A Brief History On October 11, 2001, Polaroid Corporation filed for bankruptcy and a year later went out of business. Polaroid brought us instant print photos and became a part of American culture when First Daughter Jenna Bush said her parents would “Shake it like a Polaroid picture!” referencing an Outkast song. Digging Deeper Other iconic American companies and brands have also become extinct, and we list a few of the most notable ones. Airlines, such as Braniff, Eastern, Frontier, Northwest Orient, Pan Am, and TWA, among others. Auto brands AMC, Checker, Mercury, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Plymouth, Saturn, and Studebaker, among…
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A Brief History On October 7, 1763, the Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued by King George III of Great Britain and Ireland, forbidding American settlers from moving into Native American lands West of the Appalachian Mountains, part of the settlement of the French and Indian War that was in turn part of the larger Seven Years’ War. Digging Deeper American colonists certainly had a wanderlust for new territories, giving them new land to exploit for farming, hunting, fur trapping, and mining. Being forbidden from seeking their fortune by a far away King rankled American feelings and caused bitter resentment. …
A Brief History On September 28, 2008, the first Formula One night race was held, the Singapore Grand Prix. The high-profile international auto race was won by Fernando Alonso driving for the Renault F1 team. Later, it was discovered that Alonso’s teammate, Nelson Piquet Jr., had been ordered by team managers to deliberately cause a crash to help Alonso win the race. Digging Deeper This race would not be the first or the last time pro sports events were “fixed,” either by cheating or by deliberately losing in order to affect betting outcomes. Some other examples include the 1919 “Black…
A Brief History On September 27, 1962, the book, Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson was published. The book dealt with environmental science and focused on the widespread use of pesticides and the disinformation provided by the manufacturers of those chemicals. Digging Deeper Carson made a case that the indiscriminate use of these chemicals was poisoning the environment and killing off many beneficial insects along with the pests. Additionally, many birds suffered ill effects from the pesticides, and Carson projected that one day the birds would be gone, hence the title of the book. You might have thought a cataclysmic environmental…
A Brief History On September 20, 2001, US President George W. Bush addressed congress and the American people and declared a “War on Terror.” Initial attacks against terrorist bases went well, but the war soon bogged down in Iraq, diverting the effort, and the US ended up in a 20 year occupation of Afghanistan, only for the Taliban to take over when the Americans left. Digging Deeper Some other declared wars that did not go well for the initiator include The War on Poverty, declared by President Lyndon Johnson in 1964, which saw massive federal spending and creation of programs…
