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Empire State Building: An Art Deco Masterpiece
On this date in 1930, construction began on the Empire State Building in New York. Here are some things you may not have known about the landmark building. The land where the Empire State Building sits was first developed as a farm in the late 1700s. Later, the block was the site of the original…
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Jerry Lewis: Entertaining for 85 years
Today is the 90th birthday of entertainer Jerry Lewis. Here are some things you may not have known about him. Joseph Levitch was born in 1926 in Newark, New Jersey. His father was a vaudeville entertainer, who used the stage name Danny Lewis. His mother played piano for a radio station. He started performing at…
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Domain Names: Directing Traffic Since 1985
On this date in 1985, the first Internet domain name, symbolics.com, was registered. Here are some things you may not have known about domain names and their history. Domain names are what identifies resources on the Internet. TriviaPeople.com is our domain name and .com is the world’s most popular top-level domain. Symbolics, the company that…
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Cotton Gin: Unintended Consequences
On this date in 1794, Eli Whitney was granted a patent for his cotton gin. Here are some things you may not know about Whitney and his invention. Eli Whitney was born in Massachusetts in 1765. He went into business early in life manufacturing nails in his father’s workshop during the Revolutionary War. He began…
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Archive: Naming of Harvard
March 13 marks the 376th anniversary of the naming of Harvard College. Originally founded as “New College” in 1636 by the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the college was renamed to honor clergyman John Harvard, who left the college £779 and a library of about 400 books. The 779 pounds is worth roughly $177,200 today. Our question:…
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Archive: Girl Scouts Founded On This Date
March 12 marks the 103rd anniversary of the founding of the Girl Guides, which would later become the Girl Scouts of the USA. Juliette Gordon Low founded the Girl Guides after meeting Robert Baden-Powell, who founded the Scouting movement in 1907. The Girl Scout mission is to build “girls of courage, confidence and character, who…
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Quiz Show Scandal: The Fix Is In
On this date in 1957, Charles Van Doren ended his four-month run as champion of the quiz show “Twenty One.” It was later discovered that the show was fixed. Here are some things you may not have known about Van Doren and the quiz-show scandal. The game show “Twenty One” premiered on September 10, 1956…
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Louisiana Purchase: What a Bargain!
On this date in 1804, France officially turned over the Louisiana territory to the United States during a ceremony in St. Louis. Here are some things you may not have known about the Louisiana Purchase. The Louisiana Purchase consisted of 828,000 square miles, including parts of 15 current states and parts of two Canadian provinces.…
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Murrow and McCarthy: A Television Takedown
On this date in 1954, CBS television broadcast an episode of “See it Now” with Edward R. Murrow called “A Report on Senator Joseph McCarthy.” Here are some things you may not have known about Murrow, McCarthy and “See It Now.” Edward R. Murrow was born in North Carolina in 1908. At the age of…