On Sue's Day... July 10th
1866 - Edison P. Clark of Northampton, MA patented his indelible pencil.
1890 - Wyoming, the state with the smallest population entered the Union this day. The 44th state was named after an Algonquin Indian word meaning ‘large prairie place’. Appropriately, the Indian paintbrush that covers much of the large prairie is the state flower and the meadowlark, frequently seen circling the prairie land, is the state bird. Another Indian term, Cheyenne, is also the name of the state capital. Wyoming is called the Equality State because it is the first state to have granted women the right to vote (1869).
1900 - One of the most famous trademarks in the world, ‘His Master’s Voice’, was registered with the U.S. Patent Office. The logo of the Victor Recording Company, and later, RCA Victor, shows the dog, Nipper, looking into the horn of a gramophone machine.
1913 - It’s summer in the northern hemisphere and while you are baking at the beach or lake, keep this factoid in mind: The highest temperature ever recorded in the continental United States was 134 degrees which melted thermometers this day in Death Valley, California.
1920 - One of the greatest horse races in America was run as Man o’ War defeated John P. Grier in the Dwyer Stakes. Man o’ War set a world-record time of 1 minute, 49-1/5 seconds in the 1-1/8 mile event.
1929 - The U.S. government began issuing paper money in the small size we currently carry.
1934 - Carl Hubbell threw three strikeouts in the first inning of the All-Star baseball game held at New York’s Polo Grounds. Hubbell faced the American League’s best power hitters: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Jimmy Fox. In the second inning, Hubbell remained strong, fanning Al Simmons, Joe Cronin and Lefty Gomez. From then on, however, it was all up hill for the National League which lost by a score of 9-7. Hubbell’s nicknames, incidentally, were Meal Ticket and King Carl.
1936 - Billie Holiday recorded Billie’s Blues for Okeh Records in New York. Bunny Berigan, Artie Shaw and Cozy Cole supported Holiday, instrumentally, on the track.
1938 - Howard Hughes started his flight around the world. It took him 91 hours to complete the odyssey.
1944 - The Man Called X, starring Herbert Marshall, debuted on CBS radio.
1949 - The first practical rectangular television picture tube was presented. The tube measured 12 by 16 inches and sold for $12.
1951 - Sugar Ray Robinson was defeated for only the second time in 133 fights. 7-2 underdog Randy Turpin took the middleweight crown from Robinson in a 15-round referee’s decision in London, England. (Sugar Ray took the title back September 12th at the Polo Grounds in New York.)
1962 - The Telstar communications satellite was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral, FL. Telstar would usher in a new age of communication via telephone and TV, with voice and picture transmission from Europe to America and back. Signals were picked up by a 38-ton antenna in Andover, Maine. To commemorate the event, an instrumental hit by the Tornadoes, an English surf-rock group, made it to number one for three weeks in November, 1962. It was titled, Telstar, of course.
1969 - The National League was divided into two baseball divisions (wacky as the realignment turned out to be). For example, the Atlanta Braves were placed in the West Division, while the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs were Eastern Division teams. Cincinnati was also placed in the National League West. The Chicago Cubs sued to stay out of the west and remain in the east in the 1990s, when three divisions were formed. They ended up in the new Central division.
1971 - Tony Conigliaro of the Boston Red Sox announced his retirement from major-league baseball. Conigliaro had suffered a vision impairment in his left eye after being hit in the head by a thrown fastball during a game. Despite efforts to make a comeback, Tony C. never regained the form he once brought to the game.
1975 - Cher filed for divorce from rocker Greg Allman, just ten days after the couple had married. She said that Allman had been moonlighting with an old flame...
1984 - Dwight ‘Doc’ Gooden of the New York Mets became the youngest player to appear in an All-Star Game as a pitcher. Gooden was 19 years, 7 months and 24 days old. He led the National League to a 3-1 win at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, CA.
1985 - The Coca-Cola Company announced that the former (regular) Coke was coming back to share shelf space with the New Coke, after a consumer furor. The original formula was renamed Coca-Cola Classic.
1991 - After 1,000 years, the Russian people were finally permitted to elect a president. Boris Yeltsin took the oath of office this day, after he had resoundingly defeated the Communist Party candidate.
Birthdays Are Special
Birthday or B'days is the name given to the date of the anniversary of a person's birth. People in many cultures celebrate this anniversary. It is traditionally marked by a birthday party or, in some particular cases, a rite of transition.
It is thought the large-scale celebration of birthdays in Europe began with the cult of Mithras, which originated in Persia but was spread by soldiers throughout the Roman Empire.
The birthday cake is traditionally highly decorated, and typically covered with lit candles when presented, the number of candles signifying the age of the celebrant. The person whose birthday it is may make a silent wish and then blow out the candles. It is also customary for the person celebrating their birthday to cut the initial piece of the cake as a newlywed couple might with a wedding cake.