Category: Open Lines

On this date in 1899, the Senate ratified the Treaty of Paris, concluding the Spanish-American War of 1898. The treaty, negotiated in Paris the previous December, was opposed by 27 senators; not opposed to peace, but to the overseas territorial acquisitions. Spain ceded Puerto Rico, Guam, and — for a few years before independence — Cuba to the United States, along with selling the Philippines for $20 million. The Philippines became independent after World War II, but Puerto Rico and …

February is American Heart Month, dedicated to the serious matter of monitoring and taking care of our beating hearts. This is important because while heart disease has claimed fewer lives in recent years, it is still the nation’s number one killer — responsible for 616,000 deaths annually. However, almost as if to prove that no good intention goes unpunished, February is also National Snack Food Month. And America truly “hearts” its snack foods. In spite of the recent disappearance of …

Adding poignancy to Black History Month, today marks the centennial of the birth of Rosa Parks, a shy woman who became a symbol of the fight for civil equality. Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus to a white man. This sparked a boycott of the bus system by blacks, which greatly energized the ultimately successful civil rights movement. During her life, Rosa Parks championed the cause of increased opportunities for youth. …

February is Black History Month, a time to honor the many contributions to our nation’s history made by people of African descent. Started as a special week in 1926 by historian Carter G. Woodson, the observance is now a full month of activities across the country. African-Americans number nearly 42 million in the U.S., 13.1 percent of the total population. By 2050, this population is projected to reach nearly 57 million. Although New York has the largest number of blacks …

In the depths of winter, many Americans find soothing warmth in a cup of hot tea, be it herbal, ginseng, black, green or some exotic specialty blend. Lumped together, this appreciation of the brew underlies January’s National Hot Tea Month. Tea is the only beverage commonly served either hot or iced and in any season. While tea has been consumed for thousands of years, Americans made two important contributions — inventing tea bags and iced tea — both in 1904. …

The election cycle just passed engaged campaign managers in almost all levels of political races. The man usually credited with being America’s first campaign director, John James Beckley, operated decades before the advent of the news cycle and social media. He directed campaigns on behalf of the Democratic-Republicans in the late 18th century. After Thomas Jefferson won the presidency in 1800, the Library of Congress was founded, and Beckley was appointed the first librarian of that world-renowned institution this week …

A social milestone was reached this date in 1907, when congressman Charles Curtis of Kansas was seated in the U.S. Senate, completing the few weeks remaining in the term of a resigned senator. He was also chosen to serve a full term in that office. Curtis became the first person with Native American blood to serve in the Senate. He remained until March 3, 1929, when he left the Senate to serve as vice president under Herbert Hoover. There are …

As the Great Depression approached its worst, Wisconsin made the nation’s first governmental direct relief effort for the unemployed. On this date in 1932, it enacted unemployment insurance. Wisconsin was soon followed by a half-dozen other states before the Social Security Act in middecade moved all states to adopt such programs by 1937. Wisconsin’s program issued it’s first unemployment check in August, in the amount of $15. By 2010, states and local governments took in over $75 billion from the …

On this date in 1915, east and west were linked by voice in the first transcontinental phone call. This event was a conference call involving Alexander Graham Bell in New York, his assistant Thomas Watson in San Francisco, President Woodrow Wilson in Washington, and the president of American Telephone and Telegraph in Georgia. Using the new, commercial service was a major financial commitment. The charge for a three-minute call from New York to San Francisco started at $20.70. That’s over …

Surgery has been practiced since the Stone Age, but the fearsome pain suffered by the patients of such procedures held back the practice for ages. This began to be resolved in the 19th century with the advent of anesthesia. Now anesthesia is an advanced and specialized component of the surgical process. In recognition, January 20 through the 26th is Nurse Anesthetists Week, celebrating the professionals that are the main provider of anesthesia in rural America. There are 2.7 million registered …

Many sumptuous foods get their day, or month, in the sun by way of some commemoration. But January celebrates a very basic, traditional dish. This is Oatmeal Month, recognizing the long-term favorite for its up-to-date health characteristics — low fat, no sodium, and the ability to help lower the risk of heart disease. Oatmeal also fits today’s time pressures, since a bowl can be made in seconds in the microwave. And, of course, oatmeal cookies are among the nation’s favorites. …

An innovation in product packaging — and a staple of TV advertising — is having its 78th anniversary this week. The first canned beer was put on sale in 1935 as a marketing test in Richmond, Virginia, by the Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company of Newark, New Jersey. Experiments with putting beer in cans had taken place as early as 1909 but the technology of the time couldn’t stop the beer from interacting negatively with the metal of the can. Prohibition …

You may think the debate about smoking is fairly recent, but the more things change, the more they resemble 1908. On this date that year, the New York City council passed an ordinance that made it illegal for women to smoke in public. The ordinance was the result of a campaign by the National Anti-Cigarette League. At the time, a number of cities had banned smoking, along with the states of Arkansas, Iowa, Idaho, and Tennessee. All of these laws …

The X-ray machine, the first medical imaging device, was invented in Europe in the late 19th century. Americans got their first glimpse of this medical marvel on this date in 1896 in an exhibit in New York City. It quickly came into use in U.S. medicine, and then into overuse. Thomas Edison’s assistant Clarence Dally, after long, unshielded experimentation with X-rays, had both arms amputated, and then died in 1904 from exposure to radiation. X-rays have been largely surpassed by …

There’s been a lot of emphasis lately on making houses that are more energy efficient — with better insulation and windows that seal out heat and cold. Many feature the use of solar panels to capture the natural heat of the sun. The first house in America with solar heating and radiation cooling opened this week in 1955 in Tucson, Arizona. A large, slanting slab of steel and glass converted sunlight into heat, which was ducted into the house. In …

There have been 27 amendments to the U.S. Constitution over the past 222 years, but that total comes with an asterisk. Uniquely, the 21st Amendment repeals the 18th, which began its short career this day in 1919. That amendment launched the Prohibition Era, a well intentioned act (of social hygiene) seeking to ban the availability of alcoholic beverages. The unintended consequences, though, were perhaps worse — vast flouting of the law by the public and a boost to organized crime. …

Dr. Martin Luther King would be 84 years old today. The civil rights leader, minister, and recipient of the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize was born in 1929 and assassinated in 1968. Next Monday is a national holiday, honoring his memory and life’s work, appropriate in a month that also sees the anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. America’s diverse population of some 308 million enjoys the civil rights Dr. King advocated, including 224 million whites, more than 42 million African-Americans, over …

January is Financial Wellness Month, appropriately timed to the confluence of New Year’s resolutions and holiday bills. It’s a time to set new goals for financial freedom and moderation in spending; for people to understand the benefits of “paying yourself first.” A financial advisor can help shape money management goals, pointing out the power of compound interest to work for you in savings, and against you in debt. Americans have a per capita income average of nearly $27,000 or $81,000 …

This date in 1973 was a day that lives in infamy, at least among some self-described baseball purists. The American League approved a three-year experiment with replacing pitchers in the batting order with a designated hitter. The rule change stuck and is the most visible distinction between the two major leagues. The first DH to come to the plate was the New York Yankees’, Ron Blomberg on April 6, 1973. The result of this epochal at-bat? He walked. With the …

Legislation to grant women the vote was first introduced on this date in 1878, when a California senator proposed the necessary constitutional amendment. It was buried in committee for years, and defeated when finally put to a vote in 1887. But some decades later, the matter was settled rather speedily. The 19th Amendment enfranchising women was proposed in Congress in June 1919 and became law in August 1920. In the 2010 election, over 46 percent of female citizens 18 and …