Thursday, January 11th. This date 45 years ago was a day that lives in infamy, at least among baseball purists. In 1973, the American League approved a three-year experiment with replacing pitchers in the batting order with a designated hitter […]
Wednesday, January 10th. Legislation to grant women the right to vote was first introduced on this date in 1878 when a California senator proposed the necessary constitutional amendment. It was buried in committee for years and defeated when finally put […]
Tuesday, January 9th. If you feel a special, hair-raising electricity in the air today, well that’s no wonder — it’s National Static Electricity Day. Static electricity is the result of an imbalance between negative and positive charges in an object. […]
Monday, January 8th. On this date in 1790, President George Washington addressed a joint session of Congress to deliver the first State of the Union report, as required by the still young Constitution. The requirement didn’t demand a speech, and […]
Sunday, January 7th. 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, […]
On Monday, some 326 million Americans of all ages and backgrounds greeted the year 2018. A hundred years ago, the nation’s population was just a bit over 103 million. Fifty years ago, it was around 200 million. The 2010 Census […]
Friday, January 5th. The business world was confronted with a new idea on this date in 1914. That’s when Henry Ford announced that he would reduce the workday from nine to eight hours, and pay his factory assembly line workers […]
Many causes are being celebrated this month, some ridiculous, some serious. In the serious category are two linked together — National Eye Care Month and National Glaucoma Awareness Month. Regular eye examinations should be part of everyone’s health care regimen, […]
Tuesday, January 2nd. When Prohibition ended in 1933, the sale of alcoholic beverages resumed in America, but was subject to a patchwork of differing regulations. Local options mean that some counties remain dry. Some states regulate the alcoholic content of […]
How history will judge 2017 can’t yet be known, but last year’s anniversaries are woven into the fabric of today.
January 1, 2018 Monday, January 1st. For Americans in 1863, this day was not one especially suited to a greeting of “Happy New Year.” But in a nation riven by Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln used the occasion of the […]
One of the most important inventions of modern times dates back 70 years this month. In 1947, three Bell Laboratory scientists successfully tested what would become the junction transistor, vital to our information age. The three shared the Nobel Prize […]
Friday, December 29th. Colleges and universities with both male and female students are the norm today. But in 1833, only a few women went to college and the idea of coed classes was a social innovation. In December that year, […]
The reliable TV remote control, a crucial labor saving device for couch potatoes, was unveiled this month 60 years ago. Robert Adler of the Zenith Corporation received a patent for a mechanical unit that used a striker and four small […]
Thursday, December 28th. The month of December has given Americans a lot to chew on, beyond holiday cookies, fruitcakes and candies. On this date in December 1869, chewing gum was patented by Ohio dentist William Semple, who hoped that the […]
Follow Us