Most Americans probably do not know the reason behind the celebration of Cinco de Mayo, yet t’s one of the biggest nights of the year for many Mexican restaurants in America. Some people believe it is Mexican Independence Day, but that is incorrect. Mexico declared its independence from Spain on September 15, 1810, and south […]
In 1939 when televisions were being produced commercially, no one could anticipate how much television would change our lives. Now rather than one large stationary television in each house, we can view television programs, movies, and other media not even envisioned in those early days. Along with televisions, commercials appeared which allowed us to watch all […]
THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED Richie Valens, musician (May 13, 1941 – Feb. 3, 1959) died too early in his life on a fateful plane crash February 3, 1959 . His real name was Richard Steven Valenzuela This date will be forever called ‘The Day the Music Died.” Three promising musicians lost their lives. Roger Peterson, the […]
Plane travel is so common today that it is hard to imagine a time when it was new. It wasn’t until around 1939 that inter-continental flight was even available for the average travelers. Here is a transcription of a newspaper article of what a trans-Atlantic flight was like in June of 1939. This may have […]
The world would be an alien place for this man today! Television Opens Excellent Field For Engineering (transcribed from The Tuscaloosa News July 7, 1929) By NEA SERVICE WASHINGTON, July 6, 1929 Television in its present undeveloped stage offers the engineer and trained radio man opportunities that radio did a decade ago. It presents problems […]
Though their prospects were bright in 1937, many of these grads would be involved in World War II after December 7, 1941. JOBS AWAITING COLLEGE GRADS (Transcribed from The Tuscaloosa News June 4, 1937) CHICAGO, June 4—(AP)— Industrial talent scouts are back on the American college campuses in boom time numbers and most seniors are […]
This may be the earliest film of a baseball game made in May 20, 1898 by Thomas A. Edison, Inc. from the Library of Congress. Notes about the film state: Photographed from one camera position behind home plate, the film shows a baseball game in progress. The action includes two players running toward the camera; […]
Modern surgery techniques worried doctors in 1890. WONDERS OF THE KNIFE (Transcribed from the Philadelphia Press 1890) An operation 1890 US naval yard Detroit Publishing (Library of Congress) “Modern surgery,” said a practitioner, “gives men new eyes, even robbing rabbits for that purpose with success, gives them new blood, tapping to that end the veins […]
Below is a film on the massive internment of Japanese Americans in concentration camps during World War II. The film tries to reassure the viewer that the conditions in the camps are not too “soft” — that the Japanese Americans there have to work hard and actually provide for many of their own needs, costing […]
Have you ever heard of this kind of phonograph? Occupation of stenographer gone due to invention of phongraph? (Transcribed from Times Daily August 8, 1890, Florence, Alabama The opinion is expressed by good authority that the occupation of the stenographer is gone. The wonderful progress of science has evidently affected his heretofore valuable services. The […]
