Category: Open Lines

The nation’s first daily newspaper, the short-lived Pennsylvania Evening Post, began publication this month in 1783, printed by Benjamin Towne in Philadelphia. Americans’ hunger for news was such that by 1850, there were some 250 dailies. The number of newspapers peaked around a hundred years ago, when there were 2,600 dailies published across the nation, with a circulation of over 24 million. Today, the number of daily newspapers in the U.S. has dropped to around 1,330. In the year 2000, …

By presidential proclamation, this month recognizes one of the nation’s fastest-growing population groups — those of Asian and Pacific American heritage. The observance began in 1978 with a joint congressional resolution honoring the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants in the 1840s and the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1870 with the help of Chinese immigrants. The occasion was extended to the entire month in 1990. Now, nearly 20 million people in the U.S. are of full or partial …

Friday, May 6th. 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 Thursday, 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 2.75 million, with median annual earnings of nearly …

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. This is also National Salsa Month, appropriate in an evolving United States …

As Americans live longer, the problems of financing their retirement and paying their medical bills continue to influence public policies. But the growing number of healthy seniors also means greater availability of experience. Both the problems and opportunities are in the spotlight in May — it’s Older Americans Month. There are nearly 45 million people age 65 and older in the U.S., almost 15 percent of the population. By the year 2060, the number of elderly is projected to be …

What is perhaps the nation’s foremost professional organization, the American Medical Association, was founded this week 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 more than 700,000. Physicians and surgeons have median annual earnings of more …

Before the school year draws to a close and summer vacation takes over, it’s time to say thanks to America’s teachers. Today is the kickoff of PTA Teacher Appreciation Week. National Teacher Day is recognized tomorrow. 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. With the help of …

Friday, 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 …

The first baby of European parentage born on the shores of the future United States came into this then-New World 450 years ago. Martin de Arg?elles Jr. was born to a soldier father, who had brought his wife, Leonor, to the new Spanish settlement of St. Augustine, Florida. Founded in 1565, St. Augustine is the nation’s oldest permanently occupied European settlement. The better-known Virginia Dare, of the vanished Roanoke Colony in North Carolina, was born 21 years after the young …

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 nearly $10 billion …

Many automobile license plates proclaim glories of the issuing states. Others spell out something dear to the drivers but indecipherable to anyone else. Those plates and the more basic ones are requirements to drive on public roads. New York was the first state to require license plates on motor vehicles this month in 1901. At the time, there were just fewer than 15,000 sputtering automobiles in the entire country, traveling over muddy, rudimentary roads without a license for the driver …

On this date in 1954, Bell Laboratories in New York announced the prototype manufacture of a new solar battery, or what we now call a solar cell. The new cell was capable of a 6 percent energy conversion efficiency with direct sunlight, as opposed to about a 1 percent rate with earlier creations. In a demonstration for the press, the Bell inventors placed the array of several small silicon strips in sunlight. The cell captured the free electrons and turned …

Friday, April 22nd. On this date 31 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 …

For over a century, going to the movies has been one of the most popular ways people all across the country enjoy themselves. The first time a paying American audience assembled to watch a motion picture was this week in 1896, at the Koster and Bial’s Music Hall on West 34th Street in New York City. It was certainly no feature film. The movie was plotless novelty at the end of a live vaudeville show, showcasing a new projector of …

The American automobile industry began to take off this month in 1913 — as Henry Ford set up the first moving assembly line in Highland Park, Michigan. Before the assembly line, workers spent over 12 hours building a single Model T. Afterward, it took only 93 minutes. Ultimately, a new car came off the assembly line every 24 seconds, and 15 million were built over the years of production. Prices dropped too. In 1909, a basic Model T cost $825 …

The first all-news radio format in the U.S. debuted on this date in 1965, as WINS-AM in New York City switched from rock and roll to rip and read. Almost 20 years earlier, the station had notched another first by broadcasting every New York Yankees game live, both home and away. The station shut off the music — its last record was the Shangri-Las’ “Out in the Streets” — and became “all news, all the time.” The format has been …

At 5:12 in the morning on this date in 1906, San Francisco was rocked by one of the two most powerful earthquakes ever to hit North America. Estimates of the death toll run up to 3,000. The quake and the fire that followed it destroyed 28,000 buildings and nearly 500 city blocks. The devastation left more than 200,000 — half the city’s population — homeless. The quake caused damage along a corridor of almost 300 miles, from Oregon to Los …

Friday, April 15th. Today marks the 61st anniversary of the opening of a small hamburger restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois. It was the first of what would become one of the world’s best-recognized brand names — McDonald’s. The franchise shop belonged to 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 …

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 middle 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 Library …