Month: September 2015

On this date in 1620, the Mayflower, carrying 102 passengers set sail from Southampton, England toward North America. Here are some things you may not have known about the voyage. First, the pilgrims weren’t fleeing religious persecution. They originally moved from England to the Netherlands and were allowed to practice their religion freely. They decided to leave the Netherlands because […]

Author Agatha Christie was born on this date in 1890. Here are a few facts you may not have known about her. Christie was born in Torquay, England, to a British mother and American father. She was the youngest of three children. She and her siblings grew up believing their mother had psychic powers. She later served as a volunteer […]

On this date in 1901, U.S. President William McKinley died after being shot eight days earlier in Buffalo, New York. Here are a few facts you may not have known about McKinley and the assassination. McKinley was born in Niles, Ohio,1843. He enlisted in the Union Army in Jul 1861 and would go on to serve in several battles including […]

Today would have been the 72nd birthday of Jack Ely, the lead singer of The Kingsmen, who are best known for their version of “Louie Louie.” Here are a few facts about Ely, The Kingsmen and “Louie Louie.” Ely was born in Portland, Oregon and was classically trained on piano before switching to guitar after seeing Elvis Presley on television. […]

Today is the 86th birthday of golf legend Arnold Palmer. Here are a few facts about the man known as “The King.” He was born on Sept. 10, 1929 in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. He started golfing at an early age as his father was the head professional and groundskeeper at Latrobe Country Club. After attending Wake Forest […]

Today is the birthday of fried chicken magnate Colonel Harland Sanders. Here are a few things you may not have known about him. Sanders was born in 1890 in Henryville, Indiana, just north of Louisville, Kentucky. His father died when Sanders was five years old, forcing his mother to work and leaving Sanders to watch over his younger brother and […]

Today is the birthday of American television comedy pioneer Sid Caesar. Here are a few things you may not have known about him. Caesar was born Isaac Sidney Caesar on September 8, 1922 in Yonkers, New York. His parents owned a 24-hour lunch counter where he would wait tables and learn the speech patterns of the wide-ranging group of customers. […]

Today is Labor Day in the United States and Canada. Here’s a few facts about the end-of-summer holiday. The holiday was promoted by labor unions to celebrate the importance of workers in the United States. The originator of the idea is disputed, with Matthew Maguire of the Central Labor Union and Peter J. McGuire of the American Federation of Labor […]

On this date in 1957, the Ford Motor Company introduced its Edsel division. Here are a few facts about one of the biggest marketing disasters in automotive history. In 1955, Ford began developing a new intermediate car brand that would fit between the company’s upmarket Lincoln and medium-price Mercury divisions. Its main competition was General Motors’ Oldsmobile and Buick divisions. […]

On September 3, 1967, drivers in Sweden switched from driving on the left side of the road to driving on the right. Here are a few things you may not have known about what was called Dagen H. First off, Dagen is the Swedish word for day and the “H” stands of Hogertrafik, or right-hand traffic. The government of Sweden […]