A Brief History On March 9, 1959, the world of toys was taken by storm in New York City with the introduction of the Barbie Doll by toy manufacturer Mattel at the American International Toy Fair. Digging Deeper Said to have been inspired by a German doll called Bild Lilli, it was a woman named Ruth Handler who invented Barbie after she noticed her own daughter playing with dolls in adult roles instead of holding them like a type of surrogate baby. At first, Barbie was marketed with either blonde or brown hair as a “teen-age fashion model” wearing a zebra pattern swimsuit. From her birth on, the…
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A Brief History On March 8, 1910, the Aero-Club of France issued pilot license #36 to Raymonde de Laroche, making her the first licensed female pilot in the world. Although sometimes referred to as the first woman to fly an airplane, it is likely that 2 other women had flown before her. Note: A female aviator is also called an “aviatrix.” Digging Deeper Laroche had been born Elise Raymonde Deroche in France in 1882. Despite the accomplishments of the Wright Brothers, the fervor over the new aeronautical industry was in Europe, not North America, and Laroche took her keen interest in the new sport to…
A Brief History On March 7, 1994, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that song parodies are “fair use” and that the original artist or writer of the song cannot prevent the parody from being recorded and aired. This settled any disputes, and the likes of “Weird Al” Yankovic were given a green light to continue amusing the public. Earlier this year, we featured lists of great novelty songs (including parodies), and today we feature 10 more such great hits that amuse and entertain us. Thank you, Supreme Court! Digging Deeper 10. “Pretty Woman,” 2 Live Crew, 1992. A parody…
A Brief History On March 6, 1975, entranced Americans were glued to their television sets to watch the first mass public showing of the infamous “Zapruder Film” that depicted the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Digging Deeper The 8mm film is by far the most complete and definitive of the photographic records of the assassination, and it is in color! Obviously, the Secret Service was eager to get their hands on any film of the event and did so, having 3 prints made, returning one to Abraham Zapruder, a Russian-born Jewish tailor who had filmed the murder…
A Brief History On March 5, 1836, Samuel Colt formed the gun-manufacturing company that would produce the pistols “that won the West.” We have already written about Mr. Colt and his innovative and successful revolver, but this time around, we are going to discuss the problems with it. Digging Deeper Colt created his invention when percussion caps were replacing flintlock ignition systems, and the percussion cap is what made a revolving cylinder firearm practical. When relying on flintlock ignition, powder could easily fall out of the individual pan or chain fire, with all cylinders going off at once. (This could…