River as early as 5,000 B.C., and helped Persians pump water and grind grain between 500 and 900 B.C. As cultures harnessed the power that wind offered, the use of windmills spread from Persia to the surrounding areas in the Middle East, where windmills were used extensively in food production.

Eventually, around 1,000 A.D., wind power technology spread north to European countries such as The Netherlands, which adapted windmills to help drain lakes and marshes in the Rhine River Delta.

Through history, the use of wind power has waxed and waned, and nowhere in history is that more evident than in the last century and a half. Read on to discover many of the remarkable advances that wind power has made over this period of time.

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History of U.S. Wind Energy

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