Energy - one of the most important resources of the present - is used daily for heating, cooking, lighting, transportation, and work. In addition to the finiteness of fossil energy sources, the risks associated with energy regimes have increasingly come to the forefront in recent years. For this reason, the energy history of the 20th century has recently experienced a resurgence. The individual contributions not only trace the insatiable energy hunger during the economic boom after World War II but also explore the roots of today's energy regime in the 19th century. Key drivers of innovations in hydropower, the development trends of energy use and consumption in transportation and agriculture, as well as the impacts of a multi-day power outage on society are discussed.