A Brief History On August 3, 1900, Firestone Tire and Rubber Company was founded in Akron, Ohio, joining Goodyear Tire and Rubber in Akron as the two preeminent tire makers in the US for the next 75 years. In 1988, Japanese tire maker, Bridgestone, bought Firestone. Digging Deeper While Goodyear is still an American company, other US tire companies have been acquired by foreign firms, including General Tire now owned by Continental AG of Germany, and BF Goodrich tire division is now part of Michelin based in France. Once one of the “Big Three” US car companies, Chrysler Corporation is…
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A Brief History On August 1, 2004, about 400 people died and another nearly 500 were injured when a supermarket in Asunción, Paraguay, caught fire. Managers had fire exits blocked to prevent theft, which resulted in the mass casualties. Digging Deeper Something as mundane as grocery shopping can be deadly, and here are some ways incidents prove the point: In 1967, an F-4 fighter jet crashed into an Arizona grocery, with 15 feared dead and 12 injured. In 2013, a store in Riga, Latvia, suffered a roof collapse, burying people under tons of debris, leaving 54 dead and 41 injured.…
A Brief History On July 31, 1715, one of those events that leads to dreams occurred, when a storm off the coast of Florida sank all 11 Spanish treasure ships heading to Spain from Cuba. Digging Deeper Carrying a load of mostly silver, the fleet has been dubbed, “The 1715 Plate Fleet,” using the Spanish word for silver, “plata.” About 1,500 sailors drowned in the catastrophe, although a few survived to tell the tale. Treasure wrecks spawn mighty efforts to find and recover the lost treasure, and the occasional washing up of some of the 1715 Fleet’s treasure on beaches…
A Brief History On July 13, 1973, retired Air Force officer and member of the Nixon Administration revealed the existence of an automatic audio tape system in the Oval Office, helping to bring down President Richard Nixon. While not immediately, Alexander Butterfield survived his snitching and went on to business success, eventually serving on the boards of several corporations. Digging Deeper In spite of various “whistle blower” programs designed to protect and even reward “snitches,” many people are hesitant to provide inside information to authorities in fear of retaliation. Some other “snitches” that survived and prospered include: Tim Allen, television…
A Brief History On July 8, 2003, a genuine Elvis Presley tooth that onetime girlfriend of Presley, Linda Thompson, had been keeping was listed for a staggering $100,000 on eBay. To be fair, a lock of his hair and a gold record were included for good measure. Digging Deeper What is the weirdest thing sold or offered for sale on eBay? A human kidney? William Shatner’s kidney stone? Here are a few of the goofy items that have been offered: The burial crypt directly above that of Marilyn Monroe was offered on eBay for $500,000, and got an offer for…