Thursday, March 31, 2011

ENIAC

The Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer (ENIAC) was the first all-electronic computer designed to be reprogrammed. The ENIAC was built in 1945 at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The machine had a clock speed of 100 kHz and was used mainly for military purposes such as calculating ballistic firing tables and designing atomic weapons.
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Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Jeopardy

The popular and long-running game show Jeopardy first aired on NBC on March 30, 1964. The show's concept, rules and name were developed by Merv Griffin and his wife Julann. Mary Eubanks of North Carolina was the show's first champion winning $345. Within weeks of its premiere, Jeopardy was pulling in 40% of the TV-watching market during its time slot.
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Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Greatest Show on Earth

The first performance of the newly combined Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus was held in New York's Madison Square Garden in March 1929. The "Greatest Show on Earth" had more people, horses, elephants and larger tents than all other circuses. Traveling circuses were wildly popular through the 1920s reaching their commercial peak during the dawn of radio and television.
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Monday, March 28, 2011

National smoking ban

The Republic of Ireland became the first country in the world to completely ban smoking in all workplaces in March 2004. The controversial ban, which also includes the country's more than 10,000 pubs, produced positive results after its first year. Public support and opinion remained high while sales of cigarettes were down from before the ban.
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Sunday, March 27, 2011

NCAA basketball championship

Oregon defeated Ohio State in the first NCAA men's basketball championship game held at Northwestern University on March 27, 1939. Eight teams competed in two regions during the first NCAA tournament. Up until the 1950s, the NIT was considered a more prestigious tournament than the NCAA basketball tournament. College teams often chose to enter the NIT over the NCAA tourney.
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Saturday, March 26, 2011

Beethoven

Ludwig Von Beethoven gave his first public piano performance in Cologne, Germany on March 26, 1778. Beethoven's father falsely reported Ludwig as six-years old in order to compare him to the other child prodigy Mozart. The great composer of "Moonlight Sonata", "Für Elise", "Minuet In G" and "Ode To Joy" died in 1827, exactly 49 years to the date of his first performance.
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Friday, March 25, 2011

Chicken wings

The first chicken wings were served up at the Anchor Bar on Main Street in Buffalo, New York in Spring 1964. Teresa Bellissimo made two plates of deep fried wings as a late night snack for her bartender son Dominic and his friends. The chicken wings with secret sauce were an instant hit and soon became a regular part of the menu at the Anchor Bar.
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Thursday, March 24, 2011

NASCAR

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) league ranks only behind the NFL in terms of sports television ratings in the U.S. NASCAR's roots go back to Daytona Beach, Florida. In March 1936, the first stock car race was staged on the beach of Daytona. Drivers raced a two mile stretch of beach as one straightaway and highway A1A as the other.
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Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Modern day computer programmers

The first modern day computer programmers appeared during the 1940s to compute complex ballistic trajectories for the U.S. Army using the ENIAC computer. The programmers had no manuals or courses, only logical diagrams to help them figure out how to make the ENIAC work. They physically programmed by using the 3,000 switches and dozens of cables and digit trays to physically route data and program pulses through the machine.
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Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Dark side of the Moon

Pink Floyd's album "Dark side of the Moon" first appeared on the Billboard 200 charts in March 1973. The British quartet's concept rock masterpiece stayed on the Billboard 200 for a record-setting 741 consecutive weeks, over 14 years. Interestingly, the album held the #1 spot on Billboard for only one week. Over 40 million copies of Dark Side of the Moon have been purchased since 1973.
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Monday, March 21, 2011

Rock-n-Roll

Radio disc jockey Alan Freed first coined the phrase "Rock-n-Roll" in 1951. Freed used the phrase while working at Cleveland radio station WJW to describe the R&B songs he was playing on the air. Freed is also credited with setting up the first Rock-n-Roll concert, dubbed The Moondog Coronation Ball on March 21, 1952.
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Sunday, March 20, 2011

First day of spring

The first day of spring is usually around March 20 or 21, depending on what day the vernal equinox occurs. The vernal equinox occurs when the sun peaks directly above the equator between the Earth's northern and southern hemisphere. The beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere is the beginning of autumn for the southern hemisphere.
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Saturday, March 19, 2011

Unmarried president

Democrat James Buchanan was sworn in as the 15th President of the United States in March 1857. During his tumultuous term in office, Buchanan dealt with constitutional and national turmoil during the years leading up to the Civil War. President Buchanan is also known historically for being the first and only unmarried president in the United States.
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Friday, March 18, 2011

Pluto's elliptical orbit

The dwarf planet Pluto is the furthest planet in our solar system and takes about 247 earth years to make its orbit around the sun. For the first time known to astronomers, Pluto's elliptical orbit moved inside Neptune's orbit in February 1979 and stayed this way for twenty years until February 1999. Pluto is the only planet in our solar systems with an eccentric orbit.
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Thursday, March 17, 2011

St. Patrick's day

The first celebration of St. Patrick's Day in the U.S. was staged by immigrants and took place in March 1737. Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated worldwide with people wearing green, eating Irish food, drinking Irish drink and attending parades. The Irish national holiday occurs on March 17, the anniversary date of the death of the patron saint of Ireland.
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Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Certified Medical Doctor

Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman to practice medicine in the United States as a certified Medical Doctor. Ms. Blackwell taught school in Kentucky, North Carolina and South Carolina while avidly reading about medicine. She was accepted at Geneva Medical College and graduated first in her class in January, 1849, becoming the first woman to graduate from medical school.
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Tuesday, March 15, 2011

First commercial jet

The de Havilland Comet was the world's first commercial jet airliner. In May 1952, British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) used the Comet to offer the first commercial jet passenger flight from London to Johannesburg. The flight was almost twice as fast as conventional airplanes. The new jet service became an instant success among business and elite travel customers
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Monday, March 14, 2011

Franklin D. Roosevelt

President Franklin D. Roosevelt led the United States out of the Great Depression, through World War II, and into the threshold of a modern era. The two-term president from Hyde Park, New York served from 1933 to 1945. FDR was the first president to travel on an airplane, the first to name a women to a presidential cabinet, and the first president to be seen on television.
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Sunday, March 13, 2011

Nationwide Internet election

The European nation of Estonia became the first country to conduct a nationwide election where voters could cast their votes via the Internet. More than 30,000 Estonians cast ballots with the e-voting system for the country's March 2007 parliamentary election. The three percent online participation was hailed as a success by government officials.
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Saturday, March 12, 2011

State lottery

The first modern state lottery in the United States was established in New Hampshire in 1964. On April 30, 1963, New Hampshire Governor John King signed the Sweepstakes bill as a viable and voluntary method of raising revenue for the state's education needs. The first Sweepstakes tickets went on sale on March 12, 1964.
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Friday, March 11, 2011

Ten Most Wanted

The FBI published the first Ten Most Wanted list in March 1950. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover began the list in response to a widely-read 1949 newspaper story about the "toughest guys" sought by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. To date, 148 arrests of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted have resulted from citizens recognition of fugitives through this publicity program.
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Thursday, March 10, 2011

first telephone call

The first telephone call was made by Alexander Graham Bell on March 10, 1876. The first words uttered over the phone by Bell were "Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you." By 1878, Bell had set up the first telephone exchange in New Haven, Connecticut. By 1884, long distance connections were made between Boston and New York City.
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Wednesday, March 9, 2011

First female governor

Nellie Tayloe Ross became the first female governor in United States in October 1924. Ms. Ross was elected governor of Wyoming in a special election held after the death of her husband and current governor William B. Ross. Ross was sworn in sixteen days before Miriam A. Ferguson was sworn in as the first female governor of Texas.
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Tuesday, March 8, 2011

First modern day automobile

The first modern day automobile was invented in 1886 by German mechanical engineer Karl Benz. Benz received the first patent for a gas-fueled car, described as a light transport carriage with wheels powered by an internal combustion engine. Benz & Cie. became the world's largest manufacturer of automobiles by 1900.
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Monday, March 7, 2011

100 points in a game

On March 2, 1962, Wilt Chamberlain set the NBA single-game scoring record by netting 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors in a 169-147 victory over the New York Knicks. Chamberlain is the first and only NBA player to reach 100 points in a game. He broke his previous NBA scoring record of 78 points while going 36-for-63 from the field and 28-for-32 from the foul line.
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Sunday, March 6, 2011

Michelangelo virus

The Michelangelo virus was the first computer virus to capture the attention of the mass media. Set to execute on March 6, 1992, the virus was set to destroy data on all PCs where it resided. The hype led to many installations of anti-virus software and computer checks. All told, less than 10,000 PCs worldwide were affected as a result of Michelangelo.
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Saturday, March 5, 2011

President William Henry Harrison

President William Henry Harrison was the first U.S. President to die in office. Harrision was sworn in as the ninth president of the United States on March 4, 1841. He delivered a two-hour inaugural address in harsh weather and later rode the streets of Washington. A resulting cold developed into severe pneumonia. Harrision died one month after his inauguration on April 4, 1841.
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Friday, March 4, 2011

People Magazine

Spun off from the People Page section of Time Magazine, People Magazine made its debut on March 4, 1974. The first edition of People had actress Mia Farrow, star of the movie The Great Gatsby, on the cover. The issue also featured stories on Gloria Vanderbilt, Russian novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, and the wives of Vietnam war veterans who were missing in action.
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Thursday, March 3, 2011

Parachute jump

The first parachute jump from an airplane took place on March 1, 1912. Captain Albert Berry made the jump from a Benoit biplane at 1,500 feet in a test over Jefferson Barracks military post in St. Louis. Berry's 36 foot diameter parachute opened after falling about 500 feet.
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Wednesday, March 2, 2011

The Girl Scouts

On March 2, 1912, Juliette Low organized eighteen girls to form the American Girl Guide troops. Low's niece, Daisy Gordon, was the first registered member. In 1913, the name of the organization was changed to The Girl Scouts. Julliette Low's new organization brought together girls of all backgrounds and taught them about nature, self-reliance and resourcefulness.
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Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Yellowstone

Explorer Ferdinand Vandiveer Hayden was instrumental in establishing Yellowstone as the first national park in the United States. The Yellowstone area was one of the last unexplored regions within the United States when Hayden led his expedition into the Yellowstone area in 1871. President Grant signed the law establishing the Yellowstone region as a public park on March 1, 1872.
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