Home in Henderson

Couch potatoes can trace their roots to this date in 1928 when three experimental television sets were installed in private homes in Schenectady, New York. Not that there was much to see, the test broadcast by General Electric and RCA being of a person smoking, followed by a man playing a ukulele. The first home receivers’ screens were only 1½ inches square; a far cry from today’s theater-sized flat screens. And in another departure from 1928’s lonely three, the number …

Protests by college students in America have a long pedigree. In fact, this year marks the 250th anniversary of the first such action. In 1766, there were just seven colleges in Colonial America.  The students at Harvard—the first college– were unhappy with on-campus dining, specifically, the rancid butter. The so-called Butter Rebellion began with the cry “Behold, our butter stinketh!”  About half the student body supported the complaint, and they found safe spaces for dining in nearby taverns. The administration …

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. …

Friday, January 8th. The nation’s telephone service options changed forever on this date 34 years ago when AT&T complied with a Justice Department mandate to give up its local Bell System companies. The action came as the result of what has been termed the most significant antitrust suit since the breakup of Standard Oil in 1911. From the late 19th century, the virtual monopoly of what had come to be known as “Ma Bell” controlled America’s telephone equipment and lines. …