100 Objects #2: 60-Degree Screw
Summary
Historian Daniel Immerwahr joins Roman Mars to explore how the standardization of the screw thread helped establish an "invisible empire" for the United States. The episode details how Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover pushed for industrial standards in the 1920s, a move that proved critical during World War II when incompatible Allied equipment caused massive inefficiencies. Ultimately, the U.S. 60-degree thread angle became the global standard, illustrating how technical agreements can exert soft power and shape international relations without traditional colonialism.
Topics discussed
Sponsors: PNC Bank and Indeed
The Great Baltimore Fire of 1904
The chaos of pre-standardization
Herbert Hoover's obsession with efficiency
Hoover's standardization efforts
The battle over the screw thread angle
Global incompatibility and the hose metaphor
Sponsors: Article, Squarespace, and AT&T
WWII logistics and the UK-US screw thread deal
The symbolic surrender of British standards
Post-war dominance: Stop signs and ISO
The US rejection of the metric system
Standardization as a form of soft power
Credits and final sponsors
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