Category: Open Lines

Friday, May 8th. Before the school year draws to a close and summer vacation takes over, it’s time to say thanks to America’s teachers. This is the last day of PTA Teacher Appreciation Week. National Teacher Day was on Tuesday. The goal of both is to honor the dedication and valuable contributions teachers make to the rest of their students’ lives. The idea goes back to 1944, when Mattye Woodridge of Arkansas began lobbying for a day to honor teachers. …

Thursday, May 7th. What is perhaps the nation’s foremost professional organization, the American Medical Association, was founded on this date in 1847 in Philadelphia. Two hundred-fifty delegates from 28 states attended the founding meeting, which adopted the first code of medical ethics and established the first nationwide standards for preliminary medical education and the degree of MD. At the time, there were some 50,000 medical doctors in the U.S. Today, there are 600,000. Physicians and surgeons have median annual earnings …

This is National Nurses Day, the start of National Nurses Week. It’s an occasion established to honor the outstanding efforts of nurses in helping to keep Americans healthy. The observance ends next Tuesday, the birthday in 1820 of Florence Nightingale, who established the world’s first nursing school in England in the 19th century. In the U.S., there were some 12,000 registered nurses by 1900. Today, that figure is some 2.7 million, with median annual earnings of over $65,000. As their …

In Spanish, today’s date is Cinco de Mayo, and celebrations will be held in many cities across the U.S., as well as Mexico. These events mark the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla in 1862, when outnumbered Mexican troops defeated the invading French forces of Napoleon III. Over the years, the celebration has evolved from one of military victory to a colorful and vibrant event, celebrating Mexican culture. Appropriately, this is also National Salsa Month. There are nearly 35 million …

Many things we take for granted in current society actually had their beginnings in Colonial America. And many beginnings in Colonial America took place in Philadelphia. The first known life insurance company was called the “Corporation for Relief of Poor and Distressed Widows and Children of Presbyterian Ministers,” chartered this month in 1759. Given the year and location, it should not be surprising that Benjamin Franklin was something of an inspiration, having helped launch the colonies’ first chartered fire insurance …

Friday, May 1st. Construction began on this date in 1884 in Chicago for a radical new building design — destined to be America’s first skyscraper. It was the Home Insurance Company headquarters, designed by engineer William Jenney. For many centuries, thick outer walls supported multi-story buildings, limiting the height that could be safely or usefully attained. Jenney’s building used a metal frame for support, like a skeleton. The exterior walls were attached to the frame, and so these so-called curtain …

This is the anniversary of the one of the greatest real estate deals in history — one that doubled the size of the U.S. and put the nation in position to become a world power. The year was 1803, and the deal was the Louisiana Purchase. The young U.S. under President Thomas Jefferson bought nearly 830,000 square miles from France at the cost of four cents an acre. The land stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and …

Wednesday, April 29th. Health insurance and its affordability has been a topic of political contention mostly in the past two decades, but the social need was recognized much earlier. On this date in 1942, Rhode Island became the first state to set up a health or temporary disability insurance program for its working citizens unemployed because of sickness. The covered workers — not the employers — funded the program with a 1 percent tax on wages of less than $3,000 …

Tuesday, April 28th. Tomorrow marks the 102nd anniversary of an invention many — if not most — of us use every day without a second thought. In April 1913, Hoboken, New Jersey resident Gideon Sundbach patented the zipper. He called his invention the “hookless fastener.” Improved and patented again in 1917 as the “separable fastener,” for many years the invention was used mainly on rubber boots. Such was the use by the B.F. Goodrich Company, which gave the fastener the …

Monday, April 27th. For many years, the word “mouse” commonly evoked thoughts of Mickey. But that association began to be eclipsed on this date in 1981 when the Xerox Corporation, then a major developer, introduced the mouse to the commercial computing world. Its 80-10 information system — with the mouse — didn’t catch on, mostly because it cost $20,000. But the mouse itself roared elsewhere in the computer industry and is still holding its own. Today, computer manufacturing is a …

Early America certainly was a simpler society than that which we have today, but some of today’s familiar institutions were part of the national experience over 200 years ago. On this date in 1795, the city of Baltimore set up a permanent, elected board of health, successor to the nation’s first such appointed agency. The first board was created by Maryland’s governor to cope with yellow fever epidemics beginning in 1792. At one point, the city of Baltimore quarantined or …

America’s first — and oldest — school is celebrating its 370th birthday today. The Boston Latin School started in 1635 with a handful of students meeting in the headmaster’s home. Stressing a classical education and the development of independent thought, the school has long been considered one of the top public secondary schools in the nation. Its list of graduates includes John Hancock, George Santayana, and Leonard Bernstein. Ben Franklin is one of its famous dropouts. Today, there are almost …

On this date 30 years ago, executives at one of America’s and the world’s most famous consumer brands were confidently looking forward to the morrow. After much research, experimentation and extensive taste testing, a reformulated Coca-Cola was launched on April 23, 1985. The historic company was surprised by the negative, noisy consumer reaction, and New Coke became something of a synonym for product failure. The original Coca-Cola, designated as “Classic,” was rushed back to retailers by July 11 that year. …

One of world’s most important medicines — insulin —became available for general use this month in 1923, saving the lives of millions of people suffering from diabetes. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas and is critical in the processing of carbohydrates in the human body. It was first isolated the year before by a Canadian team led by Dr. Frederick Banting at the University of Toronto. The effect was like a miracle. One year, the disease was an …

This is an important anniversary date for Americans who revere old baseball parks — the Green Cathedrals of nostalgia. April 20 saw the first recognized games played at Boston’s Fenway Park, Detroit’s Tiger Stadium, Chicago’s previously used Wrigley Field, and Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium. The years were 1912 for Boston and Detroit, 1916 for Chicago, and 1950 in Baltimore. Fenway Park and Wrigley Field remain cherished outposts of the national pastime. The Detroit and Baltimore parks were closed in the 1990s …

This date in 1961 saw the launch of the ill-fated invasion of Cuba by some 1,400 U.S. trained exiles. The attempt to overthrow the Fidel Castro dictatorship was crushed at the Bay of Pigs. A reverse amphibious operation began this month in 1980, when what’s known as the Mariel boatlift began. Castro had announced that any citizens wishing to leave the island could do so. Voluntary exiles embarked in the port town of Mariel, just west of Havana. Some 125,000 …

Yesterday marked the 60th anniversary of the opening of a small hamburger restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois — the first of what would become one of the world’s best-recognized brand names — McDonald’s. The franchise shop belonged Ray Kroc, whose main interest at the time was selling the machines that mixed milkshakes. The name came from two McDonald brothers who ran a hamburger shop in California. The first day’s revenue at the Illinois outlet was $366 and 12 cents. That …

To borrow from some recent advertising slogans, although many Americans couldn’t imagine leaving home without them, and they’re everywhere they want to be, there was a time when credit cards were rare — issued only by individual merchants. But that proprietary limitation ended on this date in 1952, when the Franklin National Bank in New York launched a credit card for use by the customers of varied merchants. In this, the bank was following the lead of the Diners Club …

The distribution of political representation under the Constitution was authorized on this date in 1792. Based on the results of the 1790 Census, the House of Representatives was to be apportioned according to population, coming as near to equal populations in the districts as could be determined. That first census counted a resident population of over 3.9 million people in the soon to be 15 states. There were then 105 seats in the House of Representatives, and the Apportionment Act …

April is a significant month for the American printed word. In 1800, the Library of Congress was founded, and earlier this week, in 1828, Noah Webster published the first dictionary of American English. This is also the second day of National Library Week, celebrating libraries, those who staff them and the billions of materials they circulate. While computers and electronic media are of increasing importance in the services libraries offer, books remain at the core of their collections, with the …