On this date in 1871, British Columbia became the sixth province of Canada Here are a few things you may not have known about B.C. First, As with most western development in the late 1800s, gold was at the center of whether British Columbia would join Canada. A gold rush and subsequent bust meant the colony was deep in debt. […]
Read moreToday is the 60th anniversary of the opening of Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Here are a few things you may not have known about Disneyland. First, Walt Disney originally wanted to build a small theme park near his Burbank, California, studios, but the project soon became too large for the eight-acre plot. He bought 160 acres in Orange County and […]
Read moreToday is the 80th anniversary of the installation of the first parking meter. Here are a few facts you may not have known about them. One, that first parking meter was installed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Great Britain’s first parking meter was installed in London’s Grosvenor Square in 1958. The original model was coin-operated and this design remained largely unchanged for […]
Read moreNinety-nine years ago, Pacific Aero Products Co. was founded in Seattle. A year later, the company was renamed for one of its founders William Boeing. Here are a few things you might not know about The Boeing Company. First, the first plane built by Boeing was the B&W Seaplane. They later sold 50 seaplanes to the U.S. Navy during World […]
Read moreToday is Bastille Day in France and its dependencies. Here are a few things you may not have known about the holiday. First, It celebrates the beginning of the French Revolution and the storming of the Bastille prison in Paris on July 14, 1789. Second, 106 people were killed in the storming of the Bastille, including the commander of the […]
Read moreToday is the 71st birthday of Erno Rubik, the creator of Rubik’s Cube. Here are some things you may not have known about the puzzle builder and his creations. First: Rubik was born in Budapest, Hungary and he studied sculpture and architecture. He completed his first prototype for the Rubik’s Cube in 1974. It was originally made of wood and […]
Read moreToday is the 72nd anniversary of the birth of tennis legend Arthur Ashe. Here are a few things you may not have known about him. First, he was the first, and to date, only black male to win singles championships at the U.S. Open, Australian Open and Wimbledon. Second, Ashe won both the U.S. Amateur Championship and U.S. Open championship […]
Read moreToday is the 138th anniversary of the first Wimbledon tennis tournament. Here are a few things you may not know about Wimbledon. First, the first tournament was held as a fundraiser for groundskeeping equipment. The first Wimbledon champion was Spencer Gore. Second, the first women’s tournament wasn’t held until 1884. It was won by Maud Watson. Third, Wimbledon is the […]
Read moreOn July 8, 1943, a headline in the Roswell Daily Record announced the discovery of a flying saucer near the New Mexico town. Here are some things you may not know about the incident. First, the incident happened following the crash of a balloon that was to be used to listen for sounds of Soviet nuclear tests. The U.S. government […]
Read moreJuly 7 marks the 87th anniversary of the production of the first loaves of sliced bread. Here are some facts you may not have known about the greatest thing since, well, sliced bread. First, the commercial bread slicing machine was invented by Otto Frederick Rohwedder of Davenport, Iowa. He built a prototype in 1912 which was destroyed in a fire. […]
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