Monday, January 31, 2011

First Wi-Fi city

Grand Haven, Michigan is credited with being the first Wi-Fi city in the United Sates. In 2004, a wireless network was deployed to provide coverage throughout the town's six square miles as well as fifteen miles into Lake Michigan. Grand Haven's citizens, workers, and students were the first to enjoy high-speed, secure Internet access available anywhere within their town.
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Sunday, January 30, 2011

Sir Isaac Newton

English scientist Sir Isaac Newton was the first to explain why gravity held the Earth, Moon and planets in their courses. He made his observations in 1668. Legend had it that Newton began thinking of this concept after witnessing a falling apple. Newton's explanation of celestial motions, the tides, and terrestrial gravitation, is regarded as one of the greatest scientific achievements.
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Saturday, January 29, 2011

Baseball and football

The first inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame were announced on January 29, 1936. Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson represented the first class of inductees. On this same date in 1963, the first inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame were announced, including Sammy Baugh, Red Grange, Don Hutson, Bronko Nagurski, and Jim Thorpe.
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Friday, January 28, 2011

Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote his first symphony at age six. Mozart was born on January 27, 1756. By the age of three he was playing the clavichord and at four he began writing short compositions. Mozart's most famous pieces include Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, and the operas Don Giovanni and Die Zauberflote. Mozart died of a mysterious fever at age 35.
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Thursday, January 27, 2011

First college sorority

The first college sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, was formed at DePauw University on January 27, 1870. Bettie Hamilton, Alice Brant, Bettie Lindsay and Hannah Shaw established an organization for women that would "provide the encouragement and support" in the predominately male Indiana Asbury University (later renamed DePauw). Kappa Alpha Theta had 22 sisters its first year.
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Wednesday, January 26, 2011

The Phantom of the Opera

Andrew Lloyd Webber's dramatic musical "The Phantom of the Opera" is the longest running show on Broadway. The show opened at the Majestic Theatre on January 26, 1988 and earned seven Tony Awards in 1988. The record-setting Broadway production surpassed 8,000 performances in 2007.
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Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Guiding Light

The daytime drama "Guiding Light" first aired as an NBC radio serial on January 25, 1937. The show became a television serial when it moved to CBS TV on June 30, 1952. With over 15,000 televised episodes, Guiding Light is credited as the longest-running soap opera in production and the longest-running drama in television history.
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Monday, January 24, 2011

United Nations

The name "United Nations" was coined by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in January 1942. In 1945, representatives of fifty countries met in San Francisco at the United Nations Conference to draw up the United Nations Charter, which was subsequently ratified. The United Nations General Assembly convened for the first time in Flushing Meadows, New York on October 23, 1946.
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Sunday, January 23, 2011

Canton Bulldogs

The Canton Bulldogs are considered by many to be the first professional football team in America. The Bulldogs were established as a semi-pro team in 1906 and joined the newly established National Football League in 1920. The Bulldogs won the 1922 and 1923 NFL championship. The great Jim Thorpe was a player-coach for Canton.
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Saturday, January 22, 2011

Gold Record

A Gold Record is an award given in the music industry for the sale of 500,000 units of a recording. RCA Victor awarded the first Gold Record in 1942. They took one of the master copies of Glenn Miller's "Chattanooga Choo Choo" and painted it with gold lacquer as a publicity gimmick to promote the success of the recording.
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Friday, January 21, 2011

Genesis

Genesis is the first Book of the Bible. Moses is assumed to have authored this book between 1440 and 1400 B.C., after he led the Israelites out of Egypt. The stories of Genesis are about the creation and fall of man, early relationships between God and His people, and God's promise to bless Abraham and his descendants.
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Thursday, January 20, 2011

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is the most famous and influential civil rights leader in American. Dr. King has received the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Congressional Gold Medal. Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968. The federal holiday celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. was first celebrated on January 20, 1986.
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Wednesday, January 19, 2011

The first VCR

The advent of the video cassette recorder enabled consumers for the first time to personalize their viewing of movies, television shows, and home recordings. The first VCR for home use was developed by Phillips in the early 1970s. The Phillips Model 1500, first introduced in England in 1972, measured 6.5 x 22 x 15 inches and weighed over twelve pounds.
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Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Swimsuit Issue

The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue made its first appearance on news stands in January 1964. The inaugural Swimsuit issue cover featured model Babette March from the beach of Cozumel, Mexico. Inside the magazine was a modest four-page spread of swimsuit models.
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Monday, January 17, 2011

The Grand Union

The first unofficial national flag in the fledgling United States was raised in January 1776. The Grand Union was raised at the behest of General George Washington near his headquarters in Massachusetts. The flag was designed with thirteen alternating red and white horizontal stripes and the British Union Flag in the upper left corner.
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Saturday, January 15, 2011

Superbowl

61,946 fans saw the first NFL Superbowl played at the Los Angeles Coliseum on January 15, 1967. Elijah Pitts ran for two scores while veteran receiver Max McGee caught two touchdown passes from MVP quarterback Bart Starr to lead the Green bay Packers to a 35-10 victory over the American Football League Champion Kansas City Chiefs. The term "Superbowl" was coined by Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt.
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Friday, January 14, 2011

Miami Dolphins

On January 14, 1973, the Miami Dolphins defeated the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII, 14-7, becoming the first NFL team to go undefeated for an entire season. The 17-0 Dolphins were coached by Don Shula and featured six future Hall of Famers, including quarterback Bob Greise and fullback Larry Csonka. Their stellar defense was known as the "no-name" defense.
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Thursday, January 13, 2011

Ella Grasso

Democrat Ella Grasso was inaugurated in January 1975, becoming the first woman to serve as governor of Connecticut and the first woman to hold a state governorship. Ms. Grasso was the Secretary of State for Connecticut for three terms and was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1970 and 1972. Ella Grasso never lost an election in her twenty-eight years as a public official.
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Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Oprah

Oprah Winfrey is the first black woman billionaire in world history with a recent net worth estimated at $1.5 billion. Oprah is perhaps the most celebrated and influential person over the last fifty years. The producer and host of the highest rated talk show in television history has enjoyed immense success in film, books, magazines, philanthropy, and many personal projects.
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Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Frank Sinatra

American entertainment icon Frank Sinatra won his first praise as a singer with the group The Hoboken Four at the 1935 Major Bowes Amateur Hour. The group won the show's talent contest, which landed the future Chairman of the Board his first paid gig as a $15 a week singing waiter at the Rustic Cabin in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
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Monday, January 10, 2011

Sunglasses

The first inexpensive mass-produced sun glasses were introduced to America by Sam Foster in 1929. Foster's company began selling Foster Grant sunglasses on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Sun glasses became "cool" as famous movie stars and musicians began to wear them. The classic Wayfarer style introduced in 1937 is perhaps the most celebrated of all sunglasses.
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Sunday, January 9, 2011

The Model T

From 1909 to 1927, the Ford Motor Company built and sold more than 15 million Model T cars. The Model T was the first car for many Americans, as they found themselves able to purchase and drive what used to be available only to the wealthy. Henry Ford made this possible by introducing moving assembly lines in his factory. By 1927, Ford was producing an automobile every 24 seconds.
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Saturday, January 8, 2011

The Homestead Act

The first land claim under the Homestead Act was made in Nebraska in January 1863. The Homestead Act allowed anyone to file for 160 acres of free land. The land was yours at the end of five years if you had built a house on it, dug a well, plowed ten acres, fenced a specified amount, and actually lived there. Additionally, one could claim land by successfully cultivating ten acres of timber.
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Friday, January 7, 2011

Contact lens

Leonardo da Vinci illustrated the concept of a "contact" lens in 1508. Fitted glass contact lenses were developed in the late 1800s and evolved to hard plastic lenses in the 1950s. The first soft plastic contact lenses were introduced to the masses in 1971 by Bausch & Lomb. The first disposable contact lenses were introduced in 1991.
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Thursday, January 6, 2011

Frst First Lady

Martha Washington was the first First Lady of the United States. On January 6, 1759 Colonel George Washington married Martha Dandridge Custis. Martha had two children in a previous marriage to Daniel Park Custis, one of Virginia's wealthiest landowners, who died suddenly in 1757. The First family took the oath of office in New York City on April 30, 1789.
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Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Girl Scout Cookies

The first Girl Scout Cookies were sold in 1917 by the Mistletoe Troop in Muskogee, Oklahoma. The troop baked its own cookies and sold them as a fund raiser. Girl Scout troops from around the country continued to bake and sell their own sugar cookies through the 1930s. Today, the three most popular Girl Scout Cookies sold are Thin Mints, Peanut Butter Sandwich, and Shortbread cookies.
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Tuesday, January 4, 2011

First day on the job

Tips for your first day on the job: arrive early; dress conservatively; introduce yourself; lower the attitude; try to remember names; show team spirit; ask questions; smile; leave late.
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Monday, January 3, 2011

The universe

According to the "Big Bang" theory, the universe began its initial expansion about 13,700 million years ago. Our universe, which first existed in a relatively small, compact state, is comprised of some three-hundred trillion stars and one-hundred trillion galaxies that are moving away from each other. Astronomer Edwin Hubble made the first description of the Big Bang theory in the 1920s.
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Sunday, January 2, 2011

First Rose Bowl football

The first Rose Bowl football game took place in Pasadena, California in 1902 between Stanford University and the University of Michigan. Michigan defeated Stanford 49-0. The lopsided score prompted the Tournament of Roses to give up football in favor of Roman-style chariot races. The "Granddaddy of Them All" football game would not return to Pasadena until 1916.
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Saturday, January 1, 2011

January 1

Ancient cultures have celebrated the New Year using the vernal equinox, fall equinox, winter solstice, and March 1. In 46 B.C. Julius Caesar introduced a new, solar-based calendar to replace the inaccurate, lunar-based Roman calendar. The Julian calendar decreed that the new calendar would have twelve months and the fist day of the year would be January 1.
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