Profile America

Profile America: First Home Television Sets

Profile America: First Home Television Sets

FIRST HOME TV “SETS” Profile America — Couch potatoes can trace their roots to this date in 1928 when three experimental television sets were installed in private homes in Schenectady, New York. Not that there was much to see, the […]

Profile America: First College Protest

Profile America: First College Protest

FIRST COLLEGE PROTEST Profile America — Tuesday, January 12 — Protests by college students in America have a long pedigree. In fact, this year marks the 250th anniversary of the first such action. In 1766, there were just seven colleges in […]

by · January 12, 2016 · Profile America
Profile America: January Is National Hot Tea Month

Profile America: January Is National Hot Tea Month

HOT TEA MONTH Profile America — Monday, January 11. In the depths of winter, many Americans find soothing warmth in a cup of hot tea, be it herbal, ginseng, black, green or some exotic specialty blend. Lumped together, this appreciation […]

by · January 11, 2016 · Profile America
Profile America: Women’s Suffrage

Profile America: Women’s Suffrage

The 19th Amendment enfranchising women was proposed in Congress in June 1919 and became law in August 1920.

by · January 10, 2016 · Profile America, Women

Profile America: National Static Electricity Day

Static electricity has uses in air purifiers, photocopiers and bonding in the painting of automobiles, as well as sticking party balloons onto walls and ceilings.

by · January 9, 2016 · Profile America, Technology
Profile America: AT&T MONOPOLY RULING

Profile America: AT&T MONOPOLY RULING

Profile America — Friday, January 8. The nation’s telephone service options changed forever on this date 34 years ago when AT&T complied with a Justice Department mandate to give up its local Bell System companies. The action came as the […]

by · January 8, 2016 · Profile America
Profile America: First U.S. Bank

Profile America: First U.S. Bank

FIRST U.S. BANK During the Revolutionary War, the rebelling colonies and the Continental Congress were anything but too big to fail. To the contrary, finances were very spotty and precarious. To help put affairs in order and make credit available, […]

by · January 7, 2016 · Profile America
Profile America: Fire Hazard

Profile America: Fire Hazard

FIRE HAZARD Profile America — Wednesday, January 6. Today, when a home is damaged or destroyed by fire, there usually is no question that it was insured against such a common danger. The first fire insurance company in Colonial America was the […]

by · January 6, 2016 · Profile America
Profile America: Minimum Wage

Profile America: Minimum Wage

MINIMUM WAGE The business world was confronted with a new idea on this date in 1914, when Henry Ford announced that he would reduce the workday from nine to eight hours and pay his factory assembly line workers a minimum wage […]

by · January 5, 2016 · Profile America
Profile America: First State of the Union

Profile America: First State of the Union

The First State of the Union Profile America — Monday, January 4th. In early January 1790, President George Washington addressed a joint session of Congress to deliver the first State of the Union report, as called for the in the […]

by · January 4, 2016 · Profile America
Profile America: Census Bureau Projects U.S. Population on New Year’s Day

Profile America: Census Bureau Projects U.S. Population on New Year’s Day

  On this New Year’s Eve, some 322 million Americans of all ages and backgrounds are ready to greet the year 2016. A hundred years ago, the U.S. population was just over 100 million. Fifty years ago, it was around […]

by · December 31, 2015 · Profile America
Fireworks explode in central London

Profile America: Auld Lang Syne

Profile America — As a year draws to a close, it is common to reflect on the passage of time. Two hundred years ago, the Senate ratified the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812. A week later, Congress declared […]

by · December 30, 2015 · Profile America
Profile America: Razor’s Edge

Profile America: Razor’s Edge

Living Life On The Razor’s Edge During the course of recorded history going back to ancient Egypt, men have felt cultural pressures to shave their facial hair. For centuries, their only recourse was the straight razor, which provided a close […]

by · December 29, 2015 · Profile America
Profile America: Channel Surfing

Profile America: Channel Surfing

The reliable TV remote control, a crucial labor saving device for couch potatoes, was unveiled this month in 1957. Robert Adler of the Zenith Corporation received a patent for a mechanical unit that used a striker and four small aluminum […]

by · December 27, 2015 · Profile America, Technology