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Pong: The First Video Game Sensation
On this date in 1972, Atari released “Pong,” the first commercially successful video game. Here are some things you may not have known about it. It wasn’t the first home video game, or the first arcade game, for that matter. The first home video game console was the Magnavox Odyssey, which was released in September…
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Grand Ole Opry: Country Music’s Most Hallowed Stage
On this date in 1925, the radio show that would become the “Grand Ole Opry” premiered in Nashville, Tennessee. Here are some things you may not have known about the Grand Ole Opry. The Opry began as the “WSM Barn Dance,” modeled after a similar program on WLS in Chicago. The first program featured 77-year-old…
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Joe DiMaggio: The Story of the Yankee Clipper
Today is the birthday of baseball Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio. Here are a few things you may not have known about the Yankee Clipper. DiMaggio was born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio in Martinez, California, in 1914. He was the eighth of nine children. His father was a fisherman, who moved from Sicily in 1898, followed…
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DB Cooper: America’s Most Notorious Skyjacker
Welcome to the Trivia Minute, your daily dose of history, facts and tidbits from TriviaPeople.com … I’m Marcus Michelson. On this date in 1971, a man using the alias Dan Cooper hijacked a Northwest Orient Airlines flight between Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington. Here are some things you may not have known about DB Cooper.…
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Marx Brothers: The First Family of Comedy
Today is the birthday of Harpo Marx, the second-oldest of the Marx Brothers comedy troupe. Here are some things you may not have known about Harpo and his brothers. Adolph Marx was born in New York, and grew up on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. He was the third son of Sam and Minnie…
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Blackbeard: The Prototypical Pirate
On this date in 1718, the pirate known as Blackbeard was killed in a battle with the British Navy. Here are some things you may not have known about the man regarded as the prototypical pirate. Not much is known about Blackbeard’s early life, including his actual name. He was known as Edward Teach or…
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Brief History of Audio Recording
On this date in 1877, Thomas Edison announced his invention of the phonograph. Here are some things you may not have known about sound recording. Edison’s phonograph was the first machine to record sound and then play it back. But it wasn’t the first to record sound. The first device known to record sound was…
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William Tell: Switzerland’s National Hero
According to legend, on this date in 1307, William Tell shot an apple off his son’s head with a crossbow. Here are some things you may not have known about the legend. The first reference to William Tell appeared about 100 years after his supposed death. It describes Tell as a leader of the Swiss…
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Suez Canal: A Shortcut from Europe to South Asia
On this date in 1869, the Suez Canal opened. Here are some things you may not have known about it. The Suez Canal links the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, and cuts 4,300 miles off the shipping distance from Europe to South Asia. It’s a sea level canal, so unlike the Panama Canal there…
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Skylab: America’s First Space Station
On this date in 1973, the third and final crew of the U.S. space station Skylab launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Here are a few things you may not have known about Skylab and other space stations. Skylab was the first American space station. The station itself was launched during an unmanned…