Category: Quick hits

Friday, February 26th. Car insurance is both required and a major item in the budget of many households. The idea of insuring cars against accidents began this month in 1898 when the Traveler’s Insurance Company issued a policy to Dr. Truman Martin of Buffalo. His policy cost $12.25 and gave him $5,000 in coverage. Martin was chiefly concerned about accidents between his automobile — one of fewer than 4,000 in the entire country at the time — and horses, which …

Paper money has circulated in North America since 1690, when the Massachusetts Bay Colony issued some to paper over — so to speak — the shortage of coins. But these were just promissory notes from governing bodies. That changed on this date in 1862 when Congress passed the Legal Tender Act, fixing paper money as a means of paying the government’s considerable Civil War bills with something other than gold or silver. One result was that greenbacks became a means …

Every time we use a phone, drive a car, watch TV, cross a bridge, or do myriad everyday activities, we are benefitting from the accumulated work of a most important, broad profession — engineering. To celebrate its contribution to our way of life, this is National Engineers Week. During this time, engineering societies and corporations will reach out to schoolchildren and stage events across the country to call attention to the achievements of the profession. From iPods to skyscrapers to …

The nation’s first college of pharmacy was founded in Philadelphia on this date in 1821, an appropriate anniversary to note that many health care organizations prescribe February as Wise Health Care Consumer Month. The “Rx” for Americans is to invest at least as much time in researching their health care options as they do for a new television. While prescription medication is one aspect of health care consumption, all levels of services and insurance are the elements of being a …

The history of radio and the presidency seems to center entirely on Franklin Roosevelt’s famous “fireside chats” beginning in 1933 in the depths of the Depression. But the first president to address the nation from the White House over the infant broadcast medium was, ironically, “Silent Cal.” President Calvin Coolidge spoke to a coast-to-coast audience on this date in 1924 on the occasion of George Washington’s birthday. His words were carried over a mere 42 stations. That year, there were …

Friday, February 19th. On this date in 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt issued an executive order requiring Japanese-Americans living along the Pacific Coast to be relocated inland. This order affected some 77,000 citizens and 43,000 resident aliens. The internment lasted throughout the Second World War, and the camps closed by early 1946. The dislocation caused by the internment order singling out an ancestry group came to be widely regretted and led to the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, formally apologizing for …

Although Canada has been self-governing since 1867, it wasn’t until this date in 1927 that the U.S. established formal diplomatic relations through recognition of a Canadian ambassador in Washington. Until that date, the Dominion of Canada’s foreign relations remained under the control of London. The relations since have been sterling, as Canada is our greatest trading partner. In 2014, more than $660 billion of goods passed one way or the other across the effectively undefended border. There are about 6.8 …

This month — and some sources cite this date — is the 250th anniversary of the 1766 birth of Thomas Malthus in Dorking, England. Given that birthplace, he perhaps naturally became an economist, demographer and statistician. He’s remembered for “The Principle of Population,” a 1798 essay foretelling widespread famine caused by population growth far outstripping the food supply. While the forecast remains unrealized, his theory of demand-supply mismatches was a precursor to later theories about the Great Depression. When Malthus …

The nation’s first college for deaf students traces its beginning to this date in 1857, when Congress incorporated the Columbia Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf, Dumb and Blind. In 1864, the school was federally chartered to confer degrees, the first three of which were awarded in 1869. Those diplomas were signed by President Ulysses S. Grant, and all subsequent diplomas awarded by the school bear the U.S. President’s signature. In 1954, the name of the institution was changed …

For many Americans nowadays, it’s hard to conceive of life without computers. But such a life is within the living memory of America’s seniors. The first electronic computer was publicly demonstrated on Valentine’s Day 1946 at the University of Pennsylvania. Inventors J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly developed the computer to help calculate the proper ballistic trajectory for artillery shells. It filled a large room with 18,000 vacuum tubes and the resulting heat. Eckert and Mauchly went on to develop …

Friday, February 12th. One of the nation’s major civil rights organizations is 107 years old today — the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Founded to combat lynching and segregation, the NAACP continues to work toward greater opportunities for minorities. One of its most telling moments came with the 1954 Supreme Court ruling in Brown vs. Board of Education, which desegregated the nation’s schools. The lawyer who argued that case, Thurgood Marshall, became the first African-American Supreme Court …

Among his very many achievements, Benjamin Franklin played a leading role in the founding of America’s first hospital, decades before the Declaration of Independence. Together with Dr. Thomas Bond, he obtained a charter for a hospital to serve the poor, sick and insane in Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania Hospital opened on this date in 1752 in a converted house. The hospital later developed at a location where a modern medical complex still serves the city. During its long history, the hospital’s …

This month 150 years ago, Lucy Hobbs Taylor received a doctorate in dentistry from the Ohio College of Dental Surgery. She was the first American woman so credentialed, and it’s believed she was also the first in the world. Born in 1833, Lucy Hobbs at first tried to attend medical school, but finding that avenue closed to her, studied dentistry. Beginning in 1861, she practiced without a certificate as was common at the time. Following her graduation, she married James …

On this date in 1825, our most unusual presidential election was held; with the winner receiving just 13 votes to the runner-up’s seven, and four to the third-place finisher. The election held in November 1824 saw only 353,000 votes cast, out of a population of about 10 million residents. Andrew Jackson won a plurality of 43 percent in the four-way race. But Jackson received only 99 of the 131 electoral votes needed to win. So the matter went to the …

Today is Chinese New Year, marking the beginning of 4714, the year of the monkey in the Chinese Zodiac. This month in the year 4670, more familiar to us as 1972, President Richard Nixon surprised everyone with his dramatic state visit to China. This successful diplomatic initiative led to expanded contacts between the U.S. and that nation. Today, China is a major U.S. trading partner. In 2014, China bought nearly $124 billion of American goods, while we imported over $466 …

Friday, February 5th. 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 nearly 600,000 deaths annually. However, almost as if to prove that no good intention goes unpunished, February is also National Snack Food Month. Despite increasing health consciousness, snack foods still find a way …

Adding poignancy to Black History Month, today marks the birthday in 1913 of Rosa Parks, a community activist 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. When …

On this date in 1848, the United States and a defeated Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending their controversial war, which began in May 1846 after some mutual provocations. In the peace treaty, Mexico recognized America’s annexation of the Republic of Texas, with the Rio Grande being the border. In exchange for $15 million and other provisions, the U.S. obtained all or much of what are now six of our other southwestern states. Some 80,000 Mexicans were thereby …

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, in counting single race or in combination with others, number over 43 million in the U.S. By 2060, this figure is projected to reach 74.5 million — nearly 18 percent of the country’s …

Friday, January 29th. A social milestone was reached this date in 1907 when Congressman Charles Curtis of Kansas was seated in the U.S. Senate to complete the few weeks remaining in the term of a resigned senator. He was the first person with Native American blood to serve in the Senate, as his mother was descended from three tribes. He was elected to that office four times, serving for 20 years. He remained until March 3, 1929, when he left …