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Alaska Pipeline: Moving Oil Since 1977
On this date in 1977, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System was completed. Here are some things you may not know about it. Oil had been used as fuel on the Arctic shore of Alaska for centuries by native people, usually using oil-soaked peat for heating and lighting. Several attempts were made to determine the feasibility of…
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Centralia Mine Fire: Burning Since 1962
On this date in 1962, a mine fire under the town of Centralia, Pennsylvania, was discovered. It continues to burn to this day. Here are a few things you may not have known about it. Centralia is located about halfway between Wilkes-Barre and Harrisburg, in the heart of Pennsylvania’s Coal Country. At its peak, the…
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Kaspar Hauser: Feral Child or Scheming Codger?
On this date in 1828, an alleged feral child named Kaspar Hauser was discovered in Nuremberg, Germany. Here are a few things you may not have known about Hauser and feral children. Feral children are those that are isolated from human contact at an early age and have little to no understanding of human behavior,…
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Gateway Arch: Welcome to the West
On this date in 1968, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, was dedicated. Here are some things you may not have known about it. The Gateway Arch is a monument to the western expansion of the United States. It sits in the center of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial on the western bank of…
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Concorde: Faster Than the Speed of Sound
On this date in 1976, the first Concorde flight between London and Washington, D.C. took place. Here are some things you may not have known about Concorde. The idea of supersonic passenger flights began in the early 1950s, a few years after Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier for the first time in 1947. The…
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Turtles: Who Doesn’t Like Them?
Today is World Turtle Day. Here are some things you may not have known about them. Turtles are reptiles that belong to the order Testudines. Their defining characteristic is their shell, which is made of bone or cartilage depending on the species. In American English, the word turtle is used to describe all members of…
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Homesteading: Go West, Young Man
On this date in 1862, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act into law. Here are some things you may not have known about homesteading in the United States. The idea of opening up the American west to settlement had been proposed several times by northern lawmakers before the Civil War. Southern lawmakers, however…
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Canada’s National Parks: Grandeur on Display
On this date in 1911, the world’s first national parks service was founded in Canada. Here are some things you may not have known about national parks, especially those in Canada. While the Canadians were the first to create a national parks service, the world’s first national park was Yellowstone, located mostly in the U.S.…
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Sports Broadcasting: Spreading the News Since 1921
On this date in 1939, the first live television broadcast of a sporting event in the United States happened. Here are some things you may not have known about the early days of sports broadcasting. If a fan couldn’t get to the stadium to see their team in action, traditionally they would have to wait…
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Uh-Oh, 51 Years of SpaghettiOs
On this date in 1965, SpaghettiOs were introduced. Here are some things you may not have known about the convenience food and other similar products. For those that don’t know, SpaghettiOs is a brand of canned pasta in a tomato sauce. The pasta is circular, hence the Os in the name. They were created by…