A Brief History On October 7, 1996, Fox News Channel debuted on cable, later to become the most watched of the cable news networks. Fox was late to the party, with CNN starting the cable news craze in 1980. MSNBC, the #2 cable news outlet, also launched in 1996, and Newsmax premiered in 2014 as a major player. Many other financial, sports and specialty news channels are also available on cable. Digging Deeper Prior to the ascendancy of cable news, network TV news was king, starting with 15 minute broadcasts and in 1963 moving to the 30 minute format. Before…
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A Brief History On October 6, 1927, The Jazz Singer opened in theaters and began a new era in movie going by becoming the first major motion picture to feature synchronized music, singing and speech, ending the “Silent Movie” era. Digging Deeper Some of the other advancements in movie technology that we believe are worthy of mention include: In 1898, Englishman Robert Paul invented a way to greatly reduce the flicker in movies with a new projector. Widescreen Movies debuted in 1927 but hit their stride in the 1950s to combat inroads made by television. Color movies were clumsily attempted…
A Brief History On October 4, 1957, the USSR launched its first satellite to achieve orbit around the Earth, Sputnik 1, marking the beginning of the space age. Digging Deeper The world marveled while the 184 pound satellite circled 134 to over 500 miles above and emitted a radio “beeping” signal that even amateur radio buffs could monitor. Americans were chagrined that the Soviets could “beat” the US into space. The Soviets continued to beat the Americans with the first living mammal in space, a dog named Laika in November of 1957, then the first human in space that also…
A Brief History On September 30, 2024, we celebrated another National Chewing Gum Day, which brings us the question, “Who invented chewing gum?” Who do we have to thank for this tasty treat? Digging Deeper The answer is not so simple. While we generally think of chewing gum as a product of chicle from Latin America, the predecessors of modern chewing gum go back thousands of years in a wide variety of resins, saps, plants and other concoctions people used to satisfy their need to chew. Ancient Finns and Ancient Greeks chewed tree products that they flavored, while the Aztecs…
A Brief History On September 27, 1941, the first of 2,710 “Liberty” ships rolled off the assembly line, the SS Patrick Henry, built in Baltimore. While it may be naïve to think a single weapon or machine of war can be said to have “won the war,” items such as the Liberty and Victory ships made huge contributions to victory without being weapons. Digging Deeper Liberty ships were mass produced cargo vessels uniquely suited to moving many tons of war materiel across the oceans, especially the Atlantic, to keep Russia and the UK in the war, while also moving American…