Friday, January 8, 2010

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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Thursday, January 7, 2010

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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Wednesday, January 6, 2010

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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Tuesday, January 5, 2010

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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Monday, January 4, 2010

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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Sunday, January 3, 2010

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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Saturday, January 2, 2010

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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