On vacation

We'll be away for a bit of relaxation and recharging. New posts will resume in the first week of October (unless I discover something really important before then).

If you miss me, you can read all of the old posts on all of my blogs

1947: last horse cab license in London

A Hansom cab is a type of horse-drawn carriage first designed and patented in 1834 by English architect Joseph Hansom. Originally known as the Hansom Safety Cab, its purpose was to combine speed with safety, with a low center of gravity for safe cornering.

Cab is a shortening of cabriolet, reflecting the design of the carriage. It replaced the hackney carriage as a vehicle for hire. With the introduction of mechanical taximeters to measure fares, the name became taxicab.

Hansom cabs enjoyed immense popularity as they were fast, light enough to be pulled by a single horse, (making the journey cheaper than travelling in a larger four-wheel coach) and were agile enough to steer around horse-drawn vehicles in the notorious traffic jams of nineteenth-century London. They were always seen as rather 'racy' and were not used by respectable ladies on their own.

The cab sat two passengers (three if squeezed in) and a driver who sat on a sprung seat behind the vehicle, and used a long whip to rech the horse over the roof of the cab. Passengers gave instructions to the driver through a trap door near the rear of the roof. They could also pay the driver through this hatch and he would then operate a lever to release the doors so they could get out.

The passengers were protected from the elements by the cab itself, as well as by folding wooden doors which enclosed their feet and legs, protecting clothes from splashing mud. Later versions also had a glass window above the doors to complete the enclosure. A curved fender mounted forward of the doors protected passengers from the stones thrown up by the flying hooves of the horse.

There were up to 3000 Hansom Cabs in use at the height of their popularity and they quickly spread to other cities in the United Kingdom, as well as continental European cities. The cab was introduced to the United States during the late 19th century, and was most commonly used in New York City. They were also used in Sydney, Cairo, and Hong Kong.

The cab enjoyed popularity in the United Kingdom until the 1920's, when cheap automobile transport and the construction of reliable mass-transport systems led to a decline in usage. The last license for a horse-drawn cab in London was issued in 1947. (info from Wikipedia) (photo from Haydn Webb Carriages)

1864: first ship sunk by a submarine

Horace Lawson Hunley (1823 - 1863), was a Confederate marine engineer during the American Civil War. He developed early, hand-powered submarines, the most famous of which was named for him, H. L. Hunley.

Although he was born in Tennessee, his family eventually relocated to New Orleans. He served in the Louisiana State Legislature and became a famous lawyer in New Orleans. In 1861, after the start of the War, Hunley joined James R. McClintock and Baxter Watson in building the submarine Pioneer. The Pioneer was promising, but in order to prevent capture by the Union, it had to be scuttled when New Orleans fell to Union forces.

After an unsuccessful attempt at another submarine with McClintock and Watson which ended in the vessel's sinking in Mobile Bay, Alabama, Hunley personally funded a third sub named in his honor: H. L. Hunley.

Five men from the first crew died during early tests of the human-powered vessel, when open hatches were flooded by the wake of a passing ship; four men managed to escape. A second crew was assembled in Charleston Harbor. The harbor was blockaded by Yankee ships that stopped deliveries of needed goods to the city.

On October 15, 1863, though he was not really part of the second crew, Hunley decided to take control as captain during a routine exercise. But the vessel again sank, and this time all eight crewmembers were killed, including Hunley himself.

Horace L. Hunley was buried with full military honors at Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston, South Carolina on November 8, 1863.

After the failure of the second crew, the Hunley submarine was again recovered and with a third crew, became the first submarine in the history of naval warfare to attack and sink a ship (USS Housatonic).

The Hunley silently approached the Housatonic on the night of February 17, 1864. By the time crewmen aboard Housatonic determined that the Hunley was not a log, porpoise, or other harmless object, the submarine closed the gap and the Union vessel's heavy guns could not be aimed low enough to defend itself.

As the Housatonic's crew slipped the anchor chain and backed the engine in an attempt to avert the attack, H.L. Hunley rammed an explosive charge into the Housatonic's starboard side. Within moments, the charge exploded; five minutes later, Housatonic lay completely submerged. As the Union blockader slipped beneath the waves, five of its crewmen perished, either as a result of the blast or by drowning. The remainder of its crew scrambled to the relative safety of the vessel's rigging.

The Hunley sank for the third time shortly after the Housatonic attack and was lost for more than 130 years until it was recovered in the early 2000s. The final crew was reburied in April 2004. (Info from History Channel, US Navy, Wikipedia) (Picture from Hunley.org)

1971: astronauts prove Galileo's gravity theory

In the 1600s, famed Italian astronomer Galileo suggested that two objects of different weight would fall at the same speed.

A possibly apocryphal story says that he stood on the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa with a feather and a stone in each hand and released them simultaneously.

Because the feather's structure slowed its descent like a parachute, the stone reached Earth first, so Galileo's theory was not proven.

It was not until Astronauts David Scott and Jim Irwin conducted Galileo's experiment on the Moon during their Apollo 15 mission in 1971, that the experiment could be duplicated properly. Without air to interfere, both objects made their lunar landings at the same time. (info & photo from NASA)

1907: Neiman Marcus opens for business

When Herbert Marcus, his sister Carrie Marcus Neiman, and her husband, A.L. ("Al") Neiman, opened a store in downtown Dallas on Sept. 10, 1907, they had one goal in mind: bring luxury to Texas.

During a two-year stint in Atlanta, the three partners did promotional work for Coca-Cola that netted them the $25,000 used to open the store. Their refusal of a Coca-Cola franchise in lieu of payment is still a source of familial chuckling. "They weren't going to be taken in by this novelty drink," says Lawrence Marcus, 90, Herbert Marcus' last surviving child. "They wanted cash."

The store idea was refined by Lawrence's brother, Stanley, who started working at the store a year after it opened. He was eight.

"Mr. Stanley," as he became known — distinguishing him from other brothers around the store — created an aura unheard of then in retailing. The store gave fashion awards to Coco Chanel and Grace Kelly, developed over-the-top "His and Hers" Christmas gifts (including expensive cars and airplanes) and instilled the notion that the customer is always right.

"If you sell satisfaction, people will come back to you," Stanley said.

Elyse Lanier, the wife of former Houston Mayor Bob Lanier, remembers Stanley Marcus well. While a student at the University of Houston in the 1960s, she worked part-time at the Houston store, then located downtown. (It moved to the then-distant suburban Galleria location in 1969.) Whenever Mr. Stanley visited, she snuck into the couture department to hear his staff pep talks. "I would hang onto his every word because so much of what he said applied to life," Lanier recalled.

She also learned a valuable lesson about sales. When Houston Symphony conductor Andre Previn came into the store looking for a scarf, she first showed him all the scarves she liked. "He hated every one," she recalled. "So I showed him every scarf I hated, and he bought all of them."

Marcus once said he doubted the store's remarkable success could have happened anywhere but Texas, where the oil business created instant millionaires with the hunger for luxury goods. He aimed to raise the taste level of the new rich. He delighted in telling the story of a girl in a cotton smock who came in straight off the farm and spent $10,000 to outfit herself, including shoes for her bare feet, because Daddy had just struck oil.

Dallas fashion executive Bud Knight reports that during his tenure as the store's coat buyer, women asked to have their Neiman Marcus labels sewn in upside down so when they placed their coats on their chairs, people across the room could read them.

The most famous burlesque star of the Depression, "Fan Dancer" Sally Rand, was no shy customer. "Sally was appearing at the State Fair," says Lawrence Marcus. "She had these fans that she would pass in front of her body in misty light, and you sat on the edge of your seat hoping you'd see some of her treasure." In a store dressing room, she breezily showed Stanley Marcus all of her "treasure" as she tried on dresses, standing naked "without her fans," he says. "It was my wildest dream come true."

The burlesque arts found Neiman's again when Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters had a hit with "Pistol Packin' Mama." A lingerie buyer ordered a shipment of garters equipped with toy pistols. When Stanley Marcus saw the garters, he said, "Burn them."

Robert Sakowitz, whose family's store went head to head against Neiman Marcus from the mid-1950s until 1990, said the Dallas location was a big boost.

"The whole city is known as a marketing city compared to Houston, which is a production city," Sakowitz said. "Dallas was an extremely proud supporter (of Neiman Marcus). It worked to their advantage to a great degree. Stanley was brilliant in his marketing of the city along with his store."

Even after Neiman Marcus merged with Carter Hawley Hale in 1969 and was acquired by Boston-based General Cinema in 1987, its headquarters remained in Dallas. The new owners provided financing for expansion. Neiman's opened its first store outside Texas in Bal Harbor, Fla., in 1971; there are now 39 across the US. But its corporate owners had the good sense to leave the stores alone, letting Marcus and his brothers work their magic. Marcus retired in 1975 but remained as a consultant until his death in 2002. The company went private in 2005.

While many retailers believe New York is the center of the fashion universe, staying put in Dallas gave Neiman Marcus a strong sense of place and helped the retailer retain its focus.

"So many other retailers blow with the shifting wind. They clearly communicated a taste level and point of view," said David Wolfe, creative director for the Doneger Group, a New York-based fashion-trend-forecasting firm.

Wolfe believes staying in Dallas gave the luxury retailer a terrific mystique and identity. "There's something to be said for someone who sticks to their guns — especially in fashion, which by its very definition is changeable."

The store has always championed new designers, but it has never veered to the outer fringes of fashion. "The idea of being half a heartbeat ahead of fashion is the perfect pace," Wolfe said. "They never went so far to the cutting edge that they frightened their customer. They have always understood the whole point of fashion is to make a woman beautiful."

Dallas investor Pat Patterson was a newly minted Smith graduate in Neiman's customer relations when she got a 7:30 a.m. phone call from the loading dock. "Miss Patterson, could you please tell me what to do with this baby elephant?" the voice asked. "Mr. Stanley [Marcus] had ordered it for the Far East Fortnight and it arrived six months late," Patterson says. "We called the zoo."

As president and later chairman, Stanley Marcus burnished the store's reputation of meeting any request. But when an elderly woman wrote asking Neiman's to find her a man, Mr. Stanley demurred. "The risk to us is too great, particularly when you specify that you're looking for a companion between 70 and 75 who is completely and absolutely finished with sex," he wrote. "Frankly, I wouldn't know where or how to search for such a man, nor do I think I would believe him if I found him, nor would I recommend that you put too much faith in any man who claims to answer your specifications."

Because of its top-of-the-line merchandise, the store is known as "Needless Markup" in some circles. But you rarely hear that complaint from well-heeled, regular customers. A Neiman Marcus box or shopping bag signals that they have arrived.

"(Neiman Marcus) understood the aspirations of the American dream, and they sought to define it materially. So if you have an aspiration to be wealthy, this is what you would wear, this is what up would have, this is what is good taste," Sakowitz said.

He said Neiman Marcus Group Inc. president and CEO Burt Tansky once proudly told him that the store no longer carried any men's suit that cost less than $1,000. "I remember thinking what an extraordinarily gutsy thing that was. But, in point of fact, it had become such a small percentage of their business anyway, it didn't make a difference," Sakowitz recalled. "It takes that kind of conviction to be at the absolute pinnacle."

All four of the Marcus sons, Herbert Jr., Stanley, Edward and Lawrence, worked at the store with varying specialties. Stanley was the retailing prodigy. Herbert Jr. opened the men's area, while Lawrence ran women's apparel and ladies shoes. Edward was the most adept with numbers.

"Eddie went to Harvard for a few months and learned to play bridge," says Lawrence affectionately, "and was not asked back... Then he went to the University of Texas and taught bridge and was not asked back... Then he came back to the store. He was very, very good with figures."

Stanley proved to be the family Nostradamus. In a 1966 speech at Indiana University, he predicted something he called "phonovision."

"The mass use of color phonovision will introduce a completely new dimension to remote buying and selling," he said. Customers will be able to "see the articles over the monitor that will interest them right in the comfort of their own living rooms."

Today, neimanmarcus.com has larger sales than any of Neiman's brick-and-mortar stores.

To commemorate its 100th anniversary, Neiman Marcus is featuring a wide array of special limited edition merchandise — including clothing, jewelry and more, from major designers.

Yesterday, shoppers received free samples of the store's famous chocolate chip cookies. Legend has it that a shopper who once asked for the recipe was told it would cost "three ninety-five." He charged to his bill, thinking they meant $3.95. When the bill came for $395, he published the recipe out of spite.

Officials insist the story has no merit and are serving the cookies as a playful riff on the urban myth. The recipe is available for free on the Neiman Marcus Website.

All 39 stores are also asking customers to bring in treasured pieces of Neiman Marcus memorabilia on Wednesday from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. The entries will be photographed and forwarded to Dallas for final judging. One lucky winner will receive 1 million points in the store's customer-loyalty program. (info from the Houston Chronicle & Dallas Morning News)

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Although your humble editor's full name is Michael Neuman Marcus, he is not related to the store's founders. Darn!

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1992: Catholic Church apologizes to Galileo, who died in 1642

In 1610, Century Italian astronomer/mathematician/inventor Galileo Galilei used a a telescope he built to observe the solar system, and deduced that the planets orbit the sun, not the earth.

This contradicted Church teachings, and some of the clergy accused Galileo of heresy. One friar went to the Inquisition, the Church court that investigated charges of heresy, and formally accused Galileo. (In 1600, a man named Giordano Bruno was convicted of being a heretic for believing that the earth moved around the Sun, and that there were many planets throughout the universe where life existed. Bruno was burnt to death.)

Galileo moved on to other projects. He started writing about ocean tides, but instead of writing a scientific paper, he found it much more interesting to have an imaginary conversation among three fictional characters. One character, who would support Galileo's side of the argument, was brilliant. Another character would be open to either side of the argument. The final character, named Simplicio, was dogmatic and foolish, representing all of Galileo's enemies who ignored any evidence that Galileo was right. Soon, Galileo wrote up a similar dialogue called "Dialogue on the Two Great Systems of the World." This book talked about the Copernican system.

"Dialogue" was an immediate hit with the public, but not, of course, with the Church. The pope suspected that he was the model for Simplicio. He ordered the book banned, and also ordered Galileo to appear before the Inquisition in Rome for the crime of teaching the Copernican theory after being ordered not to do so.

Galileo was 68 years old and sick. Threatened with torture, he publicly confessed that he had been wrong to have said that the Earth moves around the Sun. Legend then has it that after his confession, Galileo quietly whispered "And yet, it moves."

Unlike many less famous prisoners, Galileo was allowed to live under house arrest. Until his death in 1642, he continued to investigate science, and even published a book on force and motion after he had become blind.

The Church eventually lifted the ban on Galileo's Dialogue in 1822, when it was common knowledge that the Earth was not the center of the Universe. Still later, there were statements by the Vatican Council in the early 1960's and in 1979 that implied that Galileo was pardoned, and that he had suffered at the hands of the Church. Finally, in 1992, three years after Galileo Galilei's namesake spacecraft had been launched on its way to Jupiter, the Vatican formally and publicly cleared Galileo of any wrongdoing.

(info from NASA and the History Channel) (portrait by Justus Sustermans painted in 1636)

2006: first horse racetrack in Israel

Angry demonstrators and rabbis as well as a ban on gambling failed to stop the opening of Israel's first horse racetrack, as thousands of fans cheered the four-legged competitors in October, 2006.

It was just a collection of collapsible tents with a makeshift grandstand in the middle of a field in northern Israel -- but as the horses turned the final corner before the finish line on Wednesday, it looked, sounded and smelled like the real thing. That's what bothers the detractors.

A few animal rights activists broke onto the track, charging that race horses are abused, and were dragged off by police. Five were arrested. One of Israel's chief rabbis condemned the event as frivolous. And a large sign overlooking the new track reminded spectators that horse race gambling is illegal in Israel.

Even so, organizers of the event and investors called the turnout a success and said they it demonstrated the need to legalize gambling and build up a permanent horse racing industry.

"The fact that people are running here into the stadium, it testifies that it's a need and that they want to support it and they want it to happen," said Danny Atar, head of the Gilboa Regional Council, who is leading the push to have the sport legitimized.

The debate over horse racing dates to 2004, when Israel's parliament passed a law allowing construction of race tracks. Animal rights activists with a group called "Hakol Chai" filed an appeal with the Israeli Supreme Court against the law.

The opponents gained a key ally when Rabbi Shlomo Amar issued a religious ruling against horse racing, calling it frivolous activity and noting its association with gambling and allegations of cruelty to animals. Some experts dispute the cruelty charge, claiming that the valuable race horses are among the best kept animals in the world.

Just as the ban on gambling does not deter Israelis from placing millions of dollars in bets on Internet gambling sites and illegal casinos in Israel, gambling was part of the horse race. Fans said they knew of bets placed in secret among groups and friends.

"Gambling is the main starter and the main economic way to make the race track succeed," said Atar, who said he did not know that illegal gambling was taking place. He hoped that in three to four months the Israeli government would approve horse race gambling.

Israeli businessman Ronen Kristal, who invested the first $700,000 in the track, said other investors are waiting for gambling to become legal. He said it would cost about $14 million to finish the project, which is expected to create about 3,500 jobs. (info from The Associated Press & Reuters, photo from Reuters)

1523: first bed pillow

Pillows were used for decoration, and comfort on hard seating surfaces, as far back as ancient Egypt; but pillows that raise the head above the sleeping surface are a relatively recent development.

In 1523, London physician Sir Lester Maimonides was treating a male patient for what might now be considered sleep apnea -- a loss of the ability to breath during sleep.

The doctor thought the problem could be caused by his patient sleeping face-down, and partially inhaling the loose bed sheet, which blocked his nasal passages.

Maimonides constructed a U-shaped pillow by padding a section cut from an ale barrel, to cradle the patient's head face-up, and installed restraining straps to keep the patient from rotating.

The patient's sleep-breathing problem was instantly solved, but unfortunately, he died just a few weeks later from pneumonia. After his death, his daughter slept in his bed, without the straps, and loved using the special head cushion. She claimed she never slept better, and told friends and relatives, who clamored for "head-raisers" of their own.

Dr. Maimonides discontinued his medical practice, and became a full-time pillow maker. He even supplied the royal family, and was knighted for his invention.

1957: first black tennis champ

Althea Gibson (1927 – 2003) was an American sportswoman who, on August 22, 1950, became the first African-American woman to be a competitor on the world tennis tour and the first to win a 'grand slam' title in 1957. She is sometimes referred to as "the Jackie Robinson of tennis" for breaking the color barrier.

A pioneer in both amateur tennis and professional golf, Gibson paved the way for the likes of Venus Williams and Tiger Woods. She not only broke barriers in tennis, but she was also the first black woman on the LPGA tour.

Born in Silver, South Carolina, Gibson was the daughter of sharecroppers and was raised in Harlem, New York City. She and her family were on welfare. Gibson had trouble in school. She ran away from home quite frequently. She excelled in horsemanship but also competed in golf, basketball, and paddle tennis. Her talent for and love of paddle tennis led her to win tournaments sponsored by the Police Athletic League and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Musician Buddy Walker noticed her playing ping-pong and introduced her to tennis at the Harlem River Tennis Courts. Dr. Walter Johnson, a Lynchburg, Virginia, physician who was active in the black tennis community, helped with her training.

With the assistance of a sponsor, Gibson moved to Wilmington, North Carolina in 1946 for tennis training, and in 1947 at the age of 20, she won the first of 10 consecutive national championships run by the American Tennis Association, the then-governing body for black tournaments.

Forced to play in what was basically a segregated sport, at age 23 Gibson was finally given the opportunity to participate in the 1950 US Championships after Alice Marble had written an editorial for the July 1, 1950, edition of American Lawn Tennis Magazine. Marble said, "Miss Gibson is over a very cunningly wrought barrel, and I can only hope to loosen a few of its staves with one lone opinion. If tennis is a game for ladies and gentlemen, it's also time we acted a little more like gentlepeople and less like sanctimonious hypocrites.... If Althea Gibson represents a challenge to the present crop of women players, it's only fair that they should meet that challenge on the courts."

Marble said that if Gibson were not given the opportunity to compete, "then there is an uneradicable mark against a game to which I have devoted most of my life, and I would be bitterly ashamed."

Gibson continued to improve her tennis game while pursuing an education. In 1953, she graduated from Florida A&M University on a tennis and basketball scholarship and moved to Jefferson City, Missouri to work as an athletic instructor at Lincoln University.

Gibson was now able to compete against the best players from around the world because the color barrier had been broken. Gibson's game improved to where she won the 1955 Italian Championships. The following year, she won her first Grand Slam titles, capturing the French Championships in singles and in doubles with her partner, Jewish Englishwoman Angela Buxton.

Buxton had run into discrimination from other players and the tennis establishment along the same lines as those experienced by Gibson, so the two joined forces and achieved great success. Buxton was the first Jewish champion at Wimbledon, and Gibson was the first champion of African descent. An English newspaper reported their victory at Wimbledon under the headline "Minorities Win."

She followed up by becoming the first black person to win a title at Wimbledon, again capturing the doubles title with Buxton. At the US Championships that year, she reached the singles final where she lost to Shirley Fry Irvin.

In 1957, Gibson lost in the singles final of the Australian Championships, again to Irvin. The two women, however, teamed to capture the doubles title, as Buxton had retired prematurely at the age of 22 due to a serious hand injury.

At Wimbledon, Gibson won her first of two consecutive singles championships and, upon returning to the United States, was given a ticker-tape parade in New York City and an official welcome at New York City Hall. She responded by winning the US Championships. For her accomplishments that year, Gibson earned the No. 1 ranking in the world and was named the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year.

In 1958, after successfully defending her Wimbledon singles title and winning her third consecutive Wimbledon women's doubles title, Gibson again won the singles title at the US Championships. She was named the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year for the second consecutive year. That year, Gibson retired from amateur tennis.

Before the open era began, there was no prize money, other than an expense allowance, and no endorsement deals. To begin earning prize money, tennis players had to give up their amateur status. As there was no professional tour for women, Gibson was limited to playing in a series of exhibition tours.

In retirement, Gibson wrote her autobiography and in 1959 recorded an album, Althea Gibson Sings, as well as appearing in the motion picture, The Horse Soldiers. In 1964, she became the first African-American woman to play in the Ladies Professional Golf Association. However, she was too old to be successful and only played for a few years.

In 1971, Gibson was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and in 1975, she was appointed the New Jersey state commissioner of athletics. After 10 years on the job, she went on to work in other public service positions, including serving on the governor's council on physical fitness.

Tennis players made no money in the ‘50s, and Gibson’s finances worsened over the years. In 1992, she suffered a stroke. A few years later, Gibson called Buxton and told her she was on the brink of suicide. Gibson was living on welfare, and unable to pay for rent or medication. Buxton arranged for a letter to appear in a tennis magazine. Buxton told Gibson nothing about the letter, but Gibson figured it out when her mailbox started to bulge with envelopes full of checks from around the world. Eventually nearly $1 million came in.

The title of her autobiography, written in 1958, is "I Always Wanted to Be Somebody." To tennis fans, she always will be somebody very special. Though she didn't go looking for the role of pioneer, she was one. "If it hadn't been for her," says Billie Jean King, winner of 12 Grand Slam singles titles, "it wouldn't have been so easy for Arthur (Ashe) or the ones who followed."

In 2003, at the age of 76, Gibson died in East Orange, New Jersey due to respiratory failure.

In August 2007, on the opening night of the US Open, the 50th anniversary of Gibson's victory at the US National Championships in 1957, Gibson was inducted into US Open Court of Champions. (info from Wikipedia & AltheaGibson.com. Photo from AltheaGibson.com)

2007: new record for fliegel-fressing(chicken wing eating)

Competitive eater Sonya ("The Black Widow") Thomas weighs just 105 pounds, but she scarfed down 5.17 pounds of chicken wings in 12 minutes Saturday night to win the wing-eating contest at the National Buffalo Wing Festival.

Thomas devoured 173 wings, beating 12 bigger-bellied competitors.

The contest is an annual Labor Day weekend event in Buffalo, NY, the city where Buffalo wings were born. Thomas, from Alexandria, VA, also held the festival's previous record of 161 wings in 12 minutes, set in 2004.

Thomas has set numerous records in competitive eating events, including 37 hot dogs in 12 minutes; 35 bratwursts in 10 minutes; 11 pounds of cheesecake in 9 minutes; 44 lobsters in 12 minutes; and 250 Tater Tots in 5 minutes.

She is ranked No. 5 by the International Federation of Competitive Eating. According to the federation's Website, No. 1-ranked Joey Chestnut holds the 12-minute record for chicken wings, downing 7.5 pounds of them May 21, but apparently didn't do it in Buffalo. (info from the Associated Press, photo from sonyatheblackwidow.com)

1848: first publicly supported free municipal library in US

Founded in 1848, by an act of the Great and General Court of Massachusetts, the Boston Public Library (BPL) was the first large free municipal library in the United States.

The library's first building of its own was a former schoolhouse located on Mason Street that was opened to the public on March 20, 1854. The library had about 16,000 books, and it was obvious from the first day that the facility was too small.

In December of that year the library's Commissioners were authorized to locate a new building upon a lot on Boylston Street. The present Copley Square location has been home to the library since 1895, when architect Charles Follen McKim completed his "palace for the people."

In the latter half of the 19th century, the library worked vigorously to develop and expand its branch library system. Viewed as a means to extend its presence throughout the city, the branch system evolved from an idea in 1867 to a reality in 1870, when the first branch library in the United States was opened in East Boston.

Between 1872 and 1900, twenty-one more branches began serving communities throughout Boston's diverse neighborhoods. In 1972 the library expanded its Copley Square location with the opening of an addition designed by Philip Johnson. Today, the McKim building houses the BPL's vast research collection and the Johnson building holds the circulating collection of the general library and serves as headquarters for the Boston Public Library's 26 branch libraries.

In addition to its 6.1 million books, the library boasts over 1.2 million rare books and manuscripts, a wealth of maps, musical scores and prints. Among its large collections, the BPL holds several first edition folios by William Shakespeare, original music scores from Mozart to Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf;" and, in its rare book collection, the personal library of John Adams. Due to the extent of the collections, many items are displayed on a rotating basis. These unique Special Exhibits are shown in the Research Library and offer the public an opportunity to view books and documents which are usually available only to research scholars.

Over 2.2 million patrons visit the BPL each year, many in pursuit of research material, others looking for an afternoon's reading, still others for the magnificent and unique art and architecture

In addition to being the first publicly supported free municipal library in the world, the Boston Public Library has many other distinctions such as:

The first library to allow its citizens to borrow books and materials, a truly revolutionary concept at the time.

The first public library to issue an Annual Report by Library Trustees (1852), a notable inspiration to the American public library movement.

One of the original 22 public libraries in the country designated as Patent Depository Libraries by the Department of Commerce in 1871.

The first library to establish a space specifically designated for children, in 1895, with more than 3,000 books within the reach of young children.

The first library to introduce the art of formal storytelling. Celebrated European storyteller Marie Shedlock first appeared in the Children's Room of the Boston Public Library in Copley Square in 1902.

The first public business reference library to be established through a 1930 gift from Boston businessman and Library Trustee Louis E. Kirstein in honor of his father.

A pioneer in establishing audiovisual services for libraries. In 1950, the first Audiovisual Department in a New England library was established at the Boston Public Library, and AV materials, including 16 mm films and LP recordings, were regularly loaned to patrons throughout the area.

The library offers free wireless Internet access at all neighborhood locations, and has more than 3,500 classics, including works by Homer and Shakespeare in eBook format. (info from BPL)

1958: first submarine reaches North Pole

Expeditions to the South and North Poles began as early as the 1500s, but many of them encountered extreme conditions that forced them to turn back. Other expeditions suffered great tragedy and losses due to rampant illness among crew members, violent encounters with indigenous peoples, and navigation difficulties. The earliest seafaring vessels were wooden ships powered only by sails, hardly a worthy match for the extreme ice conditions at the ends of the Earth. But as sea trade increased, ships became more powerful, sturdy, and capable of enduring the severe conditions faced by crews as they made their way north and southward.

The timeline below represents some of the milestones in exploration and science in the Earth's polar regions during the last 200 years or so.

1773: Using his exceptional navigation skills, Captain James Cook and his crew become the first to cross the Antarctic Circle, confirming that the southern continent is an extremely icy and forbidding place. Previously, there had been hopes of a "second Europe" somewhere at high southern latitudes in the South Pacific.

1823: Englishman James Weddell sails to 74° South and penetrates the sea that bears his name today. This is the farthest south reached up to that time. The Weddell Sea would not be reached again until 1914, by Ernest Shackleton.

1827: Sir William Edward Parry, with James Clark Ross, attempts to reach the North Pole by sledge from Spitsbergen. He is forced to turn back, due to the fatigue of his party, but gets as far as 82° 45' North, establishing a Farthest North record that will stand for 50 years.

1881-84: As America's contribution to the International Polar Year, Adolphus Greely leads an expedition to the Arctic to establish a station at remote Lady Franklin Bay on Ellesmere Island. A major goal of the expedition was to try and reach the Pole, or at least plant the U.S. flag on a new Farthest North point. Although he managed to reach 83° 24' North, farther than any previous attempts, he never reached the North Pole, and 19 of his 25 men died waiting for a rescue expedition.

1882-83: The first International Polar Year (IPY) is established, with eleven nations agreeing to establish 15 new observation stations in the Arctic and Antarctica.

1892: Norwegian Carl Larsen lands his ship, the Jason, near the Antarctic Peninsula on Seymour Island. He discovers fossils that become the first evidence of a previous warmer climate in Earth's polar regions.

1893-95: One man's demise was another man's claim to fame. When wreckage from the ill-fated Jeannette expedition was found on the southwest coast of Greenland, it was quickly deduced that the wood fragments had drifted across the Arctic Ocean. Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen concluded that perhaps a ship could do the same thing. In a new, state-of-the-art ship designed to rise under lateral pressure from the ice, called the Fram, Nansen and Otto Sverdrup drifted across the Arctic Ocean. When the ship became frozen in the Arctic pack ice near the New Siberian Islands, Nansen and Frederik Johansen left the Fram and tried to reach the North Pole by traveling over the ice. Although they were forced to turn back, they surpassed 86° North and established a new Farthest North Record. The entire expedition took nearly three years, during which time a significant amount of scientific data were collected.

1903-05: Roald Amundsen completes the first successful navigation of the Northwest Passage on his ship, the Gjoa. The survival skills he learned from the Inuit people while wintering at Gjoa Haven played a large role in his future exploration successes.

1908: Explorers Ernest Shackleton, Frank Wild, Eric Marshall, and Jameson Adams attempt to reach the South Pole. Within 30 days, they surpass Robert Scott's 1903 effort, but illness and under-nourishment forces them to turn back, despite having come within 97 nautical miles of the South Pole. Shackleton reaches a greater latitude during this trip than had yet been reached in the North.

1909: After two previous attempts (1902 and 1906), Robert Peary reaches the North Pole on April 6, 1909. Peary had learned from his assistant Matthew Henson the value of observing Eskimo ways, and he also believed that his chances of success would be greater by starting in late winter, when the ice was firmer, than in summer. The expedition set off from Ellesmere Island on March 1, 1909, with 23 men, 133 dogs, and 19 sleds. Only six men (Peary, Hensen, and four Eskimos) completed the final 133 miles to the North Pole, the remaining men having returned to land after completing their portions of the expedition. Peary's claim comes just days after Frederick Cook's false claim of having reached the North Pole a year earlier.

1911-12: Both Roald Amundsen and Robert Scott reach the South Pole. Amundsen's team arrives first on December 14, 1911, after discovering a new route that took only 57 days. Scott's team arrives on January 18, 1912, only to find that Amundsen had already been there and planted a Norwegian flag. Completely dispirited by their failure to reach the Pole first and physically ravaged by a tortuous journey, Scott and all five members of the team that accompanied him to the Pole perish on the return trip.

1926: In a joint American-Italian-Norwegian expedition, Roald Amundsen and Lincoln Ellsworth set out from Spitsbergen on the airship Norge, commanded by Umberto Nobile and piloted by Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen. After a 16-hour flight, the crew reaches the North Pole on the morning of May 12, 1926, where they drop the Norwegian, Italian, and American flags.

1930: On November 29, flying from a base at the Bay of Whales, Richard Byrd and three fellow explorers become the first to fly over the South Pole in a flight that lasted 18 hours, 41 minutes.

1932-33: The Second International Polar Year takes place, with 40 nations participating in Arctic research. Due to the worldwide depression, the second IPY is smaller than originally envisioned.

1957-58: The Third International Polar Year (later renamed the International Geophysical Year) begins with a strong Antarctic effort by scientists from 67 countries. The Amundsen-Scott Base at the South Pole is constructed to facilitate Operation Deepfreeze, a series of scientific expeditions to Antarctica.

1958: On August 3, the USS Nautilus becomes the first submarine to reach the North Pole. After 96 hours and 1830 miles submerged under the Arctic ice cap, it surfaces in the Greenland Sea. (info from the University of Arizona)

2007: first car meets Japan's 2015 fuel economy standard

Japan is shaking up its fuel economy standards and Toyota has announced that the Prius has already met the new, tougher 2015 fuel efficiency procedures.

Under Japan’s older "10.15" mode fuel cycle system, the Prius manages a class leading 83.5 mpg. Many in Japan have wondered for some time about that rating, which is pretty unrepresentative of what the Prius typically achieves in real world duty.

The impression is that the 10.15-mode test actually works too well for a gas-electric vehicle, since for much of it, hybrids are able to run in electric-only mode, which obviously makes for a great economy figure.

Now the Feds in Japan have woken up to this and devised a stricter test which involves higher speeds, sharper acceleration and a longer overall test duration.

Under this, the Prius returns 63.3 mpg, which is still quite good. A newer and presumably better Prius is due in 2009. (info from WindingRoad.com)

2008: last paper airline tickets

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced yesterday that it placed its final order for paper tickets. Some 16.5 million paper tickets were ordered to supply 60,000 accredited IATA travel agents around the world until May 31 2008. Starting June 1, 2008, all tickets issued through the IATA Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) will be electronic.

“This is last call for paper tickets,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO. “It’s been 38 months since we launched the drive for 100% e-ticketing as part of IATA’s Simplifying the Business initiative. E-ticketing went from 16% in June 2004 to 84% today. And in just 278 more days the paper ticket will become a collector’s item.”

IATA’s systems issue over 400 million tickets annually. With the volume of paper tickets now at 16% of the total and an approaching deadline for the elimination of paper, the final order of tickets was made. The order volume of 16.5 million took into account an estimate of current paper ticket stocks and estimated demand in order to ensure a robust supply of tickets to meet demand.

“We are changing an industry with tangible benefits for travellers, agents, airlines and the environment,” said Bisignani. “Consumers enjoy the convenience and flexibility of paperless travel. Agents have the opportunity to broaden the scope of their business and serve their customers remotely. The cost saving of $9 for every e-ticket compared to a paper ticket adds up to $3 billion in annual savings for the industry. And eliminating paper will save the equivalent of 50,000 mature trees each year.”

(info from IATA, photo from iStockphoto)

1954: man runs a mile in less than four minutes

Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister (born in 1929) is a British former athlete best known as the first man to run the mile in less than four minutes. Bannister became a distinguished neurologist and Master of Pembroke College, Oxford and retired in 2001.

This historic event took place on May 6, 1954 during a meet between British AAA and Oxford University at Iffley Road Track in Oxford. It was watched by about 3,000 spectators. With winds up to 25 miles per hour prior to the event, Bannister had said twice that he was reluctant to run, to conserve his energy and efforts to break the 4-minute barrier at another meet.

However, the winds dropped just before the race was scheduled to begin, and Bannister did run. His time was 3 min 59.4 s. Two other runners, Brasher and Chataway, provided pacing while completing the race. Both went on to establish their own track careers. The race was broadcast live by BBC Radio and commented on by Harold Abrahams, of "Chariots of Fire" fame.

The stadium announcer for the race was Norris McWhirter, who went on to publish and edit the Guinness Book of Records. He famously "teased" the crowd by drawing out the announcement of the time Bannister ran as long as possible:

"Ladies and gentlemen, here is the result of event 9, the one-mile: 1st, No. 41, R.G. Bannister, Amateur Athletic Association and formerly of Exeter and Merton Colleges, Oxford, with a time which is a new meeting and track record, and which - subject to ratification - will be a new English Native, British National, All-Comers, European, British Empire, and World Record. The time was 3..."

The roar of the crowd drowned out the rest of the announcement.

The claim that a 4-minute mile was once thought to be impossible by informed observers was and is a widely propagated myth cooked up by sportswriters and debunked by Bannister himself in his memoir, The Four Minute Mile, 1955.

The reason the myth took hold was that 4 minutes was a nice round number which was slightly better (1.4 seconds) than the world record for nine years—longer than it probably otherwise would have been because of the effect of World War II in interrupting athletic progress in the combatant countries.

Swedish runners Gunder Hagg and Arne Andersson, in a series of head-to-head races in the period 1942–45, had already lowered the world mile record by 5 seconds to the pre-Bannister record. What is still impressive to knowledgeable track fans is that Bannister ran a 4-minute mile on very low-mileage training by modern standards.

Just 46 days later on June 21 in Turku, Finland, Bannister's record was broken by his rival John Landy of Australia, with a time of 3 min 57.9 s, which the IAAF ratified as 3 min 58.0 s due to the rounding rules then in effect.

On August 7, at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, B.C., Bannister competed against Landy for the first time in a race billed as "The Miracle Mile". They were the only two men in the world to have broken the 4-minute barrier, with Landy still holding the world record.

Landy led for most of the race, building a lead of 10 yards in the third lap (of four), but was overtaken on the last bend, and Bannister won in 3 min 58.8 s, with Landy 0.8 s behind in 3 minutes and 59.6 seconds.

Bannister and Landy have both pointed out that the crucial moment of the race was that at the moment when Bannister decided to try to pass Landy, Landy looked over his left shoulder to gauge Bannister's position and Bannister burst past him on the right, never relinquishing the lead. A larger-than-life bronze sculpture of the two men at this moment was created by Vancouver sculptor Jack Harman in 1967 and stood for many years at the entrance to Empire Stadium; after the stadium was demolished the sculpture was moved a short distance away to the Hastings and Renfrew entrance of the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) fairgrounds. Regarding this sculpture, Landy quipped that "While Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt for looking back, I am probably the only one ever turned into bronze for looking back."

Bannister went on that season to win the "metric mile", the 1,500 m, at the European Championships in Berne on August 29, with a championship record in a time of 3 min 43.8 s. He then retired from athletics to concentrate on a career in neurology. (info from Wikipedia)

1892: first voting machine

The paper ballot system, with standardized voting forms, was first adopted in the Australian state of Victoria in 1856, and in the remaining Australian states over the next several years. The paper ballot became known as the "Australian ballot," and New York was the first American state to use it, in 1889.

The first official use of a lever type voting machine, known then as the "Myers Automatic Booth," was in Lockport, NY in 1892. Four years later, they were employed on a large scale in Rochester, NY, and soon were adopted statewide. By 1930, lever machines had been installed in virtually every major city in the US, and by the 1960’s well over half of US votes were being cast on these machines.

On mechanical lever voting machines, the name of each candidate or ballot issue choice is assigned a particular lever in a rectangular array of levers on the front of the machine. A set of printed strips visible to the voters identifies the lever assignment for each candidate and issue choice. The levers are horizontal in their unvoted positions.

The voter activates the machine with a lever that also closes a privacy curtain. The voter pulls down selected levers to indicate choices. When the voter exits the booth by opening the privacy curtain with the handle, the voted levers are automatically returned to their original horizontal position. As each lever returns, it causes a connected counter wheel within the machine to turn one-tenth of a full rotation. The counter wheel, serving as the "ones" position of the numerical count for the associated lever, drives a "tens" counter one-tenth of a rotation for each of its full rotations. The "tens" counter similarly drives a "hundreds" counter.

If all mechanical connections are fully operational during the voting period, and the counters are initially set to zero, the position of each counter at the close of the polls indicates the number of votes cast on the lever that drives it. Interlocks in the machine prevent the voter from voting for more choices than permitted.

Because these machines are no longer made, the trend is to replace them with computer-based or direct recording electronic systems. (info from About.com, photo from the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution)

1894: women no longer owned by men

At one time, married women in the US could not make wills, be the guardian of their children, receive wages earned, or own or inherit property.

Upon saying "I do," a woman became chattel property of her husband, not even owning the clothes she wore. By 1890, Kentucky was the only state in in the US where such laws still existed.

Josephine Henry, a dynamic speaker and powerful writer from Versailles, was a major activist in the fight for women's equality. Her greatest accomplishment was the Married Woman's Property Act, or the Husband and Wife Bill, passed in 1894.

Henry regarded the Property Act as the first step toward women's suffrage because she understood the importance of economic independence and security. She called for women to no longer be "treated as outlaws and all their property confiscated at marriage." After years of speeches, articles and lobbying, the Property Act, though criticized as anti-family and unladylike, finally passed the General Assembly and was signed into law.

Henry was the first woman in Kentucky, and in the South, to run for state office. She was the 1890 Prohibition Party candidate for Clerk of the Kentucky Court of Appeals and received nearly 5,000 votes. She was also nominated in 1894 for State Superintendent of Public Instruction and was discussed as a possible candidate for President.

A woman of courage and conviction far ahead of her time, Henry questioned the values of the time and discussed topics such as divorce, restoration of the maiden name, birth control, dress reform, economic security, and sex education, and dedicated her life to the pursuit of justice and equality for women. (info from WFPL radio, photo from Woodford County Historical Society)

1876: first major league home runs

Ancient baseball history is a little fuzzy, but it appears that both Ross Barnes and Charlie Jones hit homers in a game between the Chicago White Stockings (Barnes) and the Cincinnati Red Stockings (Jones) on May 2, 1876. Barnes may have homer-ed before Jones, or maybe not.

Babe Ruth hit the first home run in Yankee Stadium on the day it opened in 1923, against Boston.

The all-time, verified professional baseball record for home runs is 868, held by Sadaharu Oh, a former player and manager of the Yomiuri Giants and current manager of the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks in Japan's league (called Nippon Professional Baseball).

As of today, in US Major League baseball, the record is 760, held by Barry Bonds, who broke Hank Aaron's record on August 7, 2007, when he hit his 756th home run at AT&T Park. Only four other major league players have hit as many as 600: Hank Aaron (755), Babe Ruth (714), Willie Mays (660), and Sammy Sosa (604). The single season record is 73, set by Bonds in 2001.

Negro League slugger Josh Gibson's Baseball Hall of Fame plaque says he hit "almost 800" home runs in his career. The Guinness Book of World Records lists Gibson's lifetime home run total at 800. Gibson's true total is not known due to poor recordkeeping. The 1993 edition of the MacMillan Baseball Encyclopedia attempted to compile a set of Negro League records. Although sparse, their records demonsrate that Gibson and Ruth were of comparable power. The book has Gibson hitting 146 home runs in the 501 games they were able to account for in his 17-year career, about 1 homer every 3.4 games. Babe Ruth, in 22 seasons (several of them in the dead-ball era), hit 714 in 2503 games, or 1 homer every 3.5 games.

Other legendary home run hitters include Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle (who on September 10, 1960, mythically hit "the longest home run ever" at an estimated distance of 643 feet, although this was measured after the ball stopped rolling), Reggie Jackson, Harmon Killebrew, Ernie Banks, Mike Schmidt, Dave Kingman, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGuire, Ken Griffey Jr. and Eddie Mathews.

The longest verifiable home run distance is about 575 feet, by Babe Ruth, to straightaway center field at Tiger Stadium (then called Navin Field and prior to the double-deck), which landed nearly across the intersection of Trumbull and Cherry.

The location of where Hank Aaron's record 755th home run landed has been monumented in Milwaukee. The hallowed spot sits outside Miller Park, where the Milwaukee Brewers currently play. Similarly, the point where Aaron's 715th homer landed, upon breaking Ruth's career record in 1974, is marked in the Turner Field parking lot. (info from Baseball Almanac, MuseumSpot, Wikipedia)

2007: first hole-in-one by a blind woman

Sheila Drummond used her driver on the 144-yard fourth hole at a country club in Mahoning Valley, PA on Sunday -- a hole that's given her and other golfers plenty of trouble over the years.

Her shot cleared the creek in front of the tee box, split two sand bunkers that guard the front of the par 3 and rolled to the hole. Drummond heard the clack as the ball struck the flagstick, but she didn't see it drop.

That's because diabetes robbed her of her sight in 1981.

With the ace, the 53-year-old woman joined a select list of golfers who have accomplished the feat. After all, the odds of an amateur golfer getting a hole in one are 12,000-to-1, and the odds for a pro are 7,500-to-1, according a company that provides insurance for golf outings that give prizes for aces.

And the list is even smaller for those who are blind or whose vision is badly impaired.

Phil Blackwell, president of the US Blind Golf Association, said he knows of just three blind golfers who have aced a hole, and several golfers who have done it with badly impaired vision. He pointed out that blind golf is a team game, and the swing coach gets just as much satisfaction. In Drummond's case, the coach is her husband, Keith. "I never had a hole in one, but I get to say that I coached one," he said.

When they're on the course, Sheila takes a practice swing, and Keith places the ball and lines her up. Then Sheila repeats the swing. She regularly shoots in the 120s.

Sheila said her husband called her Sunday shot as it was in the air, telling her it split the sand traps and shouting that it went into the hole. He drove up and confirmed it went in.

Then the celebrating started. "We all stood there and screamed," Sheila said, adding she didn't play well for the rest of the nine-hole round because of the excitement.

Drummond took up the game 15 years ago, long after she lost her vision. She had been diagnosed with diabetes at age 8. After the disease blurred her vision in 1981, she had five surgeries to try to restore her sight, but went blind that same year. Despite that, she continued to be active, and even skied.

In 1991 she was looking for a new challenge when a friend who played blind golf asked her to try the game. This year, she's tournament director for the Blind Golf Association's 62nd national championship. The field includes 40 blind golfers and their coaches, including the Drummonds. (info & photo from Allentown Morning Call)

1997: last Woolworth's in the USA

The F. W. Woolworth Company (often referred to as Woolworth's) was a retail company that was one of the original American five-and-dime stores. The first Woolworth's store was founded, with a loan of $300, in 1878 by Frank Winfield Woolworth. He later became one of the richest men in the world.

Despite growing to be one of the largest retail chains through most of the 20th century, competition led to a decline beginning in the 1980s. In 1997, F. W. Woolworth Company converted itself into a sporting retailer, closing its remaining retail stores operating under the "Woolworth's" brand name and renaming itself Venator Group, and in 2001, Foot Locker Inc.

Chains using the Woolworth name survive in the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Mexico, and South Africa. The similarly named Woolworth's supermarkets in Australia and New Zealand are operated by Woolworths Limited, a separate company with no historical links to the F. W. Woolworth Company or Foot Locker. Much more in Remembering Woolworth's, by Karen Plunkett-Powell -- an extremely interesting book marred by a bunch of stupid errors. (photo by Fred "Scoop" Jonson)