Browsing: August 21

A Brief History On August 21, 2017, we look back on this past week, a week that has been incredible for the news cycle, most of the news bad!  War, maybe nuclear war with North Korea?  Gone from the news!  (For now?)  Replaced with stories about hatred and violence in the US and in Europe.  President Trump’s message condemning violence became a liability instead of a political asset for him, and we learned his Chief Strategist, Steve Bannon, had been fired.  Here we list some of the people who either inspired us or made us sick this past week. Digging…

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A Brief History On August 21, 1961, Motown Records of Detroit, Michigan released what became their first #1 hit song, “Please Mr. Postman” by the Marvelettes.  Founded by record making genius Berry Gordy, Jr., Motown was an African-American oriented enterprise with a cross-racial appeal that helped bridge the musical gap between Black and White Americans in the turbulent 1960’s. Digging Deeper A relatively small company, Motown was now on its way to major success, owning the crossover soul to pop market.  The 1960’s saw 79 Motown hits make the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.  Gordy moved the record…

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A Brief History On August 21, 1911, Vincenzo Peruggia, an employee of the Louvre in Paris, stole perhaps the most famous painting in the world, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.  The theft created an international stir, and when the thief was caught two years later as he attempted to sell the painting to an Italian museum, he was treated as a national hero in Italy.  He only served six months in jail.  Every once in a while a famous or important object is stolen, or the circumstances of a theft make the crime notable.  Here 10 of the most notorious…

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A Brief History On August 21, 1897, Ransom Eli Olds founded the car company that became the first assembly line producer of automobiles in the world.  Many people think it was Henry Ford that invented the moving assembly line for automobile production, and of course he did make major strides in that direction, but Ransom Eli Olds was the first. Digging Deeper For the next 107 years, Oldsmobile was known as a company that made upscale, comfortable cars and even produced some “muscle” cars along the way.  Officially called Olds Automobiles, the name was quickly shorted to Oldsmobile. Born in Geneva,…

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