Browsing: March 31

A Brief History On March 31, 2017, lab rats, chemistry students, and scientists will be celebrating Bunsen Burner Day, that ubiquitous lab fixture often seen heating secret potions in science fiction film labs.  Of course, March is home to International Women’s Day (March 8th) and is Women’s History Month, but the month named after Mars, the Roman God of War, also has some other nifty days you may or may not have noticed over the past few weeks. Digging Deeper Robert Bunsen, a German chemist, invented his famous gas burner in 1852, but that was not the only invention named…

A Brief History On March 31, 1930, censorship came to Hollywood! Digging Deeper The United States roared through the 1920’s and left the prudish Victorian period behind. Until of course somebody decided they knew better than you what you should be watching!  The 1920’s saw risqué films that shocked conservative audiences and Hollywood scandals that led people to believe that Hollywood was full of sex and violence oriented miscreants!  The Motion Pictures Producers and Distributors of America hired the former Postmaster General, Will Hays, to be the public face of Hollywood to reassure the public and smooth over State and…

A Brief History On March 31, 1923, the first U.S. dance marathon ended in New York City but began a strange fad with sometimes fatal consequences! Digging Deeper Less than a decade later, in 1932, a young woman dropped dead after dancing non-stop for 48 hours in a dance marathon!  And when the police raided a ballroom during a Marathon World Championship, the promoters simply transferred the contestants, who were still dancing, into a van.  From there they were taken onto a sloop, a small sailing ship, which sailed out of territorial waters and so beyond the area of police…

A Brief History On March 31, 1992, the U.S. Navy decommissioned the USS Missouri, the last of the Iowa-class battleships.  The Mighty Mo, also known as BB-63, gained immortality by being the host for the signing of the Japanese surrender in World War II on September 2, 1945.  The fact that President Truman was from Missouri probably had some influence on the choice of the ship for the signing!   The Missouri now resides at Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii as a museum/memorial ship.  Digging Deeper First fielded during World War II, the Iowa class was an improvement over the South Dakota and…

A Brief History On March 31, 1889, the Eiffel Tower was completed in Paris, France and has stood as a symbol of that city ever since. The tallest man-made structure in the world at that time, it remained the tallest until 1930 when it was surpassed by the Chrysler Building in New York.  Many cities have a structure that is readily recognized as the most prominent symbol of that city.  Here is an inexhaustive list of 10 of the most iconic ones, with follow-up lists planned to cover other iconic structures that exist in such other major world cities as…