Category: Open Lines

The past few decades have seen a great expansion in the number and frequency of public opinion polls, whether from the traditional Gallup and Harris firms, to those commissioned by newspapers or political campaigns. The first such poll in U.S. history appeared this month in 1824 in the Harrisburg Pennsylvanian, finding that Andrew Jackson was favored over John Quincy Adams in the four-man presidential race. Ironically, that contest drew the lowest recorded participation in our history — less than 27 …

This is National Drive-Thru Day — noting the popularity of restaurants that take orders by intercom and then pass the food out a window to the customers wanting to keep on the move. The first such service was the idea of Robert Peterson, at a Jack-in-the-Box restaurant in San Diego in 1951, serving hamburgers for just 18 cents. At the time, drive-in restaurants were very popular. The serving staff — some even on roller skates — brought food to people …

The home front during World War II had to cope with some irritating limitations and scarcities, notably gas rationing and a lack of new cars and tires. But what really hit the public where it hurt was coffee rationing. Imposed in 1942 because of hoarding and supply concerns, it proved very unpopular. Late this month in 1943, President Roosevelt ended the program because imports had rebounded. Coffee is believed to have been introduced into America by Captain John Smith of …

An aviation milestone was achieved on this date 80 years ago, as famed pilot Wiley Post landed his Lockheed monoplane on Long Island, New York, completing the first solo flight around the world. In a feat of endurance, he made the trip in 7 days, 18½ hours. His plane is now displayed in the National Air and Space Museum. Post, blind in one eye, was an aviation pioneer who held many high-altitude records, and discovered the jet stream. He was …

It’s time to pass the strained peaches or maybe the junior green beans. Fremont, Michigan is celebrating the 23rd annual National Baby Food Festival, which concludes tomorrow. The town of 4,000 is home to the Gerber Baby Food Company, and is welcoming thousands of visitors to enjoy entertainment as well as baby food eating contests by adults and a baby crawl race. Today in the U.S., there are more than 4 million babies being cradled or held in parents’ laps …

On these scorching hot summer days, with the nation’s average warmest day of the year coming up within a week, most of us welcome ducking in from the heat into a cool office, business, or home. For this, we can thank Willis Carrier, who in the depths of winter in 1906 received a patent for what he called an “apparatus for treating air.” His idea has fundamentally changed the way most Americans live, and the Carrier name is still prominent …

On this date in 1984, President Reagan signed a bill known as the Minimum Legal Drinking Age Act. Backed by Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the law standardized a patchwork of local laws across the country and made it illegal for anyone under 21 to purchase or publicly possesses alcohol. It has been calculated that many lives a year are saved as a result, particularly among young drivers. Across the nation, some 58 million Americans are binge drinkers, and that can …

Major league baseball takes a pause in its regular schedule today to play its 84th all-star game. This year’s event is being held at Citi Field in New York, home of the Mets. The first midsummer all-star game was played on July 6, 1933, at Comiskey Park in Chicago. A homer by Babe Ruth helped the American League defeat the National League, 4-to-2. In 1933, all 16 teams in the major leagues were clustered in the northeast of the country, …

When car drivers in Oklahoma City went to bed on this date in 1935, they probably had no idea how their world, and ours, was going to change come the next morning. On July 16th, America’s first parking meter was operating on the corner of First Street and Robinson Avenue. While local drivers could avoid that space, they couldn’t escape for long. That meter was just the first of many, as millions of ticketed motorists will attest, and as municipalities …

A romantic period of American history that still intrigues us ended, semiofficially, on this date in 1893. That’s when historian Frederick Jackson Turner delivered an academic paper in Chicago declaring the American Frontier had closed. Based on 1890 Census data, Turner said that migration from the East, the building of railroads and hundreds of new towns had combined to forge a single nation from coast-to-coast. The most recent census showed that the West is still a magnet for growth. Between …

The far-flung reaches of planet Earth came into focus for the average American this week in 1962 with the launching of Telstar. This was the first privately owned satellite and the first to relay live television pictures across the ocean. While a major communications advance and a sensation of the day, Telstar didn’t last long. It failed in December, was restored briefly, and then went dead in February 1963. Today, dozens of communications satellites allow television signals, telephone calls and …

Wyoming became the 44th state to join the Union on this date in 1890. Its history reflects the larger story of the West — beginning with early exploration by fur trappers. For many years, the area was the Wyoming territory — carved out of the Dakota, Idaho, and Utah territories. It was an important route for settlers and gold miners moving west, for the Pony Express and the overland stage. Wyoming is called the Equality State — noting that it …

One of the most important inventions of our times was announced in early July 1951 by Bell Laboratories in New Jersey — the transfer resistance device — far better known as the transistor. The small, simple, and tough transistor replaced fragile, bulky and heat-generating vacuum tubes, which had been the heart of electronics for decades. The discovery led to the development of the integrated circuit and the microprocessor that are the basis of modern electronics. Today, transistor technology makes possible …

One of our favorite ice cream concoctions was purportedly invented on this date in 1881 to bypass the law. The ice cream sundae was the brainchild of drug store owner Edward Berner of Two Rivers, Wisconsin, although Ithaca, New York has a competing claim. That day was a Sunday, and because of the strict Sabbath laws at the time, he was unable to fill a customer’s order for a flavored soda water. So, Berner improvised, putting chocolate syrup — then …

Most movie buffs know the first film with a partial soundtrack was “The Jazz Singer,” with superstar Al Jolson. But not too many can name the first movie with a full-length soundtrack, which opened on this date in New York in 1928. It was “The Lights of New York,” about the murder of a crime boss, a film which has faded into obscurity. After “The Jazz Singer” stunned the country, movie studios scrambled to change over from silent films to …

Today is that most American of holidays — Independence Day, celebrating the day in 1776 when the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. Ours was the first successful colonial independence movement against a European power. Recognition of our nationhood came with the Peace Treaty of 1783. From sea to shining sea, there will be parades, concerts, barbecues, and, of course, fireworks. Among the famous celebrations is the Boston Pops fireworks spectacular, featuring Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture,” now in its …

Befitting the eve of the nation’s celebration of freedom, one of the most important pieces of legislation in our history became law on this date in 1964. The Civil Rights Act, signed by President Lyndon Johnson, swept away Jim Crow laws by prohibiting discrimination based on race in all accommodations and facilities open to the public, as well as employment, union membership, and voter registration. Shortly after the Civil Rights Act became law, nearly 42 percent of blacks lived in …

On this date in 1788 — 225 years ago — that the Constitution of the United States was formally established, transforming the loose organization of the states under the Articles of Confederation into a more perfect union. Besides securing the rights of citizens and establishing the limits of government authority, the Constitution calls for a census every 10 years, to ensure that seats in the House of Representatives reflect the distribution of the U.S. population. The 1790 Census found 3.9 …

Income taxes first came to America 151 years ago today, when President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill levying a 3 percent tax on incomes between $600 and $10,000, and 5 percent for greater incomes. After helping finance the federal cause in the Civil War, the tax was rescinded in 1872. The income tax all of us know today dates to 1913, when the 16th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, giving Congress the power to levy such taxes. About 145 …

One of the joys of summer — a trip to the ice cream store for several dips of your favorite flavor — goes back to this month in 1786, when Hall’s Ice Cream Store opened on Chatham Street in New York City. But the supply was limited. In 1851, Baltimore milk dealer Jacob Fussell decided to make ice cream commercially. He built larger versions of the hand-cranked machines still popular today for backyard picnics. However, ice cream didn’t become a …