1911: first rear-view mirror in a car

The earliest known use and mention of a rear-view mirror is in the 1906 book The Woman and the Car which noted that women should "carry a little hand-mirror in a convenient place when driving" so they may "hold the mirror aloft from time to time in order to see behind while driving in traffic" therefore inventing the rear view mirror before it was introduced by manufacturers in 1914.

The earliest known rear-view mirror mounted on a motor vehicle was in Ray Harroun's Marmon racecar at the inaugural Indianapolis 500 race in 1911.

According to Al Binder of Ward's Auto World: As per the custom of the day, all cars except Harroun's carried riding mechanics who, among other things, helped the driver keep track of other vehicles during the race. Unable to find a mechanic to ride with him, Harroun installed a mirror on his car so he could view what was happening behind him and be alert to any cars overtaking him.

Although Harroun's use is the first known use of such a mirror on a motor vehicle, Harroun himself claimed he got the idea from seeing a mirror used for the same purpose on a horse-drawn vehicle in 1904. The invention seems to have worked — Harroun won the race, netting a $14,250 prize, equivalent to about $280,000 today.

However, the rear-view mirror had to wait for Elmer Berger, the man usually credited with inventing the rear-view mirror, to first develop them for street use. (info from Wikipedia)

2007: Cynical Cousin Dave calls someone an idiot for the 10,000th time

Today, at 4:50pm, Eastern Daylight Time, Cynical Cousin Dave declared that Pumacat, who wrote to Slate.com to predict that Tony Soprano would whack Dr. Melfi, is an idiot.

1974: last Flip Wilson Show

Flip Wilson was among a group of rising black comics of the early 1970s, of such notoriety as Bill Cosby, Nipsey Russell and Dick Gregory. He is best remembered as the host of The Flip Wilson Show, the first variety show bearing the name of its African-American host, and for his role in renewing stereotype comedy.

With a keen wit developed during his impoverished youth, Wilson rose quickly to fame as a stand-up comic and television show host. Under the stagename Flip, inherited from Air Force pals who joked he was "flipped out," Wilson began performing in cheap clubs across the United States. His early routines featured black stereotypes of the controversial Amos 'n' Andy-type. After performing in hallmark black clubs such as the Apollo in Harlem and the Regal in Chicago, Wilson made a successful appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Recommended by Redd Foxx, Wilson also performed on The Tonight Show to great accolades, becoming a substitute host.

After making television guest appearances on such shows as Love, American Style and That's Life, and starring in his own 1969 NBC special, Wilson was offered an hour-long prime-time NBC show, The Flip Wilson Show, which saw a remarkable, four-year run. Only Sammy Davis Jr. had enjoyed similar success with his song and dance variety show; comparatively, shows hosted by Nat "King" Cole and Bill Cosby were quickly canceled, due to lack of sponsorship and narrow appeal. At the show's high point, advertising rates swelled to $86,000 per minute, and by 1972, The Flip Wilson Show was rated the most popular variety show, and the second most popular show overall in the United States.

Wilson's television success came from his unique combination of "new" stereotype comedy and his signature stand-up form. His style combined deadpan delivery and dialect borrowed from his role models, Redd Foxx and Bill Cosby, but replaced their humorous puns with storytelling. His fluid body language, likened to that of silent screen actor Charlie Chaplin, gave Wilson's act a dynamic and graceful air. The show benefited from his intensive production efforts, unprecedented for a black television performer; he wrote one third of the show's material, heavily edited the work of writers, and demanded a five-day workweek from his staff and guests to produce each one-hour segment. Audiences appreciated the show's innovative style risks, such as the intimate theater-in-the-round studio, and medium-long shots which replaced close-ups, to fully capture Wilson's expressive movements.

Wilson altered his club act for television to accomodate family viewing, relying on descriptive portraits of black characters and situations, rather than ridicule. Still, his show offended many African-Americans and civil rights activists who believed Wilson's humor depended on race. A large black and white television audience, however, found universal humor in the routines, and others credited Wilson with subtly ridiculing the art of stereotyping itself. Wilson, however, denied this claim, strongly denouncing suggestions that his race required that his art purport anti-bias messages.

These divergent interpretations in fact reflect the variety and difference among Wilson's characters. Some were easily offensive, such as the money laundering Reverend Leroy and the smooth swinger, Freddy the Playboy. Others, such as Sonny, White House janitor and the "wisest man in Washington", were positive black portraits. The show's most popular character, Geraldine, exemplifies Wilson's intention to produce race-free comedy. Perfectly coifed and decked out in designer clothes and chartreuse stockings, Geraldine demanded respect and, in Wilson's words, "Everybody knows she don't take no stuff." Liberated, yet married, outspoken, yet feminine, ghetto-born yet poised, Geraldine was neither floozy nor threat. This colorful black female image struck a positive chord with viewers; her one-liners -- "The devil made me do it," and "When you're hot, you're hot" -- became national fads.

Social messages were imparted indirectly through Wilson's characters; Geraldine, for example, countered the female-degrading acts of other popular stand-up comics. Through Geraldine, Wilson also negotiated race and class bias by positively characterizing a working class black female, in contrast to the absence of female black images on 1970s television, with the exception of the middle-class black nurse of the 1969 sitcom Julia.

Wilson's humor was at the same time insightful, self-effacing and often intellectual. One of his best jokes (the retelling of a very old joke) was relayed as follows: "Lots of crazy things happen in traveling. Just last week I was on a train. There was a woman traveling with a baby. UGLY baby! I mean, I'm not one to make comments about anyone's kid -- but this was an UGLY baby. A guy walks down the train -- he's half smashed -- and he stops. And he stares. And the lady says "What are you looking at?" The guy says "I'm looking at that ugly baby." A scene ensues, whereupon the conductor arrives. He says "What's going on here?" The woman says "This man just insulted me!" The conductor says "Now calm down Madam, calm down. We here at the railroad want to make sure that there are no altercations between our passengers and that everyone's trip is as relaxing as possible. Accordingly, if you allow us, please step into the dining car and the railroad will buy you a free meal. And maybe we can find a banana for your monkey."

In his stand-up comedy routine "Columbus," Wilson re-tells the story of Christopher Columbus from a slightly 'urban' perspective, with Columbus finally convincing the Spanish monarchs to fund his voyage by noting that discovering America means that he can thus also discover Ray Charles. Hearing this, Queen Isabella, sounding not unlike "Geraldine," says that "Chris" can have "all the money you want, Honey -- You go find Ray Charles!!" When Columbus departs from the dock, Isabella is there, testifying to one and all that "Chris gonna find Ray Charles!!"

Wilson's career lost momentum when his show was canceled in 1974. Though the recipient of a 1970 Emmy Award for outstanding writing and a 1971 Grammy for best comedy record, Wilson's career never rekindled. He continued to make television specials, and TV guest appearances, debuted in Sydney Poitier's successful, post-blaxploitation film, Uptown Saturday Night, and performed in two subsequent unsuccessful films. His 1985 television comeback, Charlie and Company -- a sitcom following The Cosby Show's formula--had a short run.

Wilson saw himself first as an artist, hence, humor was more prominent than politics in his comic routines. This style, however, allowed him to successfully impart occassional social messages into his act. Moreover, he achieved unprecedented artistic control of his show, pressing the parameters for black television perfomers and producers. Through Geraldine, Wilson created one of a few respectful television images for black woman, who were generally marginalized by both the civil rights and women's movements of that era. Finally, though no regular black variety show took up where Wilson left off, its success paved the way for the popularity of later sitcoms featuring middle- and working-class black families, situations, and dialect, shows such as Sanford and Son, The Jeffersons and Good Times. Wilson died of cancer at the age of 64, in 1998.(Info from The Museum of Broadcast Communications, and Wikipedia)

1998: Daimler buys Chrysler2007: Daimler sells Chrysler

DaimlerChrysler announced today a deal to sell a controlling stake in Chrysler Group, Detroit's No. 3 auto maker, to private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management. Daimler paid $36 billion to buy Chrysler nine years ago, and will sell about 80% of it for $7.4 billion.

The deal, in which DaimlerChrysler is effectively paying to dispose of most of Chrysler, is also a watershed in the industry, marking the first time a private-equity company has acquired one of the world's biggest auto makers.

In Greek mythology, Cerberus was a monstrous three-headed dog with a snake for a tail. Cerberus guarded the gate to hell and ensured that spirits of the dead could not leave.

DaimlerChrysler said that an affiliate of Cerberus (the company, not the monster) will acquire 80.1% in the new Chrysler Holding LLC, while DaimlerChrysler will keep a 19.9% stake. It said that obligations for pensions and health-care costs would be retained by the Chrysler companies.

The affiliate will make a capital contribution of $7.4 billion in return for the 80.1% equity interest in the future new company. Due to the new corporate structure, the name of DaimlerChrysler AG is to be changed to Daimler AG.

DaimlerChrysler said the deal is still subject to the approval of its supervisory board, but has been backed by the United Autoworkers Union. The closing of the transaction is expected to take place in the third quarter of 2007.

The news sent DaimlerChrysler shares up 5.4% in morning trade in Frankfurt. Shares extended a nearly 30% rise going into Monday on anticipation of such a deal.

A private-equity takeover of Chrysler marks a watershed for the industry, which is struggling under the weight of massive pension and health-care obligations to its union workers. Those debts and the cash required to fund them have hobbled General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler in the face of relentless competition from Asian and European rivals. Chrysler has estimated that Japanese auto makers like Toyota Motor Corp. enjoy a labor-cost advantage of as much as $30 an hour.

Cerberus has a record of slashing costs at operations it acquires, and some analysts say a Cerberus-owned Chrysler could move much more aggressively to cut labor costs, prune Chrysler's crowded dealer network in the U.S. and shift investment to developing markets overseas. But any final deal for Chrysler also hinges on what happens this summer, when the United Auto Workers kicks off negotiations for new contracts with all three Detroit auto makers.

The proposed sale would mark the end of DaimlerChrysler's turbulent nine-year effort to make a success of an ambitious global expansion strategy pushed by former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jürgen Schrempp. Mr. Schrempp rocked the auto industry in 1998 with his deal to buy Chrysler, which at the time was at a high point in its profit and product cycle.

Billed at the time as a "merger of equals," the deal never delivered the synergies that Mr. Schrempp and his successor, Dieter Zetsche, argued it could. Instead, Chrysler's performance seesawed from losses to profits to, most recently, losses again. For 2006, Chrysler Group had a loss of $633.3 million on revenue of $63.6 billion. (info from The Wall Street Journal and Wikipedia)

1969: first computer with a floppy disc drive2009?: last computer with a floppy disc drive

In 1967, IBM wanted to develop a simple and inexpensive system for loading microcode into their System/370 mainframe computers. The 370 was the first IBM computer to use semiconductor memory, and whenever the power was turned off the microcode had to be reloaded. Normally this task would be done with tape drives which almost all 370 systems included, but tapes were large and slow. IBM wanted something faster and and lighter that could also be sent out to customers with software updates for $5.

An IBM team developed a read-only, 8-inch diameter flexible "floppy" disk they called the "memory disk", holding 80 kilobytes. The new device became a standard part of 370 systems starting in 1969.

In 1973 IBM released a new version of the floppy that stored up to 250¼ kB on the same disks, and was read-write. These drives became common, and soon were being used to move smaller amounts of data around, almost completely replacing magnetic tapes. The IBM standard soft-sectored disk format was designed to hold just as much data as one box of punch cards.

When the first microcomputers were being developed in the 1970s, the 8-inch floppy found a place on them as one of the few "high speed, mass storage" devices that were even remotely affordable to the target market (individuals and small businesses). The first microcomputer operating system, CP/M, originally shipped on 8-inch disks. However, the drives were still expensive, typically costing more than the computer they were attached to in early days, so most machines of the era used cassette tape instead.

This began to change with the acceptance of the first standard for the floppy disk, and standardization brought together competitors to make media to a single interchangeable standard, and allowed rapid quality and cost improvement.

In 1976 two of Shugart Associates's employees were approached by An Wang of Wang Laboratories, who felt that the 8-inch format was simply too large for the desktop word processing machines he was developing at the time. After meeting in a bar in Boston, Adkisson asked Wang what size he thought the disks should be, and Wang pointed to a napkin and said "about that size". Adkisson took the napkin back to California, found it to be 5¼-inches (13 cm) wide, and developed a new drive of this size storing 98.5 KB later increased to 110 KB by adding 5 tracks. This is believed to be the first standard computer medium that was not promulgated by IBM.

The 5¼-inch drive was considerably less expensive than 8-inch drives from IBM, and soon started appearing on CP/M machines. At one point Shugart was producing 4,000 drives a day. By 1978 there were more than 10 manufacturers producing 5¼-inch floppy drives, in competing physical disk formats: hard-sectored (90 KB) and soft-sectored (110 KB). The 5¼-inch formats quickly displaced the 8-inch from most applications.

These early drives read only one side of the disk, leading to the popular budget approach of cutting a second write-enable slot and index hole into the carrier envelope and flipping it over (thus, the "flippy disk") to use the other side for additional storage. This was considered risky by some, the reasoning being that when flipped the disk would spin in the opposite direction inside its cover, so some of the dirt that had been collected by the fabric lining in the previous rotations would be picked up by the disk and dragged past the read/write head.[citation needed] In reality, since some single-head floppy drives had their read/write heads on the bottom and some had them on the top, disk manufacturers routinely certified both sides of disks for use, thus the method was perfectly safe.

Floppy disk write protect tabs. These sticky paper tabs are folded over the notch in the side of a 5¼-inch disk to prevent the computer from writing data to the disk. Later disks, such as the 3½-inch disk, had a built-in slideable plastic tab to implement write-protection.Tandon introduced a double-sided drive in 1978, doubling the capacity, and a new "double density" format increased it again, to 360 KB.

For most of the 1970s and 1980s the floppy drive was the primary storage device for microcomputers. Since these micros had no hard drive, the OS was usually booted from one floppy disk, which was then removed and replaced by another one containing the application. Some machines using two disk drives (or one dual drive) allowed the user to leave the OS disk in place and simply change the application disks as needed. In the early 1980s, "quad density" 96 track-per-inch drives appeared, increasing the capacity to 720 KB.

Despite the available capacity of the disks, support on the most popular operating system of the early 80s—PC-DOS and MS-DOS—lagged slightly behind. In fact, the original IBM PC did not include a floppy drive at all as standard equipment—you could either buy the optional 5¼-inch floppy drive or rely upon the cassette port. With version 1.0 of DOS (1981) only single sided 160 KB floppies were supported. Version 1.1 the next year saw support expand to double-sided, 320 KB disks. Finally in 1983 DOS 2.0 supported 9 sectors per track rather than 8, providing 180 KB on a (formatted) single-sided disk and 360 KB on a double-sided. Along with this change came support for different directories on the disk (now commonly called folders), which came in handy when organizing the greater number of files possible in this increased space.

In 1984, along with the IBM PC/AT, the high density disk appeared, which used 96 tracks per inch combined with a higher density magnetic media to provide 1,200 KB of storage. Since the usual (very expensive) hard disk held 10–20 megabytes at the time, this was considered quite spacious.

By the end of the 1980s, the 5¼-inch disks had been superseded by the 3½-inch disks. Though 5¼-inch drives were still available, as were disks, they faded in popularity as the 1990s began. The main community of users was primarily those who still owned '80s legacy machines (PCs running MS-DOS or home computers) that had no 3½-inch drive; the advent of Windows 95 (not even sold in stores in a 5¼-inch version; a coupon had to be obtained and mailed in) and subsequent phaseout of standalone MS-DOS with version 6.22 forced many of them to upgrade their hardware. On most new computers the 5¼-inch drives were optional equipment.

Throughout the early 1980s the limitations of the 5¼-inch format were starting to become clear. Originally designed to be a smaller and more practical 8-inch, the 5¼-inch system was itself too large, and as the quality of the recording media grew, the same amount of data could be placed on a smaller surface. Another problem was that the 5¼-inch disks were simply copies of the 8-inch physical format, which had never really been engineered for ease of use. The thin folded-plastic shell allowed the disk to be easily damaged through bending, and allowed dirt to get onto the disk.

A number of solutions were developed by various companies. They all shared a number of advantages over the older format, including a small form factor and a rigid case with a slideable write protect catch. The almost-universal use of the 5¼-inch format made it very difficult for any of these new formats to gain any significant market share until 1984 when Sony convinced Apple to use the 3½-inch drives in the Macintosh 128K model, effectively making the 3½-inch drive a de-facto standard.

The 3½-inch disks had, by way of their rigid case's slide-in-place metal cover, the significant advantage of being much better protected against unintended physical contact with the disk surface than 5¼-inch disks when the disk was handled outside the disk drive. The irregular, rectangular shape had the additional merit that it made it impossible to insert the disk sideways by mistake as had indeed been possible with earlier formats.

Like the 5¼-inch, the 3½-inch disk underwent an evolution of its own. When Apple introduced the Macintosh in 1984, it used single-sided 3½-inch disk drives with an advertised capacity of 400 kB. A newer and better "high-density" (HD) format was introduced in 1987.

Another advance in the oxide coatings allowed for a new "extended-density" ("ED") format at 2880 kB introduced on the second generation NeXT Computers in 1991, and on IBM PS/2 model 57 also in 1991, but by the time it was available it was already too small to be a useful advance over the HD format and never became widely used. The 3½-inch drives sold more than a decade later still use the same 1.44 MB HD format that was standardized in 1989.

Through the early 1990s a number of attempts were made by various companies to introduce newer floppy-like formats based on the now-universal 3½-inch physical format. Most of these systems provided the ability to read and write standard DD and HD disks, while at the same time introducing a much higher-capacity format as well. There were a number of times where it was felt that the existing floppy was just about to be replaced by one of these newer devices, but a variety of problems ensured this never took place. None of these ever reached the point where it could be assumed that every current PC would have one, and they have now largely been replaced by CD and DVD burners and USB flash drives.

Apple dropped floppy drives about five years ago. Dell has made the floppy drive an option, not a standard. Other PC makers have dropped the flop, too. (info from Wikipedia and PC World, pictures from oldcomputers.net)

1927: garbage disposer invented2006: disposer maker sues NBC

The garbage disposer (or disposal) was invented in 1927 by John W. Hammes, an architect in Racine, Wisconsin. After eleven years of development, his In-Sink-Erator company put the invention on the market.

Many US cities and towns had regulations against putting food waste (garbage) into the sewer system. In-Sink-Erator spent considerable effort, and convinced many localities to rescind the prohibitions. Eventually, many localities even mandated the use of disposals. New York City banned their use until 1997.

The device first became widely popular in upscale American kitchens of the 1970s and 1980s, yet remains very rare in European countries, due in part to greater promotion of composting kitchen waste and regulations on sewage disposal.

A garbarge disposal is featured in 1981's The Incredible Shrinking Woman when Lily Tomlin's character "Pat Kramer" falls down the drain and is almost chopped to bits by her family.

The character of Claire Bennet on the NBC TV series Heroes severely (and intentionally) injures her hand in an active garbage disposal unit in the series pilot aired in 2006. This led to a lawsuit by InSinkErator, the manufacturer of the unit.

Claire is a cheerleader with the power of indestructibility, who sticks her hand into a garbage disposal and gets it mangled. A few seconds later her hand heals.

In the lawsuit, the appliance maker claims that NBC used the InSinkErator trademark without the company's consent, that the show "implies an incorrect and dangerous design for a food waste disposer" and that NBC's depiction of the InSinkErator "casts the disposer in an unsavory light, irreparably tarnishing the product."

Dan Callahan, spokesman for InSinkErator parent Emerson Electric, said the company, of course, does not recommend anybody put their hands in a garbage disposal that is turned on. He also pointed out that, according to data from the Consumer Products Safety Commission, you are actually ten times more likely to get injured by your dishwasher than your garbage disposal.

An NBC spokesperson stated, "While we do not believe there is any legal issue with the episode as originally broadcast, we nonetheless have decided to edit the episode for future uses." NBC is owned by GE, which also makes garbage disposers. Apparently they did not want to show their own brand chomping on human body parts. (info from Wikipedia and CNNMoney.com)

2001: last Plymouth

The final Plymouth rolled off a Chrysler assembly line in 2001. It was a silver Neon LX with a manual transmission. It was fitting that the last Plymouth was an economy car, because Walter P. Chrysler created the brand to attract entry-level customers.

The Plymouth was introduced on July 7, 1928. It was Chrysler Corporation's first entry in the low-priced field, then dominated by Chevrolet and Ford. Plymouths were actually priced a little higher than the competition, but offered standard features such as hydraulic brakes that the competition did not provide. Plymouths were originally sold exclusively through Chrysler dealerships.

When Walter Chrysler took over control of the trouble-ridden Maxwell-Chalmers car company in the early 1920s, he inherited the Maxwell as part of the package. After he used the company's facilities to help create and launch the Chrysler car in 1924, he decided to create a lower-priced companion car. So for 1926 the Maxwell was reworked and rebadged as a low-end Chrysler model. At the end of the decade this model was once again reworked and rebadged to create the Plymouth.

While the original purpose of the Plymouth was simply to cover a lower-end marketing niche, during the Great Depression of the 1930s the car would help significantly in ensuring the survival of the Chrysler Corporation when many other car companies failed. Beginning in 1930, Plymouths were sold by all three Chrysler divisions (Chrysler, DeSoto, and Dodge). Plymouth sales were a bright spot during this dismal automotive period, and by 1931 Plymouth rose to the number three spot among all cars.

For much of its life, Plymouth was one of the top selling American automobile brands, along with Chevrolet and Ford ("the low-priced three"). Plymouth even surpassed Ford for a time in the 1940s as the second most popular make of automobiles in the US. Through 1956, Plymouths were known for their durability, affordability and engineering. In 1957, Chrysler's Forward Look styling theme produced cars with much more advanced styling than Chevrolet or Ford, although Plymouth's reputation would ultimately suffer as the cars were prone to rust and sloppy assembly. The marque also introduced its limited production Fury line in 1956, and it too benefited from the crisp Forward Look designs.

The Plymouth brand lost market share rapidly in the early 1960s. While Plymouth was a styling leader from 1957 to 1958, its 1959 through 1962 models were awkwardly styled cars. Plymouth also competed with corporate sister division Dodge when the lower-priced, full-size Dodge Dart was introduced for 1960. Rambler, and then Pontiac would assume the number three sales position for the remainder of the decade. Plymouth went into a decline and never fully recovered.

The marque regained market share with the 1965 models, which returned Plymouth to full-size vehicles and more mainstream styling. Plymouth regained its traditional third place in the sales race in 1971 and 1974, primarily with its popular Valiant and Duster compact models; but Plymouth was hurt by Chrysler's financial woes of the late 1970s. Marketing decisions reduced the Plymouth lineup to the point that it was no longer a full-line brand. New models were increasingly given to the Dodge and Chrysler brands, but denied to Plymouth. By 1979, its lineup consisted of only the domestically produced Volare and Horizon models, and a number of rebadged Mitsubishi imports.

In the late 1990s, four vehicles were sold under the Plymouth name: the Voyager/Grand Voyager minivan, the Breeze mid-size sedan, the Neon compact car, and the Prowler sports car.

After discontinuing the Eagle brand in 1998, Chrysler was planning to expand the Plymouth line with a number of unique models before the corporation's merger with Daimler-Benz. The first model was the Plymouth Prowler, a modern hot rod. The PT Cruiser was to have been the second. Other than the Prowler, at the time of the takeover Plymouth had no unique products.

Furthermore, while all Plymouth dealers also sold Chryslers, many Dodge dealers sold only Dodge; thus it would cause much more dealer disarray to discontinue Dodge than it would to discontinue Plymouth. Consequently, DaimlerChrysler decided to drop the make after a limited run of 2001 models

The last new model sold under the Plymouth marque was the second generation Neon. The PT Cruiser was ultimately launched as a Chrysler, and the Prowler and Voyager were absorbed into that brand as well. (info from St. Petersburg Times and Wikipedia)

1830: Macintosh makes first practical raincoat

In its native Central America and South America, rubber has been collected for a long time. Early civilizations played with rubber balls, and coated clothing and footwear to make them waterproof. Rubber was used for other purposes, such as strips to hold stone and metal tools to wooden handles, and padding for tool handles.

Spanish Conquistadores were so astounded by the vigorous bouncing of the rubber balls of the Aztecs that they wondered if the balls were enchanted by evil spirits. The Maya made a type of temporary rubber shoe by dipping their feet into latex.

A story says that the first European to return to Portugal from Brazil with samples of water-repellent rubberized cloth so shocked people that he was charged with witchcraft.

When samples of rubber first arrived in England, it was observed by Joseph Priestley, in 1770, that the material was extremely good for rubbing out pencil marks on paper, hence the name.

Unfortunately, the rubber used for waterproofing by Mayas and Incas had some serious flaws, it got hard and brittle in cold weather, and soft and sticky in hot weather.

In 1823, Scottish chemist Charles Macintosh patented a method for making waterproof garments by using rubber dissolved in coal-tar naphtha for cementing two pieces of cloth together.

He took wool cloth and painted one side with the dissolved rubber preparation and placed another layer of wool cloth on top. This created the first useful waterproof fabric, but it was not perfect. It was easy to puncture, and in cold weather the fabric became stiff and in hot weather the fabric became sticky.

American inventor Charles Goodyear discovered the process of vulcanization which stabilized rubber. Macintosh used Goodyear's process to make improved fabrics, and the modern raincoat was born in 1830.

Macintosh's original intention was to make tarpaulins, but tailors started using the fabric for raincoats. The trouble was when they sewed the fabric it let rain in through the needle holes.

To save his reputation from disgruntled raincoat consumers, Macintosh started making coats with waterproofed seams. He added a tartan lining and had a rainproof coat. It was hot, however, and metal eyelets were installed under the armpits for ventilation in 1851. The original raincoats were yellow with capes, the kind still worn by police officers during rainstorms.

(info from About.com, Wikipedia, askandyaboutclothes.com)

1914: Mothers Day becomes an official US holiday

Next Sunday, May 13, Mothers' Day will be celebrated in the US and Canada; and the holiday is celebrated on other days in other countries. According to the National Restaurant Association, Mothers' Day is the most popular day to dine out. In some parts of the United States, Mothers Day marks the beginning of the tomato planting season.

Contrary to common opinion, the holiday was not invented by the Hallmark Card company. Mothers Day goes back to an ancient Greek spring festival dedicated to Rhea, mother of many deities of Greek mythology.

Ancient Romans celebrated a spring festival called Hilaria, dedicated to Cybele, a mother goddess, starting around 250 BCE. Hilaria lasted for three days in mid-March and included parades, games and masquerades. The celebrations were so raucous that followers of Cybele were banished from Rome.

Early Christians celebrated a Mother's Day of sorts on the fourth Sunday of Lent in honor of the Virgin Mary. In England the holiday was expanded to include all mothers, and called Mothering Sunday.

The American Mothers Day was copied from England by Julia Ward Howe, an activist, writer and poet famous for her Civil War song, Battle Hymn of the Republic.

Howe suggested that June 2 be annually celebrated as Mothers Day, and be dedicated to peace. In 1870, she wrote her famous Mothers Day Proclamation, a passionate appeal to women to oppose war. She also initiated a Mothers' Peace Day observance on the second Sunday in June in Boston and held the meeting for a number of years. Howe tirelessly championed the cause of official celebration of Mothers Day and declaration of official holiday on the day, but failed in her attempt to get formal recognition of a Mothers' Day for Peace.

Anna Jarvis never married or had children, but is known as the Mother of Mothers Day.

Anna Jarvis got the inspiration of celebrating Mothers Day from her mother Anna Marie Reeves Jarvis. An activist and social worker, Mom Jarvis hoped that someday someone would honor all mothers, living and dead, and pay tribute to their contributions.

Anna never forgot her mother’s words and when her mother died in 1905, she resolved to fulfill her mother’s desire of having a mothers day. Initially, Anna supplied Carnations for a church service in West Virginia to honor her mother, who favored that flower. Later Anna and her supporters lobbied for the official declaration of Mothers Day holiday. By 1911, Mother's Day was celebrated in almost every state, and in 1914 President Woodrow Wilson signed a Joint Resolution designating the second Sunday in May as Mothers Day, a day for American citizens to show the flag in honor of mothers whose sons had died in war.

Just nine years after the first official Mothers Day holiday, commercialization became so rampant that Anna Jarvis herself became a major opponent of what the holiday had become. Mothers Day is now one of the most commercially successful US holidays. (info from mothersdaycelebration.com and Wikipedia)

1901: first instant coffee

Just-add-hot-water "instant" coffee was invented by Japanese American chemist Satori Kato of Chicago in 1901.

The first mass-produced instant coffee, was the invention of George Constant Washington, an English chemist living in Guatemala.

While waiting for his wife to join him for coffee, he noticed on the spout of the silver coffee pot, a fine powder, which seemed to be the condensation of the coffee vapors. This intrigued him and led to his discovery of soluble coffee. In 1906 he started experiments and put Red E Coffee on the market in 1909.

In 1938, Nestlé invented freeze-dried coffee after being asked by Brazil to help find a solution to their coffee surpluses. Nescafe was first sold Switzerland, where the company is based.

Instant coffee really took off in the mid-1950s when television watching became widespread. Commercial breaks were too short to brew a cup of tea, but long enough for instant coffee. Coffee giants like Nestlé and General Foods realized this was a big opportunity and advertised their instant coffee during the breaks. Tea companies introduced the tea bag to compete. (info from About.com)

200: first wheelbarrow

Apparently the wheelbarrow was not invented by some anonymous caveman, but was invented in China in the year 200, by army general Chuko Liang.

Liang's wheelbarrows were used to transport supplies and injured soldiers, and had two wheels and required two men to propel and steer. (info from "Imaginative Inventions" and About.com)

1931: last Rolls-Royce made in the United States

In 1884, a self-taught engineer named Henry Royce established a small business in Britain with only 70 pounds (about $100). Initially Royce produced only electrical motors and generators, but eventually built a car in 1904. That same year, Royce met London car dealer Charles Rolls.

At their first meeting, Royce took Rolls for a spin in the car. Legend has it that as he climbed aboard, Rolls asked Royce to “start her up.” Royce replied, “My dear fellow, she’s already running!” Soon after, they reached an agreement that Royce Limited would manufacture cars to be sold exclusively by CS Rolls & Company. The success of these Rolls-Royce cars led to the formation of the Rolls-Royce Company in 1906.

The charter included a provision that the company should produce engines for use “on land or water or in the air.” That same year, Rolls-Royce launched the Silver Ghost, hailed as “the best car in the world,” and opened its first US sales office in New York City.

Meanwhile, Charles Rolls had been introduced to the Wright brothers and become passionate about flight. Until his untimely death in a 1910 plane crash, Rolls worked hard to persuade his partner to venture into the aviation business. Royce preferred cars.

In 1919, Rolls-Royce recognized that the US was the most important car market in the world. Americans bought more cars each year than the rest of the world combined. A factory was built in Springfield, Massachusetts and the first chassis was completed in 1921. By 1923, Rolls-Royce presence in the US was substantial, with offices around the country.

Rolls-Royce of America manufactured nearly 3000 Silver Ghosts and Phantoms before succumbing to the Depression in 1931. To this day, Springfield is the only place outside England that Rolls-Royce cars have ever been built. (info from Rolls-Royce; photo from classic-british-cars.com)

1992: last new Yugo sold in the US

Introduced in the summer of 1986 at a price of less than $4000, the Yugoslavian-made Yugo was by far the lowest-priced new car available in the US at the time, and it sold very well at first. But by the early 1990s, the effects of United Nations sanctions on Yugoslavia forced manufacturer Zastava to withdraw the car from the US market.

American-sold Yugos were based on the Fiat 127, under licence from Fiat. The Yugo was imported by Malcolm Bricklin, who had previously imported the Subaru, and wanted to introduce a simple, low cost car to the US. The name is a pun on "You Go."

In the US, the Yugo developed a reputation for bad quality and low power, and was frequently the butt of jokes. Defenders of the brand argued that Detroit car makers were collaborating with influential automotive media to eliminate low-priced competition.

At first, four models were sold in the United States: the basic entry-level $3,990 GV (for "Great Value"), the nearly-identical GVL and GVS with minor trim and upholstery upgrades, and the race-inspired GVX with the 1300 cc engine, five-speed manual transmission and standard equipment including a plush interior, ground-effects package, alloy wheels and rally lights. The Cabrio convertible was introduced in 1988.

By 1990, the GV, GVL and the 1100cc engine and 4-speed manual transmission were replaced by a 1300 cc OHC engine and 5-speed manual transmission, and an optional Renault-designed automatic transmission was offered. The standard model became the GV Plus.

Wide familiarity with the Fiat 127's prowess as an autocross racer meant that many Yugo GVs were modified with Abarth racing parts and sent to participate in SCCA-sanctioned events.

The Yugo was marketed as a car for everyone, providing basic economical and reliable transportation like the Volkswagen Beetle and the earlier Ford Model T. The car was promoted as a uniquely affordable new vehicle - providing an option for buyers who would otherwise have chosen a used vehicle - and as a reliable second car for wealthier buyers. (info from Wikipedia)

1997: first burial in space

Space Services is a Houston-based aerospace company responsible for the first private launch into outer space, and the first post cremation memorial spaceflight.

Space Services conducted its first "space funeral flight" in 1997 with the remains of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. Roddenberry's ashes traveled with those of 23 others, including a 4-year-old Japanese boy, a restaurateur and several former NASA scientists.

The Space Services team placed the ash-filled capsules in a tube, which went inside a rocket scheduled to send a satellite into space. Once in orbit, the satellite separated from the rocket's last stage, which continued to circle the earth with the capsules inside. The capsules should stay in orbit between ten and several hundred years before falling and "vaporizing like a shooting star," according to the company.

Last week, Space Services used its own rocket to launch a cargo of ashes, including those of James Doohan, who played the starship Enterprise's chief engineer Scotty on Star Trek.

Remains of the actor (born in Canada, not Scotland), who died two years ago at the age of 85, hurtled to the edge of space aboard a telephone pole-size rocket that blasted off from a launch pad in New Mexico.

Doohan inspired the legendary catch phrase "Beam me up, Scotty" -- even though it was never actually uttered on the TV show.

Hundreds of spectators clapped, cheered and cried as his ashes roared aloft along with the remains of some 200 other people, including astronaut Gordon Cooper, who first went into space in 1963. Cooper died in 2004 at age 77.

Space Services charges $495 to send a portion of a person's ashes into suborbital space. The firm had originally planned to blast Doohan's remains into space two years ago. The flight was delayed by tests, then by a misfire during a practice launch last year. (info from Reuters and other sources)

2007: death of Monster Masher

Bobby "Boris" Pickett, whose Boris Karloff impression propelled his Halloween anthem Monster Mash to the top of the charts in 1962, died of leukemia Wednesday night at the age of 69.

Pickett was one of pop music's most enduring one-hit wonders, and has been called "The Guy Lombardo of Halloween" because of his brief annual bursts of fame.

Monster Mash hit the Billboard chart three times: when it debuted in 1962, selling a million copies and reaching No. 1 the week before Halloween; again in August 1970, and for a third time in May 1973. The resurrections were appropriate for a song where Pickett gravely intoned the forever-stuck-in-your-head chorus: "He did the monster mash. ... It was a graveyard smash."

The novelty hit's fans included Bob Dylan, who played the single on his XM Satellite Radio program last October. "Our next artist is considered a one-hit wonder, but his one hit comes back year after year," Dylan noted.

The hit single ensured Pickett's place in the pantheon of pop music obscurities, said syndicated radio host Dr. Demento, whose long-running program celebrates offbeat tunes.

"It's certainly the biggest Halloween song of all time," said Demento. The DJ, who interviewed Pickett last year, said he maintained a sense of humor about his singular success: "As he loved to say at oldies shows, `And now I'm going to do a medley of my hit.'"

Pickett's impression of Karloff (who despite his name was an Englishman, born William Henry Pratt) was forged in Somerville, Mass., where the boy watched horror films in a theater managed by his father.

Pickett used the impersonation in a nightclub act and when performing with his band the Cordials. A bandmate convinced Pickett they needed to do a song to showcase the Karloff voice, and "Monster Mash" was born, "written in about a half-hour," said Dr. Demento. The song also includes a line that Pickett delivered in a Bela Lugosi voice: "Whatever happened to my Transylvania Twist?"

The recording, done in a couple of hours, featured a then-unknown piano player named Leon Russell and a backing band christened The Crypt-Kickers. It was rejected by four major labels before Gary Paxton, lead singer on the Hollywood Argyles' novelty hit Alley Oop, released Monster Mash on his own label.

The instant smash became a sort-of Christmas carol for the pumpkin and ghoul set, with spurts in air play and record sales every fall. In a 1996 interview with People magazine, Pickett said he never grew tired of the song: "When I hear it, I hear a cash register ringing."

While Pickett never re-created its success, his Monster's Holiday, a Christmas follow-up, reached No. 30 in December 1962. And Graduation Day hit No. 80 in June 1963. In October 2005, Pickett protested inaction on global warming by releasing Climate Mash, a new version of his hit single. Pickett also recorded a novelty spoof on "Star Trek" called Star Drek, again performing the various voices, which has been played on Dr. Demento's radio show.

He continued performing through his final gig in November. He remained in demand for Halloween performances, including a memorable 1973 show where his bus broke down outside Frankenstein, Mo. (info from The Assocated Press & Wikipedia; photo from richardandtheyounglions.com)

1946: first airport car rental

Warren Avis died two days ago at the age of 92.

Avis was born in 1915 in Bay City, Mich., where his father was in the lumber business. He investigated auto dealerships for the state of Michigan and became a salesman for a drug company before joining the Army Air Forces.

He was a major during World War 2, serving both as a bomber pilot and an intelligence officer. When he landed in various locations around Europe, he had the urge to explore, but was initially stymied by the lack of local transportation. He solved the problem by stashing a motorcycle in the bomb bay of his plane.

Back home after the war, Avis bought an interest in a Ford dealership in Detroit, and often traveled by air. He realized that air travel would quickly become more popular than train travel, and decided to open car rental centers at airports. He figured thousands of airline passengers would need rides. The idea for the car-rental firm came from wanting to give "the customer an option I never had as a traveler." In 1946, when Avis opened his first Avis Airlines Rent-A-Car facilities in Florida and Michigan, competitors were in downtown garages.

“Nobody thought it would work,” Avis said in 1987. “There was incredible trouble. You had to get all the airlines to cooperate... Where did you put the cars?” It did work. Cars were parked outside airport terminals, and customers soon figured out the new system.

Avis's idea proved successful and his business grew quickly. Airports in New York, Chicago, Dallas, Washington, Los Angeles and Houston were soon serviced by car rental franchises licensed to use the Avis name. Avis used his WW2 flyer contacts to establish relationships with airports and airlines, rented new cars while competitors offered only used cars, offered a company credit card, and hired pretty young women to staff the airport counters when most flyers were businessmen.

By 1948, Avis was nationally known. In that year, the company dropped the "airlines" designation from its name, and expanded operations beyond airports to serve urban hotels and businesses. During the next six years, Avis also expanded internationally to Canada, Mexico, and Europe. Warren Avis sold the company in 1954. After 10 years of operation, Avis was second in size only to the much older Hertz — a fact the company would later promote in advertising with the tagline, “We try harder.”

Today, Avis operates in over 4,000 locations in 114 countries. (info from Avis, Funding Universe, NPR, Los Angeles Times, The State; car photo from TVHistory)

2007: first Earthlike planet outside our solar system

1948: first cable TV company

CATV is now the abbreviation for Cable Television. Originally it meant Community Antenna Television, and it started just under 60 years ago.

Service Electric Company was formed by John and Margaret Walson in the mid 1940s to sell, install and repair General Electric appliances in the Mahanoy City area of Pennsylvania. In 1947, they began selling television sets. It was very difficult or even impossible to receive the three Philadelphia channels in Mahanoy City because the town is 86 muiles from Philly and surrounded by mountains.

Walson erected a utility pole with an antenna on a nearby mountain so he could demonstrate television. In June of 1948, he successfully connected the antenna to the store as well as to several homes along the cable path.

His experiences as a Pennsylvania Power & Light field employee and his degree in electronics proved beneficial in starting the nation's first CATV system. People who lived in the small mountainous towns of northeastern Pennsylvania could now receive three Philadelphia channels in their homes or could congregate outside the Walson's appliance store to view the new communication medium.

Walson was recognized by the US Congress and the National Cable Television Association as the founder of the cable television industry. Walson was also the first cable operator to use microwave to import distant television stations, to use coaxial cable for improved picture quality, and to distribute pay television programming (HBO).

Today, Service Electric Television is a private, family owned cable business servicing about 300,000 subscribers in about 250 communities in Central and Northeastern PA and Northwestern NJ.

Service Electric served Bethlehem PA when I was a student at Lehigh University in the late 1960s. The company seldom disconnected cables when a student moved out of an apartment, and lost money when new students moved in and connected their TVs to the still-live cable provided for the previous tenant. Some enterprising students became unofficial re-sellers, by running cable to other apartments, and charging half of the Service Electric fee.

1982: last Checker taxi

In the early 1900s, Morris Markin, a Russian-born clothier in Chicago became the owner of an auto body maker when its owner defaulted on a loan. The facility made bodies for Commonwealth Motors which sold taxicabs under the Mogul name.

Checker Taxi – a privately-owned cab company in Chicago — had placed a large order for Mogul cabs with Commonwealth, which was nearly bankrupt. Markin merged the two companies in order to honor the contractual commitment with the Chicago Checker Taxi. Markin named the new business the Checker Cab Company.

John Hertz began in the taxi business in 1910, both building Yellow Cabs and operating the cab service. Because of plant overproduction, Hertz used the excess cars by renting them to patrons through his "Yellow Drive-Ur-Self" division (the forerunner of Hertz Rental Car). Seeing Hertz's success, Markin bought Checker Taxi Cab in 1937.

Markin also followed Hertz's business plan in having drivers open doors for the fares, and outfitted each driver with a uniform. Competition for fares was fierce in the 1920s, and the drivers began fighting between trips. The fighting between the two cab companies escalated to the point where Markin's home was firebombed. This prompted Markin to buy a factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan and relocate Checker.

Under Markin, Checker became the first cab company to hire African-American drivers and the first to require that drivers pick up all fares, not just white ones.

Hertz had sold his Yellow Cab to the Parmalee Transportation Company, but in 1929, after a suspicious fire at his stables killed his prized race horses, Hertz left the cab business, with Markin buying Hertz's shares and then acquiring another one-third in the company from Parmalee, thus taking control of both Parmalee and Yellow Cab.

While Hertz had sold off the cab business, the manufacturing arm went to General Motors, which wanted to sell it, and made Markin an affordable offer. Markin refused. Rather than eliminate the capacity of Yellow Manufacturing, General Motors entered the taxicab business as Terminal Taxi Cab, and a second fare war broke out, with Checker and Terminal fighting in New York City. To end this dispute, New York Mayor Jimmy Walker created the New York Taxi Cab Commission, which ruled that all cabs in New York had to be purpose-built cabs, not consumer car conversions.

Markin sold Checker Cab to E.L. Cord, but bought it back agin in 1936. In 1940, Parmalee (including Yellow and Checker Cab) became the largest cab company in the United States. Eventually, the cab company revenues exceeded those of Checker's automotive building division, and the company decided to enter the passenger car business in 1961.

In 1964 the State of New York pursued Markin and Checker on antitrust charges, alleging that it controlled both the taxi service and manufacture of taxis, and thus favored itself in fulfilling orders. Rather than allow Checker drivers to begin buying different brands of cars, Markin began selling licenses in New York City.

In 1977, seven years after the death of Morris Markin, retired GM President Ed Cole bought into Checker with the intent of re-energizing the company and developing a new, more modern Checker. Cole's plan was to purchased partially completed Volkswagen's from VW's new factory in Westmoreland, Pennsylvania. Cole was going to ship the VW's to the Checker Motor's factory in Kalamazoo, cut them in half, insert a section to lengthen the VW, raise the roof and then sell the reconfigured vehicle as a taxi. Shortly thereafter, however, Cole was killed is a plane crash.

The iconic Checker "Marathon" model was introduced in 1961 and used for cab service in many cities, and was frequently seen in movies and on TV. The company even produced a civilian version that achieved cult status.

The Marathon design dated back to the mid 1950's, which caused a number of problems later on. Impact absorbing bumpers were added when required by federal law and then the steering column/wheel were changed when a collapsible column was also required for safety reasons. The rear fold-down jump seats were also removed as they failed all safety tests. The car had very poor gas mileage as the tall front end and hood made for poor aerodynamics. Many body stamping dies were worn out after over 20 years of continuous use, requiring manual body adjustments to make the parts fit.

With the Marathon model thoroughly outmoded and no longer selling in viable quantities, and lacking the resources to develop a new model, Checker decided to leave the auto manufacturing business.The last models were produced for the 1982 model year. Checker Motors today operates as an automotive subcontractor, primarily for General Motors, building mostly body components. (info & photo from Wikipedia)

1945: First (and last) Jewish Miss America

Bess Myerson (born 1924) was the first (and, so far, only) Jewish Miss America. She went on to become a popular television personality, a public servant, and a philanthropist.

Myerson encountered anti-Jewish prejudice during the Miss America Pageant, when an official tried to convince her to change her name to one that was less ethnic. She refused. Myerson was the first recipient of a Miss America scholarship, but none of the pageant's sponsors were willing to use beauty from the Bronx as a spokesperson. During her year as Miss America, Myerson made many personal appearances. One was scheduled at an southern country club, but just before the event, she was told that the country club was restricted, and no Jewish person could go there.

Myerson, determined to fight racial bigotry, traveled around the country speaking in behalf of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, in cooperation with the NAACP and the Urban League.

Many Americans remember Myerson's TV career as Mistress of Ceremonies for "The Big Payoff" (1951-9) and as a panelist on "I've Got A Secret" (1958-67). From 1969-73 as Commissioner of Consumer Affairs of New York City, Myerson was architect of the most far-reaching consumer protection legislation in the country at that time, and she was put on the cover of Life Magazine as "A Consumer's Best Friend." From 1983-87 Myerson served under Mayor Ed Koch as Commissioner of Cultural Affairs, where she substantially broadened financial support for New York City's art community.

Myerson is a Founder of The Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York, where she established the Bess Myerson Film and Video Collection. Her concern over racial and religious tensions on college campuses led her to endow the Bess Myerson Campus Journalism Awards given annually by the Anti-Defamation League.

Myerson's presidential appointments include Lyndon Johnson's White House Conference on Violence and Crime, Gerald Ford's Commission on the National Center for Productivity and Quality of Working Life, and Jimmy Carter's Commissions on Mental Health and on World Hunger. She has served on the boards of the International Rescue Committee, the Consumers Union and Another Mother for Peace. Hunter College, where Myerson graduated in the same year that she was crowned Miss America, later presented her with an honorary doctorate, as did Long Island University and Seton Hall. (info from The Jewish American Hall of Fame)

2006: first inhabited island disappears

Rising seas, caused by global warming, have for the first time washed an inhabited island off the face of the Earth. The obliteration of Lohachara island, in India's portion of the Sundarbans delta where the Ganges and the Brahmaputra rivers empty into the Bay of Bengal, marks the moment when one of the most apocalyptic predictions of environmentalists and climate scientists has started coming true.

Eight years ago, the first uninhabited islands - in the Pacific atoll nation of Kiribati - vanished beneath the waves. The people of low-lying islands in Vanuatu, also in the Pacific, have been evacuated as a precaution, but the land still juts above the sea. The disappearance of Lohachara, once home to 10,000 people, is unprecedented.

It has been officially recorded in a six-year study of the Sunderbans by researchers at Calcutta's Jadavpur University. So remote is the island that the researchers first learned of its submergence, and that of an uninhabited neighbouring island, Suparibhanga, when they saw they had vanished from satellite pictures.

Until now the Carteret Islands off Papua New Guinea were expected to be the first populated ones to disappear, in about eight years' time, but Lohachara has beaten them to the dubious distinction.

Refugees from the vanished Lohachara island and the disappearing Ghoramara island have fled to Sagar, but this island has already lost 7,500 acres of land to the sea. In all, a dozen islands, home to 70,000 people, are in danger of being submerged by the rising seas. (info from Independent News and Media Limited)

1975: end of HUAC

The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA) was an investigative committee of the US House of Representatives, often called HUAC, House Un-American Activities Committee.

The Committee was established in 1938. Its work was supposed to be aimed mostly at American involvement in Nazi and Ku Klux Klan activity, but actually did little about the Klan, and is best known for searching for communists, and terrorizing people in show business.

HUAC became a standing (permanent) committee in 1946. Under the mandate of Public Law 601, passed by the 79th Congress, the committee of nine representatives investigated suspected threats of subversion or propaganda that attacked "the form of government guaranteed by our Constitution."

Under this mandate, the committee focused its investigations on real and suspected communists in positions of actual or supposed influence in American society. The first investigation looked into allegations of communists in the Federal Theatre Project. In 1938, Hallie Flanagan, head of the Project, was subpoenaed to appear before the committee to answer the charge that the project was overrun with communists. One of the committee members stupidly asked Flanagan whether the Elizabethan playwright Christopher Marlowe was a member of the Communist Party.

A significant step for HUAC was its investigation of the charges of espionage brought against Alger Hiss in 1948. This investigation ultimately resulted in Hiss's trial and conviction for perjury, and convinced many of the usefulness of congressional committees for uncovering Communist subversion.

In 1947, the committee held nine days of hearings into alleged communist propaganda in the Hollywood motion picture industry. After conviction on contempt of Congress charges for refusal to answer some questions posed by committee members, the "Hollywood Ten" were blacklisted by the industry. Eventually, more than 300 artists — including directors, radio commentators, actors and particularly screenwriters — were boycotted by the studios. Some, like Charlie Chaplin, left the US to find work. Others wrote under pseudonyms or the names of colleagues. Only about ten percent succeeded in rebuilding careers within the entertainment industry.

In 1947, studio executives told the Committee that wartime films like Mission to Moscow and Song of Russia could be considered pro-Soviet propaganda, but they suggested that the films were valuable in the context of the Allied war effort. In the 1950s, the studios produced a number of anti-communist and anti-Soviet propaganda films like The Red Menace, I Married a Communist, and I Was a Communist for the FBI. Most were box-office failures, but placated Hollywood's critics and protected the industry against a threatened boycott campaign.

HUAC lost considerable prestige after it subpoenaed Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman of the Yippies in 1967, and again in the aftermath of the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Unlike previous subjects of the committee's investigations, the Yippies neither respected nor feared the Committee, and used media attention to make a mockery of the proceedings.

Rubin came to one session dressed as an American Revolutionary War soldier, and passed out copies of the United States Declaration of Independence to people in attendance. Then Rubin "blew giant gum bubbles while his co-witnesses taunted the committee with Nazi salutes." Hoffman attended a session dressed as Santa Claus. On another occasion, police stopped Hoffman at the building entrance and arrested him for wearing an American flag. Hoffman quipped for the press, "I regret that I have but one shirt to give for my country," paraphrasing the last words of revolutionary patriot Nathan Hale; meanwhile Rubin, who was wearing a matching Viet Cong flag, shouted that the police were communists for not arresting him also.

In the fifties, the most effective sanction was terror. Almost any publicity from HUAC meant the 'blacklist.' Without a chance to clear his name, a witness would suddenly find himself without friends and without a job. But it is not easy to see how in 1969 a HUAC blacklist could terrorize an SDS activist. Witnesses like Jerry Rubin have openly boasted of their contempt for American institutions. A subpoena from HUAC would be unlikely to scandalize Abbie Hoffman or his friends.

In 1969, the House changed the committee's name to the Committee on Internal Security. When the House abolished the committee in 1975, its functions were transferred to the House Judiciary Committee. (info from Wikipedia; photo from Temple University)

1960: last American cars shipped to Cuba

At one time, Cuba was the largest importer of American cars. That ended in 1960, when the Eisenhower administration imposed a ban on US exports to the island following Fidel Castro’s rise to power.

Today, Cuba is a living reminder of 1950s Detroit power, with about 30,000 aging and ancient American vehicles in daily use. About half of the old cars are from the 1950s, with Chevrolets dominating other brands. Another 25 percent are from the 1940s, and the remainder are older. Some look like they just left the showroom, others are a hodgepodge of parts, perhaps a Chevy with an engine from a Russian tractor, or a Plymouth with wooden bumpers, being towed by a pair of donkeys.

Since the embargo, Cuba has had cars from other countries, mostly Russia; but few have lasted more than a few years. Many American cars, however, still run perfectly today. The car is the main source of revenue for many Cubans, since they can transport tourists for up to $50 per day in an economy where the average Cuban makes $15-25 a month. The cost of owning a car is high, especially with gasoline costing $8 a gallon. But with high gas prices, some gas stations are beautiful, with fresh, clean paint on the walls, standing out conspicuously from a scene of intense poverty.

Rick Shnitzler, founder of TailLight Diplomacy (TLD), says Cuban owners of antique autos would represent a good market for US spare parts, both originals and reproductions, if US firms were again free to do business with Cuba.

For now, however, the trade embargo on Cuba remains, and all Shnitzler can do is dream, and occasionally help out his like-minded counterparts in Havana.

"Recently, we were able to deliver copies of original factory-issued sales brochures which will enable Cuba to restore its oldest car, a 1905 Cadillac Model F Touring, to factory specifications," he said.

Since its formation in 2000, the nonprofit TLD has pushed hard for lifting of the US ban on travel to Cuba. "TLD seeks to create the conditions for Americans to meet their Cuban peers face-to-face," a fact sheet about the organization says. “TLD advocates that Cubans conserve and maintain their existing fleet of pre-1960s American cars, trucks and motorcycles, and that Americans join with Cubans to restore (them)" (some info from Havana Journal and Dan Heller Photography)

Intermission

I'm away on a business trip. Postings will resume on Wednesday 4/18.

1949:first Dragnet broadcast

A radio program from 1949 to 1956 and a TV show from 1952 to 1959, and again from 1967 to 1970, Dragnet was the first major realistic crime drama, and the progenitor of later shows ranging from CHIPS to Adam 12 and Law & Order.

The show takes its name from an actual police term, a "dragnet", meaning a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects. Physical dragnets are used for fishing.

Set in Los Angeles, it starred jack Webb as Sergeant Joe Friday. Joe's lines, "My name's Friday, I'm a cop," and "Just the facts, ma'am" have inspired generations of advertising copywriters and jokesters.

Episodes were based on real crimes, and started with "The story you are about to see is true; only the names have been changed to protect the innocent." An announcer described the basic premise of the show, for example, "You're a Detective Sergeant, you're assigned to auto theft detail. A well organized ring of car thieves begins operations in your city. It's one of the most puzzling cases you've ever encountered. Your job: break it."

The story then usually began with footsteps and a door closing, followed by Joe Friday intoning something like: "Tuesday, February 12. It was cold in Los Angeles. We were working the day watch out of robbery division. My partner's Ben Romero. The boss is Ed Backstram, chief of detectives. My name's Friday."

Friday offered voice-over narration throughout the episodes, noting the time, date and place of every scene as he and his partners went through their day investigating the crime. The events related in a given episode might occur in a few hours, or might span a few months. At least one episode unfolded in real time: in "City Hall Bombing" Friday and Romero had less than 30 minutes to stop a man who was threatening to destroy the City Hall with a bomb.

At the end of the episode, announcer George Fenneman would relate the fate of the suspect. They were usually convicted of a crime and sent to "the State Penitentiary" or a state mental hospital. Murderers were often "executed in the manner prescribed by law." Occasionally, police pursued the wrong suspect, and criminals sometimes avoided justice or escaped.

Specialized terminology was mentioned in every episode, but was rarely explained. Webb trusted the audience to determine the meanings of words or terms by their context, and furthermore, Dragnet tried to avoid the kinds of awkward, lengthy exposition that people wouldn’t actually use in daily speech. Several specialized terms (such as "A.P.B." for "All Points Bulletin" and "M.O." for "Modus Operandi") were rarely used in popular culture before Dragnet introduced them to everyday America. (some info from Wikipedia)

1870:first vehicle with gasoline engine

Traditionally, Carl Benz (of Mercedes Benz) is credited with inventing the car. He built a three-wheeled car in 1885 and sold his first one two years later, and went into production with a four-wheeled model in 1890.

But Benz wasn't first. In 1864, Siegfried Marcus began working on cars. He made his first one in 1870. His second car, built in 1888/89 was rediscovered in 1950, and it could still be driven. The car had been bricked up behind a false wall in the cellar of a Vienna museum to hide it from the Nazis. Marcus was Jewish, and the Nazis intended to destroy his car and any literature describing it.

Siegfried Marcus is an inventor of enormous importance to contemporary civilization, but he's missing from most school books.

Machines employing his inventions can be numbered in the billions.

Trucks and buses, automobiles and lawnmowers, motorboats and chainsaws - in fact every mechanism employing an internal combustion motor and its carburetor, magneto ignition, and spark plugs, is derived from patents granted to Marcus. They are but a few of his 158 significant inventions.

Millions of vehicles crowding the world's roads are descendants of the original vehicles produced by Siegfried Marcus. It would appear that, of all of Marcus' revolutionary inventions, the internal combustion engine alone is so central to modern civilization that the name of its inventor would be as familiar as Watt or Whitney or Edison. The fact that so many other industrial and communication innovations are attributable to Marcus makes the rarity of the appearance of his name even more remarkable.

Siegfried Samuel Marcus (1831 – 1898) was a German inventor and automobile pioneer who lived most of his life in Austria (then, the Austro-Hungarian Empire).

From 1856 to 1898 he manufactured scientific instruments in Vienna. He developed an interest in electricity and made improvements in ignition devices and telegraph systems. His portable telegraph was valuable for military field communications, and used by the Prussian army.

In 1870 he put an internal combustion engine on a cart, making it the first gasoline-powered vehicle, the “First Marcus Car”.

In 1883 a patent for a magneto ignition was granted to Marcus in Germany. This design was used for all further engines and the “Second Marcus Car” of 1888/89. It was this ignition in conjunction with the “rotating brush carburetor” that made the second car's design very innovative.

In 1887, Marcus began a business venture with Märky, Bromovsky & Schulz, a company based in Moravia (eastern half of today's Czech Republic). They offered two stroke and four stroke engines of the Marcus type.

In 1888/89 Märky, Bromovsky & Schulz built the “Second Marcus Car” which can be seen in Vienna's Technical Museum. This car made Marcus well known all over the world.

Marcus was the holder of 131 patents in 16 countries, but he never applied for a patent for the car, and never claimed inventing the car.

Marcus was buried at the Protestant Cemetery at Hütteldorf, Vienna. Later, his remains were transferred to an “Honorary Tomb” of Vienna's Central Cemetery.

Because of Marcus’ Jewish ancestry his name and all memorabilia vanished under the Nazis. The memorial in front of the Vienna Technical University was removed. After the war, the monument was rebuilt. In 1950, the Second Marcus Car had a major restoration.

In 1992 Marcus was honored in Malchin, Germany the city where he was born, by the renaming of a school for him. The Siegfried Marcus Realshule Malchin is a trade school for talented students from the fourth through ninth grades. The school was outfitted with a computer room and a chemical laboratory and claimed to be worthy "of the great researcher and inventor" for whom it was named. A small museum dedicated to publicizing the accomplishments of Siegfried Marcus was part of the refurbishing of the school.

A Siegfried Marcus Society was founded in Austria in 1998 by a self-declared "young and committed group... [formed] to provide a public rectification of the long-enduring injustice done to the ingenious creator and inventor of the automobile, Siegfried Marcus."

(info from University of Houston, Hebrew History Federation, and Wikipedia)

1776:beginning of Phi Beta Kappa

Academic honorary society Phi Beta Kappa was founded as a social club at the College of William and Mary in Virginia in 1776. It later evolved into the US's most prestigious organization of undergraduate students, with chapters on hundreds of campuses. The Greek letters Phi, Beta, and Kappa, which appear on members' gold keys, stand for the Greek words meaning "philosophy the guide to life."

ΦBK was the first society to have a Greek-letter name, and it introduced the essential characteristics of such societies: an oath of secrecy, a badge, mottoes in Greek and Latin, a code of laws, an elaborate form of initiation, a seal, and a special handclasp. The organization was created as a secret society so that its founders would have the freedom to discuss any topic they chose. Freedom of inquiry has been a hallmark of ΦBK ever since.

Although the original society at William and Mary lasted only four years, ending when the approach of the British army forced the college to close, it had already admitted fifty members, held seventy-seven meetings — mostly literary exercises and debates — and granted charters for new chapters at Yale and Harvard.

The two New England chapters preserved the essential qualities of the Virginia society. Shortly before the end of each academic year, the graduating members selected a small group of student leaders from the rising senior class to carry on the organization. In 1831, after anti-Masonic agitation prompted much discussion about the ΦBK oath, Harvard dropped the requirement for secrecy — an action that probably saved the Society from further open criticism and from rivalry with social fraternities that started around that time.

Other chapters were added gradually, and the number nationwide stood at 25 in 1883, when the National Council of the United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa was created. At about the same time, the first women and African-Americans were inducted into the Society. The first chapters to induct women were at the University of Vermont, in 1875, and at Connecticut’s Wesleyan University, in 1876. The first known African-American was inducted by the Vermont chapter in 1877.

Between 1887 and 1917, 64 new chapters were established, and by 1983 another 147 had been chartered. In 1988 the national organization’s name was changed to The Phi Beta Kappa Society. Today there are 276 chapters.

The ideal Phi Beta Kappan has demonstrated intellectual integrity, tolerance for other views, and a broad range of academic interests. The Phi Beta Kappa Society recognizes three types of members: members in course, alumni members, and honorary members. Membership in the Society is for life.

Members "in course" are elected on the basis of their academic records as college seniors, juniors, or — rarely — Ph.D. candidates. To be eligible for election, students must have pursued a broad program of study in the liberal arts and sciences and met other academic criteria as required by the electing chapter. Typically, no more than 10 percent of the candidates for degrees in liberal arts and sciences are elected. Each year, about one college senior in a hundred, nationwide, is invited to join Phi Beta Kappa.

Seventeen US presidents (Including Bill Clinton and Bush #1, but not Dubya) and six of the nine current US Supreme Court Justices are Phi Beta Kappa members. Here are some more:

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com
Glenn Close, actor
Eileen Collins, space shuttle commander
Francis Ford Coppola, film director
Michael Crichton, author
Peyton Manning, NFL quarterback
Stephen Sondheim, composer and lyricist
Gloria Steinem, co-founder of Ms. Magazine
John Updike, novelist and critic
(info from The New York Public Library Book of Popular Americana and PBK.org.)

1950:Liz Taylor marries for the first time

Two-time Oscar-winner Elizabeth Taylor has been married eight times, to seven husbands:

Conrad "Nicky" Hilton (1950 - 1951, divorced)

Michael Wilding (1952 - 1957, divorced)

Michael Todd (1957 - 1958, widowed)

Eddie Fisher (1959 - 1964, divorced)

Richard Burton (1964 - 1974, divorced)

Richard Burton (1975 - 1976, divorced)

John Warner (1976 - 1982, divorced)

Larry Fortensky (1991 - 1996, divorced)

In 2004, her boyfriend was said to be Mexican attorney Victor Luna,

Liz won her first Oscar for playing a hooker in Butterfield 8 (1960), a movie she has said she despised. Cleopatra (1963) won her Richard Burton -- they married and co-starred in eight movies and a TV mini-series (Divorce His, Divorce Hers) before divorcing, remarrying, and divorcing again. Most of the Taylor/Burton movies were duds, but Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? won her another Oscar.

More recently, she spoke Maggie's only word on The Simpsons, and played Fred's mother-in-law in The Flintstones (1994). She describes Michael Jackson as her dearest friend; she is his son's godmother, and she married her eighth husband, Larry Fortensky, at Jackson's Neverland Ranch. Mattel made an Elizabeth Taylor Butterfield 8 doll, possibly the company's only prostitute product. (info from Wikipedia and nndb.com; photo from Pictorial Press)

1952:first flight of a B-52

The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is now its fifth decade of operational service. The newest planes were made 45 years ago, and are older than their flight crews. The eight-engine, 390,000-pound jet was the country's first long-range, swept-wing heavy bomber. It began as an intercontinental, high-altitude nuclear bomber, and its operational capabilities were adapted to meet changing needs.

B-52s have been modified for low-level flight, conventional bombing, extended-range flights and transport of improved defensive and offensive equipment -- including ballistic missiles that can be launched hundreds of miles from their targets.

It had a rocky beginning. The original XB-52 design, selected by the Army Air Forces in 1946, was for a straight-wing, six-engine, propeller-powered heavy bomber. On Oct. 21, 1948, Boeing Chief Engineer Ed Wells and his design team were in Dayton, Ohio, when the Air Force's chief of bomber development told them to scrap the propellers and come up with an all-jet bomber. Over the following weekend, in a Dayton hotel room, the team designed a new eight-engine jet bomber, still called the B-52, made a scale model out of balsa wood and prepared a 33-page report.

This effort impressed the Air Force's Air Material Command, and the design was approved. As the war worsened in Korea, the Air Force, in 1951, designated the B-52 the country's next intercontinental bomber and approved an initial production order for 13 B-52s. The first prototype flew on 15 April 1952.

Production versions of the B-52A were B-52Bs, with more weight and larger engines. Some had photographic reconnaissance or electronic capsules in their bomb bays and were redesignated RB-52Bs. The B-52s increased in range, power and capability with each variant. The B-52H made its first flight March 6, 1961, and is still in service. In all, 744 B-52s were produced by Seattle, Wash., and Wichita, Kan., plants between 1952 and 1962.

Throughout the 1950s, the B-52 chalked up numerous distance and speed records. It cut the round-the-world speed record in half, and in January 1962, it flew 12,500 miles nonstop from Japan to Spain without refueling. This flight alone broke 11 distance and speed records. The B-52s saw active duty in the Vietnam War, were used in the Persian Gulf War in 1991, and later in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Used for strategic attack, air interdiction, offensive counter-air and maritime operations, its capabilities include:

Carrying nuclear or precision-guided conventional ordnance, including gravity bombs, cluster bombs, precision guided missiles and joint direct attack munitions

Delivering approximately 70,000 pounds of mixed payload, both internally and on external pylons

Combat range exceeding 8,800 miles unrefueled

High subsonic speeds up to 650 miles per hour, or Mach 0.86

Flying at altitudes up to 50,000 feet

Low-altitude flight capability, augmented by its electro-optical viewing system

Ongoing updates since beginning military service have included new avionics, data-link communications, electronic defense and offensive systems, and more powerful, fuel-efficient turbofan engines. The B-52 has been the longest-serving bomber in US history.

The official name Stratofortress was rarely used, and personnel involved with the aircraft most commonly referred to it as BUFF (Big Ugly Fat/Flying Fuck/Fucker/Fellow). (info from Boeing and Wikipedia)

On Vacation

We'll be away for a bit of relaxation and recharging. New posts will resume on 4/9 (unless I discover something really important before then).

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