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It was 1931 when the Central Ice and Cold Storage Company of Los Angeles rolled the dice on American’s buying ice from a machine. The Serv-Ice Vending Machine sold 25-pound cakes of ice for a mere 15-cents. The cakes, wrapped in wax-coated paper, dispensed from a machine that stood 12-feet high and eight-feet square. By [...]
On May 30, 1966, the US sent a lunar soft-lander in an unmanned Surveyor program to the moon. The goal was to gather data about the lunar surface that would be needed in order to operate successful Apollo landings three years later. Surveyor 1 landed on the Ocean of Storms June 2, 1966, the first [...]
In the 1960s, the United States had two goals when it came to space: 1) Putting a human in orbit; 2) Beating the Soviet Union to the punch. Project Mercury was the first US human spaceflight program. In effect from 1959 to 1963, it didn’t reach the second goal (the Soviets had put Yuri Gagarin [...]
World News & the American Experience: 1937 – Franklin Delano Roosevelt becomes the first U.S. President to be inaugurated on the date of January 20th, per the 20th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. 1943 – A ban stops U.S. bakers from selling sliced bread. Until the end of World War II, only whole loaves were [...]
World News & the American Experience: 1943 – The Casablanca Conference takes place in Morocco, where the leaders of the Allies put together a strategy that would call for surrender of the Axis powers. 1943 – The world’s largest office building, the Pentagon, is completed. 1948 – Mohandas Mahatma Gandhi begins his final fast. 1979 [...]
World News & the American Experience: 1942 – Pan American World Airways completes the first commercial around-the-world airline flight. 1965 – President Lyndon B. Johnson gives his “Great Society” State of the Union Address. 1968 – The first U.S. heart transplant is performed at Stanford University by Dr. Norman E. Shumway. 1974 – Nixon refuses [...]
World News & the American Experience: 1934 – Alcatraz officially becomes a federal prison. 1938 – The March of Dimes is established by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to fight polio. 1945 – Congress officially recognizes the Pledge of Allegiance. 1946 – President Truman proclaims the end of World War II. 1977 – Ted Bundy escapes [...]
World News & the American Experience: 1968 – The Apollo 8 crew orbits the moon 10 times. On Christmas Eve, they transmit a message to all mankind calling for “peace on earth.” Movies & TV: 1932 – Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers appear in their first movie together, Flying Down To Rio. 1937 – Walt [...]
World News & the American Experience: 1941 – Hitler takes complete command of the German Army. 1941 – The US Office of Censorship is created to control information pertaining to World War II. 1958 – The first radio broadcast from space occurs. It is President Eisenhower’s voice, saying, “To all mankind, America’s wish for Peace [...]
World News & the American Experience: 1941 – Dec 7 – “A date which will live in infamy,” Pearl Harbor Day. 1100 men are lost as America’s Pacific Fleet is attacked. The catastrophic event leads the US to declare war and enter into World War II. 1962 – The International Typographical Union goes on strike [...]
World News & the American Experience: 1930 – Ruth Nichols beats Charles Lindbergh’s record time for a cross-country flight, completing the trip in 13 hours, 21 minutes. 1955 – Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to move to the back of the bus. This event starts the Montgomery Bus boycott, and fuels the Civil Rights [...]
World News & the American Experience: 1930 – Ruth Nichols becomes the first woman pilot on a transcontinental flight from New York to California. It took 7 days. 1942 – A tragic fire at the famed Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston, MA kills nearly 500 people. 1953 – A strike of photoengravers leave New York [...]
World News & the American Experience: 1935 – The China Clipper (flying boat) takes off from Alameda, California, carrying 100,000 pieces of mail on its first trans-Pacific airmail flight. 1963 – President John F. Kennedy is assassinated on November 22 in Dallas, Texas. 1964 – The Verrazano Narrows Bridge opens, connecting Staten Island to Brooklyn. [...]
World News & the American Experience: 1938 – Crystal Night takes place in Jewish neighborhoods in Germany. Thousands of books are burned, windows are smashed, and people are killed all in the hands of the Nazis. 1954 – Ellis Island closes as a facility for immigration purposes. 1965 – A huge blackout affects the entire [...]
