A Brief History On June 28, 1926, Mercedes-Benz, a company known for quality and luxury in automobiles, formed by merging companies founded by German engineers Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz. Digging Deeper Benz pioneered auto making, and his 1885 effort is considered the first practical production auto. Daimler followed with his car the next year. While Mercedes-Benz has a long history of fame for quality and reliability, in 2023, the firm’s cars came in a dismal 29th out of 30 car makers for reliability according to Consumer Reports. Fellow Teutonic car makers also did not lead the pack, with Mini…
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A Brief History On June 20, 1975, the blockbuster movie, Jaws, starring a huge and hungry great white shark, was released in the US and immediately started setting box office records. The real star of the film is usually just called “Jaws,” but the movie prop actually had a name, “Bruce.” Digging Deeper While horror films have featured monsters such as semi-humans, ala Frankenstein, Dracula, and Hannibal Lecter, or even aliens or made-up monsters such as Godzilla, today, we ask you which movie monster based on actual critters is or are the most epic? Some to choose from include: King…
A Brief History On June 3, 1844, the last known pair of Great Auks was killed on a small island off Iceland, a magnificent species of flightless bird resembling but not related to Penguins, 30 to 33 inches tall but with tiny six-inch wings. Digging Deeper Long a staple food and source of feathers and skins for Native American people, the soft down of the Great Auk made it a target for European hunters that decimated the populations of the aquatic birds. Changing climate and geography naturally eliminates some species of plants and animals, but humans have greatly accelerated the…
A Brief History On May 25, 1968, the Gateway Arch across the Mississippi River at St. Louis was dedicated, after 2 ½ years of construction and a year after it was “inaugurated.” Towering 630 feet tall, the arch also spans 630 feet wide, providing St. Louis with a majestic reminder of its role as the “Gateway to the West.” Digging Deeper While we have the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and Seven Wonders of the Modern World, today we take a look at two projects we believe are worthy of wonder that have been made since 1960: First, the…
A Brief History On May 14, 1900, the athletic competition known as “the World Amateur championship” opened at the Paris Exposition Universelle, a World’s Fair held in Paris from April to November of 1900, one of several French hosted Expositions Universelle over the years. Digging Deeper The events variously known as “world’s fair,” “global exposition,” or “universal exposition,” are major events often hosted by a major city or a country to celebrate all the latest in technology and innovations, a phenomenon first hosted by Bohemia in Prague back in 1791. There have been at least 37 general expositions that could…