Friday / Weekend Open Line


One of the most distinctive and near universal American colloquialisms — the affirmation “OK” — appeared in public for the first time this month in 1839. There have been claims that “OK” derives from languages as diverse as Greek and Choctaw, and that it appeared in earlier American documents. But it was first published in a Boston Morning Post story with a brief definition. While “OK” took off around the country and eventually the world, time KO’d the Boston Post, which folded in 1956 after 125 years of publication. Today in the U.S., there are around 7,600 daily, weekly or other newspaper publishers still doing OK in this digital age. You can find more facts about America’s people, places and economy from the American Community Survey at <www.census.gov>.

Saturday, March 21st. Today marks the birthday in 1910 of one of the major figures of the American wine industry — Julio Gallo. When Prohibition ended, he and his brother Ernest started making wine in humble surroundings — a rented California warehouse with equipment bought on credit. Years of hard work saw their winery became the largest in the U.S., and their creative marketing techniques helped shape the nation’s drinking tastes. When the Gallos began their business in 1934, Americans on average drank only about a quart of wine per year. Today, that figure is over 2¾ gallons per capita. The enduring Gallo establishment is joined by over 2,600 other wineries in America, which decant nearly $15 billion in yearly shipments. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.

Sunday, March 22nd. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex as well as race in hiring, promoting, and firing. While this act is a famous landmark in the national effort to assure equality of treatment, its ban on sex discrimination was not in the forefront of the effort. On this date in 1872, the state of Illinois enacted the first such ban on discrimination. It came about through the lobbying of America’s first female law school graduate, Alta Hulett, who had been refused admission to the Illinois bar. Today, around 42 percent of employed women 16 and older work in management, professional and related occupations, compared with just over 35 percent of employed males. You can find more facts about America’s people, places and economy from the American Community Survey at <www.census.gov>.