Browsing: July 5

A Brief History Swimsuits (or bikini, if you will) have always been popular.   While the two-piece swimsuit as a design existed in classical antiquity, the modern design first attracted public notice in Paris on July 5, 1946.  French mechanical engineer Louis Réard introduced a design he named the “bikini”, taking the name from the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.  Four days earlier, the United States had initiated its first peace-time nuclear weapons test at Bikini Atoll as part of Operation Crossroads. Réard hoped his swimsuit’s revealing style would create an “explosive commercial and cultural reaction” similar to the explosion at…

A Brief History On July 5, 2010, the City of London, England could boast of having the tallest building in Europe, when the 95 story (storey if you are English) “Shard” was completed.  Alas, London could make the claim of having the tallest European building only for a year, when the Mercury City Tower in Moscow, Russia passed it in 2013.  In fact, recent years have seen frequent changes in buildings claiming to be the tallest in Europe, and here we list the 10 Tallest Buildings in Europe (as of July 2017).  (In deference to European sensitivities, we are noting…

A Brief History On July 5, 1937, Hormel Foods Corporation introduced Spam to a Depression weary world.  A cooked, ready to eat meat product in a can, Spam was just the ticket for soldiers in the field in the upcoming World War.  It was also ideal for shipping to hungry allies.  Unfortunately, many folks think the salty, greasy, fat laden stuff in better suited as dog food, especially if you do not like your dog.  Britain and Australia got their share shipped to them, and Spam became a Monty Python joke.  Even unwanted emails are called Spam!  Still, it now comes in several flavor varieties (as many as 15)…

A Brief History On July 5, 2009, in an English field near the village of Hammerwich, a man looking for curios with a metal detector in a freshly plowed field found gold and silver objects dating back to the 7th Century. Digging Deeper Over the next 5 days he filled 244 bags with the gold and silver combat and arms related objects (such as adornments for weapons), but no female oriented jewelry and the like.  At this point the lucky man and the land owner notified authorities and gave permission to excavate the site, which was done by Birmingham Archaeology (funded by English…

A Brief History On July 5, 1946, the bikini swimsuit went on sale after being debuted at the Molitor Pool of Paris, France.  Ever since, continued developments in this fashion icon have kept the interest of men over most of the globe, and provided Sports Illustrated Magazine with an annual blockbuster issue.  Here we list 10 of our (subjective) favorite 20th Century inventions. Digging Deeper 10. Napalm and Silly Putty, 1942, 1943. Napalm came to us in 1942 courtesy of Harvard University, a jelly like gasoline concoction designed to burn people and objects to cinders.  The use of Napalm against…