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Friday, December 4th. Black Friday is behind us, but the holiday shopping season continues to build. People jamming the malls are rediscovering one of the travails of the season — finding a place to park. When the mall spaces are filled, many turn to commercial garages. One innovative solution opened this week in the nation’s capital in 1951. The Park-O-Mat garage was completely automated, and parked 72 cars in 18 levels of space just 25 by 40 feet. Without entering …

Colleges and universities with both male and female students are the norm today. But in 1833, only a few women went to college and the idea of coed classes was a social innovation. On this date that year, Oberlin College in Ohio opened its doors to both sexes. That first year, the school had 44 students — 29 men and 15 women. Now, Oberlin has a student body of close to 3,000 and boasts one of the most comprehensive libraries …

One of the most important technological breakthroughs was made on this date in 1942, one that would for good or ill change the course of world history. At the University of Chicago, a group of scientists led by physicist Enrico Fermi succeeded in producing the first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. This first simple reactor, built in great secrecy under the stands of the university’s football stadium, helped provide the knowledge that led to the development of the first atomic …

On this date in 1913, what is today the Gulf Oil Company opened the nation’s first drive-in gas station. Located at the intersection of Baum Boulevard and St. Clair Street in Pittsburgh, the filling station was a simple but pleasing structure, with a cantilevered pagoda-style roof to shelter the pumps, cars and station attendants. Before this innovation, gasoline was dispensed from sometimes awkwardly located pumps at such places as grocery and hardware stores, and even some pharmacies. Yet in the …

As National American Indian Heritage Month winds down, attention is drawn to the increasing role American Indians and Alaska Natives play in the country’s economy. When last measured, businesses owned by this 5.2 million strong population grew in a recent five-year period to around 237,000. They generate nearly $34.5 billion in annual revenue. Just over half of these firms are in construction, retail trade, and wholesale trade. The largest number of firms owned by American Indians and Alaska Natives — …

Friday, November 27th. The first traffic signal with indicators for stop, go and caution was patented this month in 1923. The green light went to African-American inventor Garrett Morgan, who decided to do something after witnessing a collision between a car and a horse-drawn wagon on a Cleveland street. At the time, there were already more than 15 million motor vehicles on the nation’s roads. Morgan’s three-position signal was manually operated by a traffic officer during peak hours. This invention, …

Today is Thanksgiving Day. One of the most traditional of American holidays, it’s thought to have begun in 1621 in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The holiday became national in 1863, and the fourth Thursday of the month has been the official day since 194.  In many of the nation’s nearly 116 million households, people will share a special meal, typically turkey with all the traditional trimmings. U.S. farmers raise around 235 million turkeys annually, down from over 270 million in 2007. Americans …