Category: Open Lines

Friday, December 18th. The holiday season is mostly a time of cheer. But it’s also a time for winter’s most frequent misery — the common cold and the cough that often goes along with it. While science works to find a cure for colds, the rest of us can only try to reduce their symptoms. Before the middle of the 19th century, a restaurant owner in Poughkeepsie, New York, did something to make life a little easier for cold sufferers. …

A dream of the ages became reality 112 years ago today on a windswept beach at North Carolina’s Outer Banks. There, the Wright brothers made the world’s first powered, heavier-than-air flight. With Orville and Wilbur alternating as pilot, the plane made four flights that day. The first airplane flight lasted 12 seconds and covered 120 feet. The longest distance covered that day was 852 feet in 59 seconds — an average speed of 31 miles an hour. In only a …

One of the most familiar and cherished Christmas stories has been around a long time — 172 years in fact. Tomorrow marks the anniversary of the 1843 publication of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” with sales starting on December 19. The first print run of 6,000 copies sold out in a week and the book has never been out of print. The tale about the reformation of Ebenezer Scrooge and his “Bah, humbug!” dismissal of the Christmas season became a …

America’s first life insurance policy issued by a general insurance company was issued on this date in 1794 in Philadelphia. The Insurance Company of North America was organized two years earlier, capitalized at $600,000. But the life insurance venture proved short-lived, as only six policies were written in five years, and the service was dropped in 1804. The Insurance Company of North America still exists as a subsidiary of a multinational insurance group. Now, of course, life insurance is an …

Among other special observances being noted in December is Learn a Foreign Language Month, with the goal of getting people to broaden their outlook on the world by taking a course in another language. Increasingly, many different languages are heard across the nation. In the U.S., nearly 61 million people over age 5, or 21 percent, speak a language other than English at home. The leading non-English language is Spanish at nearly 37 million. It’s a long drop to second …

Friday, December 11th. Throughout history, debt had been a criminal offense, with penalties ranging from enslavement to mutilation. In Colonial America, some debtors were branded or whipped in public, but most were thrown in jail, debt being the only crime for which long-term imprisonment was common. But this month in 1821, Kentucky became the first state to abolish debtors’ prison. The nation followed with a federal ban in 1832. Americans are fortunate in the more forgiving attitudes toward debt, encouraged …

“Scarcely any political question arises in the United States that is not resolved, sooner or later, into a judicial question.” That was the observation of Alexis de Tocqueville in his famous 1835 book, “Democracy in America.” Lawyering came early to the United States. In the middle of the Revolutionary War, the College of William and Mary established the first law school this month in 1779. The Williamsburg, Virginia school didn’t hire the professors, as they were paid directly by their …

One of the conveniences of modern life, and a boon to those with little time to spend grocery shopping and cooking, was developed by a man who was born on this date in 1886. Clarence Birdseye was on a scientific expedition to Labrador early in the 20th century when he noticed that freshly caught fish froze solid almost immediately when exposed to Arctic atmospheric conditions. But when thawed and eaten, the fish still tasted fresh. Birdseye went on to develop …

Oberlin College in Ohio has a distinguished reputation among American institutions of higher learning. Its fame would be secure just for its leadership before the Civil War in coeducational instruction and in admitting black students. But Oberlin added to its luster on this date in 1850 when it awarded the nation’s first four-year degree to an African-American woman, Lucy Stanton. She headed the school’s Ladies Literary Society, and her antislavery commencement address — titled “A Plea for the Oppressed” — …

The nation’s telephone systems are humming with activity as holiday wishes by the millions crisscross the country. It was much different in 1876, when there were all of three telephones in the country. But Alexander Graham Bell’s startup proved a keeper, and a decade later there were 167,000 phones in the U.S. By the 50th anniversary year of the phone’s invention, there were nearly 18 million in the country. In 1926, a three-minute call from one of those phones in …

Friday, December 4th. Black Friday is behind us, but the holiday shopping season continues to build. People jamming the malls are rediscovering one of the travails of the season — finding a place to park. When the mall spaces are filled, many turn to commercial garages. One innovative solution opened this week in the nation’s capital in 1951. The Park-O-Mat garage was completely automated, and parked 72 cars in 18 levels of space just 25 by 40 feet. Without entering …

Colleges and universities with both male and female students are the norm today. But in 1833, only a few women went to college and the idea of coed classes was a social innovation. On this date that year, Oberlin College in Ohio opened its doors to both sexes. That first year, the school had 44 students — 29 men and 15 women. Now, Oberlin has a student body of close to 3,000 and boasts one of the most comprehensive libraries …

One of the most important technological breakthroughs was made on this date in 1942, one that would for good or ill change the course of world history. At the University of Chicago, a group of scientists led by physicist Enrico Fermi succeeded in producing the first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. This first simple reactor, built in great secrecy under the stands of the university’s football stadium, helped provide the knowledge that led to the development of the first atomic …

On this date in 1913, what is today the Gulf Oil Company opened the nation’s first drive-in gas station. Located at the intersection of Baum Boulevard and St. Clair Street in Pittsburgh, the filling station was a simple but pleasing structure, with a cantilevered pagoda-style roof to shelter the pumps, cars and station attendants. Before this innovation, gasoline was dispensed from sometimes awkwardly located pumps at such places as grocery and hardware stores, and even some pharmacies. Yet in the …

As National American Indian Heritage Month winds down, attention is drawn to the increasing role American Indians and Alaska Natives play in the country’s economy. When last measured, businesses owned by this 5.2 million strong population grew in a recent five-year period to around 237,000. They generate nearly $34.5 billion in annual revenue. Just over half of these firms are in construction, retail trade, and wholesale trade. The largest number of firms owned by American Indians and Alaska Natives — …

Friday, November 27th. The first traffic signal with indicators for stop, go and caution was patented this month in 1923. The green light went to African-American inventor Garrett Morgan, who decided to do something after witnessing a collision between a car and a horse-drawn wagon on a Cleveland street. At the time, there were already more than 15 million motor vehicles on the nation’s roads. Morgan’s three-position signal was manually operated by a traffic officer during peak hours. This invention, …

Today is Thanksgiving Day. One of the most traditional of American holidays, it’s thought to have begun in 1621 in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The holiday became national in 1863, and the fourth Thursday of the month has been the official day since 194.  In many of the nation’s nearly 116 million households, people will share a special meal, typically turkey with all the traditional trimmings. U.S. farmers raise around 235 million turkeys annually, down from over 270 million in 2007. Americans …

It’s a time to celebrate one of life’s simple, viscous pleasures — it’s Peanut Butter Lovers Month. The stuff of one of America’s favorite sandwiches, peanut butter was first offered to the public at the St. Louis Exposition in 1904. But as we currently know it — with the peanuts roasted and the product churned like butter to be smooth and so the oil won’t separate — peanut butter didn’t appear on grocery shelves until 1922. While we each eat …

This month marks the 151st anniversary of absentee ballot voting in the U.S. This measure was introduced during the Civil War to permit Union army soldiers in the field to choose between re-electing Abraham Lincoln or sending his opponent, George McClellan, to the White House. But on this date in 1896, Vermont became the first state to enshrine in law the concept of voting away from home, though the voter had to be within the state. All that was required …

It used to be that going to the bank was somewhat of a chore — with inconvenient hours and locations, and waiting in line for a teller. Now, many of us rarely see the inside of a bank anymore. We take care of our financial business at an ATM, by going online, or at our bank’s drive-in windows. The first such drive-up facility opened on this date in 1946 at the Exchange National Bank in Chicago, which offered its motoring customers …