The 1950s may be recalled for many now-quaint things, but it was also a decade with antecedents for our current technological pursuits. On this date in 1955, William G. Cobb of the General Motors Corporation demonstrated the world’s first solar-powered car. This vehicle didn’t take the world by storm because it was a model a mere 15 inches long. The first solar powered car that could actually be driven was unveiled in 1962; a 1912 Baker electric car was fitted …
Category: Open Lines
Tuesday Open Line
On this date 50 years ago, the federal court system received its first African-American female judge. Constance Baker Motley was confirmed by the U.S. Senate, and took her seat on the federal bench in the Southern District of New York. She served until her death in 1986, by which point she had been Chief Judge of the district for four years. Motley, a graduate of Columbia Law School, had clerked for Thurgood Marshall at the NAACP, and in the early …
Monday Open Line
Two trailblazers in early electronics, whose inventions changed pastimes the world over, were born in August. One was television pioneer Philo Farnsworth, born 110 years ago. He conceived the idea of television broadcasting while still in high school and realized it at the age of 21. The other was Lee de Forest, born in late August, 1873. The Yale doctor of physics invented the three-element vacuum tube, a step toward creating radio. Holding hundreds of patents, he was an innovator …
Friday / Weekend Open Lines
Friday, August 26th. “Every dog has its day,” is an idiom dating from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and even earlier. According to one animal welfare advocate, today is that day for America’s canines. Now in its 13th year, this is National Dog Day, about five months after National Puppy Day. The occasion has two goals. One is to honor dogs, which serve humanity as companions, watchdogs, herders, and Seeing Eye dogs. The second goal is to rescue dogs from neglect and abuse …
Thursday Open Line
The Smithsonian Institution, founded this month in 1846, is the world’s largest museum and research complex, with 138 million artifacts in its collection. One was donated to the museum in August 1985 to mark the 25th anniversary of its commercial debut — the original Xerox 914 copying machine. The principle of xerography — producing images on paper using electricity — was developed in 1938 by lawyer-scientist Chester Carlson, who saved future generations from having to deal with carbon paper and …
Wednesday Open Line
One of America’s favorite snack foods is said to have originated on this date in 1853 near Saratoga Springs, New York. The chef at Moon’s Lake House, George Crum, was irritated by a customer who sent back his fried potatoes several times, saying they were too thick and soggy. Crum decided to slice potatoes wafer thin and stir-fry them. The customer was delighted, and so-called Saratoga Chips became famous. The true origin of potato chips is unknown, but they are …
Tuesday Open Line
The War of Independence was barely over when the young United States faced a secession movement. On this date in 1784, several counties in a territory appended to North Carolina sought admittance as a new state, called Franklin. These counties were on the eastern fringe of a large tract stretching from the Allegheny Mountains to the Mississippi. In 1785, Franklin fell short of the votes in Congress for admittance, but existed for a few years as an independent republic. Reabsorbed …
Monday Open Line
Two ordinary items used in many American households were created by New York City residents on this date in August. In 1865, the first liquid soap was patented by William Sheppard. His formula flowed from mixing a pound of regular soap with 100 pounds of ammonia solution, then dissolving it in water to the consistency of molasses. And in 1939, Julian Seth Kahn received a patent for an “apparatus for mixing a liquid with a gas” — a spray can …
Friday / Weekend Open Lines
Friday, August 19th. Even in this Internet world, many of us still receive printed catalogs through the mail. The first such catalog — more of a flyer — was sent out by Montgomery Ward this week in 1872. That first catalog consisted of only one page, featuring 163 items for mail order purchase. By 1904, the Ward’s catalog weighed in at four pounds. Montgomery Ward ceased producing its catalog in 1985, and the company itself eventually failed in the largest …
Thursday Open Line
An emotional and legal battle that lasted many decades ended on this date in 1920, changing the course of U.S. social and political history. The event was the certification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. The amendment prohibits discrimination based on sex with regard to voting — in short, it extended to women the right to vote. Two days earlier, Tennessee had become the required 36th state to ratify the amendment, in spite of last minute efforts by some …
Wednesday Open Line
Hand-tools have a long history. Evidence of hammer-stones and hand axes date from about 2.6 million years ago. That’s well over 2 million years before the appearance of Homo sapiens about 200,000 years ago. Nearly all of those millennia passed before the development of the monkey wrench. On this date in 1835, the adjustable or screw wrench was patented by Solymon Merrick of Springfield, Massachusetts. The modern looking wrench was soon followed by improved designs that are still in use …
Tuesday Open Line
It’s still summer break for many kids, but already in progress is one of the nation’s largest seasonal events; one that exchanges leisure for classroom study. It’s back to school time. From nursery school to college, over 77 million students are headed to the classroom — that’s more than one-out-of-four of the total U.S. population age 3 and over. Of the 8.5 million Americans ages 20 and 21, over 51 percent are enrolled in college. Nursery school or kindergarten enrollment …
Monday Open Line
Chairs have a history going back to the ancient Egyptian Pharaohs, or even earlier in antiquity. But a couple of variants that no one was anxious to try out debuted this month in the 19th century. In 1890, the electric chair was used for the first time in Auburn, New York, to carry out a death sentence. Scarcely more alluring, a special dental chair was patented on this date in 1848 by Waldo Hanchett. His innovation was a wooden recliner …
Friday / Weekend Open Lines
Friday, August 12th. This date 35 years ago is significant in the advance of the digital age. On August 12, 1981, IBM introduced its model 5150 — which soon became known simply as the “PC.” There had been consumer computer models for some years before, such as the early Apple and Commodore, but the IBM machine marked a turning point in acceptance due to the manufacturer’s prominence. The company was famous for its pioneering, large mainframe computers, and even by …
Thursday Open Line
A company founded in Seattle this month some decades ago has grown into a global titan in its industry. Its business isn’t web-based retailing, building aircraft, or brewing coffee. United Parcel Service began in 1907 as the American Messenger Company, founded by 19-year old Jim Casey for deliveries around Seattle on foot, or on bicycles. The expanding company became UPS in 1930, and today commands a fleet of 237 aircraft and about 105,000 motor vehicles. While UPS is the world’s …
Wednesday Open Line
The Smithsonian Institution was founded on this date in 1846. It is named for British scientist James Smithson, who willed his fortune to the U.S. to establish the institution, even though he had never visited America. Today, the 170-year-old Smithsonian is the world’s largest museum and research complex, made up of 19 museums and galleries, the National Zoo, and nine research centers. It currently has over 138 million items in its collections. It is one of the main attractions for …
Tuesday Open Line
With so much modern infrastructure featuring soaring atriums and deep subterranean transit systems, it’s not easy to imagine getting by without escalators. However, this efficient people mover was conceived in a far simpler, down to earth time. The first patent for a moving stairway was obtained on this date in 1859 by Nathan Ames. However, it was never built. The first practical escalator was built by Jesse Reno in 1896 at Coney Island, New York. Reno called his device an …
Monday Open Line
On this date in 1930, an offbeat sort of history was made when a stock trade order was placed from a zeppelin — an airship — off the Atlantic coast. This didn’t start a trend because the stock market had crashed and burned less than 10 months earlier, and a famous zeppelin crashed and burned just seven years later. While 810 million shares were traded in 1930, that was down significantly from 1929’s volume of 1.1 billion. The stock market …
Friday / Weekend Open Lines
Friday, August 5th. On this day in 1966, a groundbreaking ceremony was held near the southern tip of Manhattan. On the site of a recently cleared neighborhood of low-rise buildings called Radio Row, work began on what would become the World Trade Center. The iconic twin towers, the landmark feature of the seven-building development, were briefly the tallest in the world after their completion in the early 1970s. The cost of the World Trade Center complex was around $1.5-billion. In …
Thursday Open Line
In this first week of August 102 years ago, American motorists got the green light to safely proceed through increasingly traveled crossroads. A traffic light system, credited with being the first in the U.S., flashed red and green at the intersection of 105th Street and Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio. To further prompt drivers, the words “Stop” and “Move” were emblazoned on the operating red and green lights. At the time, there were about 1.8 million motor vehicles in the …