Before there was the Discovery Channel, How Stuff Works and How Its Made, there were film makers producing educational films. Thankfully for us quite a few of them are now available on YouTube. In this post if picked out a few of my favourite old how it works videos.

How Differential Steering Works

This video is an absolute gem. Hands down the best, clearest explanation video I’ve seen. It’s incredible to think that it was made in the 30s.

The Mapmaking Process

With Google Maps and aerial photography so common place these days, I think its easy to forget the hard work that used to be needed for map making.

Magnetic Cores

This 1960s US Army training video explains magnetic core memory – the technology which was later used in the Apollo Guidance Computer.