A Brief History On January 23, 1957, inventor Walter Morrison sold his plastic flying disc to the Wham-O company, which named the item “Frisbee” and has now sold over 100 million of the tossable toys! Digging Deeper The invention dates back to the 1930s when Morrison got the idea by throwing the lid to a popcorn can before graduating to cake pans. Now made of plastic and copied by numerous companies, the beauty of the Frisbee is in its simplicity, with no moving parts, no batteries, and low cost. After serving as a fighter pilot during World War II and…
Browsing: January
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A Brief History On January 22, 1984, Apple introduced their iconic home computer, the Macintosh, on a television ad during Super Bowl XVIII. The Mac is notable for being the first commercial computer to make popular use of the “mouse” and the “graphical user interface,” that is, using clickable icons instead of having to type text commands for many functions. Digging Deeper The Apple “1984” ad for the Macintosh is considered a groundbreaking ad that set a new standard for Super Bowl commercials. Super Bowl commercials have become an annual tradition for millions of people, either for the dramatic debut…
A Brief History On January 21, 1981, the DeLorean sports car started being produced in Northern Ireland, with production ending in December of 1982. Only about 9,000 of the futuristic cars were built. Digging Deeper Featuring gull-wing doors and a rear mounted V-6 engine that produced a paltry 130 horsepower, the DeLorean boasted stainless steel outer panels and struggled to reach 60 mph in a reported 8.8 to 10.5 seconds. For a purported “sports” car, the DMC loafed its way to a quarter mile in 17.9 seconds at a final speed of only 76.5 mph. For comparison, the two-door, two…
A Brief History On January 20, 1921, the crew of the Royal Navy submarine K5 found out the hard way just how dangerous being a submariner is, even in peacetime, when they suffered a fatal “Naval Oops Moment” and the sub was lost with all hands. Digging Deeper K5 had been part of naval maneuvers in the Bay of Biscay when she dived and never resurfaced. Debris from the sub told the sad tale that the boat had been lost with all hands. Why the sub sank is not entirely known, with speculation that perhaps she exceeded her designed maximum…
A Brief History On January 19, 1983, a space traveling chimpanzee named Ham died at the age of 25 at the North Carolina Zoo. Born in Africa and sent to The Miami Rare Bird Farm in Florida, Ham was then acquired by the US Air Force in 1959. Digging Deeper The Air Force obtained 40 chimps to prepare for use as test ape-ronauts prior to sending humans into space aboard Mercury space capsules. After whittling down the candidates, #65 was chosen for the January 1961 flight aboard the Mercury capsule launched by a Redstone Rocket. You may have noticed that…
