FORD SETS UP ASSEMBLY LINE Wednesday, April 20 — The American automobile industry began to take off this month in 1913 — as Henry Ford set up the first moving assembly line in Highland Park, Michigan. Before the assembly line, […]
On this date in 1836, Massachusetts became the first state to prohibit children under 15 from working in factories.
Slippery Teflon revolutionized cooking utensils in the 1960s. Discovered this week in 1938 and developed by Roy Plunkett of the DuPont Company.
One of world’s foremost lifesaving medicines — insulin — became available this month in 1923 for treating diabetes.
C MAJOR Monday, April 4 — Today is Vitamin C Day, celebrated — if that’s the word — every April 4 on the anniversary of the isolation of this vitamin. The breakthrough was made in 1932 by two doctors at the University of […]
FIRST FEDERAL BUILDING: The National Mint Sunday, April 3 — Critics of federal spending initiatives often allude with some disdain to the government’s ability to create money. It’s pure coincidence, though, that the first federal building commissioned under the country’s new […]
GETTING IN THE COFFEE HABIT Saturday, April 2 — Sometimes, tastes seem to go in great cycles. For example, in 19th century America, local coffeehouses, which roasted their own beans, ruled. Then, in 1900, Hills Brothers started packing roasted, […]
APRIL 1: CIGARETTE ADS BANNED Friday, April 1 — Broadcast advertising was confronted with a major downsizing on this date in 1970 as President Nixon signed a bill into law prohibiting cigarette advertising on the nation’s airwaves. The ban went […]
PRIMARY VOTER Thursday, March 31 — The 15th Amendment to the Constitution declared the right to vote “shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition […]
FM RADIO DEBUTS Wednesday, March 30 — FM radio is 75 years old. In March 1941, the first commercial FM station went on the air — W47NV in Nashville, Tennessee. FM — standing for frequency modulation — was first […]
BIRTH OF A BRAND Tuesday, March 29 — One of the most successful brand names of all time got its start on this date in 1886. That’s when Atlanta pharmacist John Pemberton brewed up the first batch of Coca-Cola — […]
MOM AND POP BUSINESSES Monday, March 28 — While openings of a major department store or a branch of a big-box chain are often welcomed by shoppers and communities, they are also the cause of some concern. Small local businesses […]
MOBILE COMPUTER Sunday, March 27 — A triumph of mobile computing was achieved on this date in 1961. A division of the Sperry Rand Corporation equipped a trailer truck to haul a UNIVAC I computer from New York City down […]
AMERICA’S FIRST SHOPPING MALL Profile America — Everyone who loves convenience in shopping can thank Edward Delk and J.C. Nichols. It was they who conceived, designed, and built the first shopping mall in the U.S. The Country Club Plaza, on the […]
RUBBED OUT Friday, March 25 — The fact that pencils have erasers is supposed to indicate that no one is perfect. But it’s doubtful that people were perfect before this month in 1858. That’s when Hyman Lipman was granted a […]
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