Category: Quick hits

As National Hispanic Heritage Month continues, one of those recognized during the month is Richard Serra, described by art critics as among the most significant sculptors of recent years. Serra was born in San Francisco and studied at the University of California and Yale. He is noted for his large-scale, abstract, outdoor sculptures of rusted steel. Several of his pieces have generated controversy but his sculptures generally have been well received, with many on display not only in the U.S. …

A car destined to put America on wheels was introduced on this day in 1908. It was Henry Ford’s Model T, and the demand became so great that Ford developed the assembly line to speed up production. At one time, a finished car rolled off the line every 10 seconds, and fully half the cars in the world were Model Ts. In 1924, the basic Model T sold for just $260 — available, as the joke went, in any color …

Most people may think of cranberries only at Thanksgiving, but not the people of Warrens, Wisconsin. The town’s 40th annual Cranberry Festival starts today and runs through Sunday, a celebration expected to draw 110,000 people. While the focus is on cranberries, the festival has more than three miles of booths featuring arts, crafts, antiques, and food. Among the activities offered are educational tours of the nearby cranberry bogs. Each year in the U.S., there are 340,000 tons of cranberries harvested, …

While Halloween is more than a month away, the folks in Barnesville, Ohio are staging their 49th annual Pumpkin Festival beginning today and running through Sunday. Some 100,000 people are expected to see parades, a car show, banjo and fiddle contests, and, of course, the queen’s pageant. One major event will be the King Pumpkin Contest, where giant home grown pumpkins ride by on pickup trucks. Just over a billion pounds of pumpkins are grown in the U.S. annually. Illinois …

For hundreds of years, if someone ordered coffee, there was no question about what kind. Today, many Americans prefer their coffee decaffeinated. That choice began at the start of the last century, when Ludwig Roselius, a coffee merchant in Bremen, Germany, worked on removing caffeine from coffee beans. He described his process as “sans caffeine,” which he shortened to the familiar name “Sanka.” He moved to the U.S., and sold his process and trade name to a big firm in …

Three important dates in American newspaper history occurred in September — spanning more than 200 years. On September 15, 1982, USA Today began publishing. Critics at the time said the idea of a national newspaper was doomed to failure — now, USA Today is one of the country’s largest selling dailies. On September 18, 1851, the New York Times issued its first edition. And, on this date in 1690, the first newspaper in America was published for one day in …

As National Hispanic Heritage Month continues, the focus is on the contributions of this community to the nation’s military history. The exploits of David Farragut, the first admiral in the U.S. Navy, during the Civil War are fairly well known. Less attention has been paid to Bernardo de Gálvez, who aided George Washington during the Revolution, and for whom the city of Galveston, Texas is named. Up to half a million Hispanics served in the U.S. armed forces during World …

Today marks the birthday of a creative genius who made generations of Americans laugh — motion picture animator Chuck Jones. He created the characters of Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote, and helped develop Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig. Jones won several Academy Awards and wrote, produced and directed the 1966 television classic, Dr. Seuss’s “How The Grinch Stole Christmas.” When Chuck Jones headed his own unit in 1962, most movies were preceded by a short …

Today marks the 95th anniversary of the birth of one of basketball’s most famous personalities — Red Auerbach. As coach of the Boston Celtics, he won nine NBA titles. After retiring as coach, he became general manager, then president until his death in 2006. He was an early backer of hiring African-American players, and developed the fast break as a potent offensive weapon. Auerbach was named the greatest coach in NBA history and is widely considered to be the greatest …

With the presidential campaign in full swing, the size of the national debt and what to do about it is once again the topic of considerable political discussion — some of it heated. The first time the federal government went into debt was this week in 1789, when Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton arranged to borrow nearly $192,000 from the Bank of New York and the Bank of North America. The money was needed to pay the salaries of President Washington …

Newspapers on this date in 1908 reported on aviation’s first fatality the day before, and the serious injury of the airplane’s co-inventor. Orville Wright had been demonstrating an aircraft for the Army at Fort Myer, Virginia. With Orville at the controls, Army Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge went up as a passenger, as a test of possible military use of the airplane by the Army Signal Corps. Four minutes into the flight, the plane crashed, killing Selfridge and seriously injuring Orville Wright. …