History Tuesday

On this day in 1968, a patent was granted to a fellow named Fred Schollhammer for a hand-held portable beam generator. We now know that portable beam generator today as a laser, which is an acronym for “Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation.” Now, Mr. Schollhammer didn’t invent the laser, in fact there …

As the fourth of July approaches, most of us will be gearing up for a splash in the pool, great barbeque and the traditional fireworks display that never ceases to amaze us. Whether it’s a small, hand-held Roman candle or a gigantic starburst exploding way over our heads, fireworks bring out the kid in all …

Almost 100 years ago this week; June 29, 1915 to be exact, Juicy Fruit was trademark registered.  But surprisingly, the history of chewing gum goes back even farther than that, a lot farther. In fact, people have been chewing all sorts of chewy things for centuries—tree bark, plant sterols and even paraffin wax.  It’s said …

Yesterday, June 17th, marks a milestone anniversary in American culture (and no, we’re not talking about the Battle of Bunker Hill or the Watergate break-in). What we are talking about is the 1980 copywriting by Atari of the video games Asteroids and Lunar Lander. You remember Atari, the originator of many of the games that …

With Father’s Day coming this weekend, many fathers out there are probably thinking about one thing:  golf.  Golf is that crazy game where we whack a small white ball with a club down a long stretch of beautifully quaffed lawn, then try to roll the ball into a small hole using another club and end …

You might think that the swimming pool wasn’t really invented; that long ago there was a hole in the ground that filled with rain water and one of our caveman ancestors jumped in on a hot day and said, “Man that feels good,” and you’d probably be correct.  But the purposeful construction of a large …

Yesterday was, of course, Memorial Day and most of us were probably outdoors, celebrating at a picnic or a parade—eating, drinking and soaking up the sun. But yesterday was also Sunscreen Protection Day, so we thought this would be a good time to look into the history of sunscreen. Let’s take a look at how …

In Monday’s blog we learned about the Wright Brothers and how they invented the first motorized airplane. But there is much more to the story of their plane. In fact, flight itself has been an aspiration of humans for centuries. Remember the ancient Greek legend of Daedalus and his son, Icarus, who made wings of …

Since May is National Bike Month, we thought this would be a good opportunity to look into the history of a very important safety device—the bicycle helmet. Bicycles have been around since the 1860’s, when a machine known as the Velocipede came on the scene. But this bike wasn’t a big success due to its barrel-stave like …

According to the old saying, “April showers bring May flowers.” And that’s great.  But May also brings something a little closer to our hearts (and stomachs):  Barbecue.  That’s because May is National Barbecue Month.  Though it is an unofficial holiday, what better way to unofficially start the summer season than with some burgers and ribs …