Thursday, July 21, 2011

Robot-related fatality

The first documented case of a robot-related fatality in the U.S. occurred on July 21, 1984. An automotive worker in Michigan was found pinned between an automated die-casting industrial robot and a 4-inch-diameter steel safety pole used to restrict undesired arm movement by the robot. The worker suffered cardiopulmonary arrest after the robot stalled and applied sustained pressure to his chest.
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Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Tiger Woods

Two-year old Eldrick T. Woods, later knick-named "Tiger" Woods, made his first public television appearance in 1978 on the Mike Douglass variety television show. The pre-school golf phenom was a guest on the show and putted along with Douglass and comedian Bob Hope.
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Tuesday, July 19, 2011

The first U.S. patent

The first official U.S. patent was awarded to Samuel Hopkins of Vermont in July 1790. The patent was for an improvement "in the making of Pot ash and Pearl ash by a new Apparatus and Process." Potash was used in soap and fertilizer. Pearlash was used in baking. The process produced carbon dioxide gas in dough, used in the first "quick breads."
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Monday, July 18, 2011

The first potato chips

The first potato chips were served up in the summer of 1853 in Saratoga Springs, New York. The Moon Lake Lodge's chef, George Crum, served up a thin and salty variation of traditional French fries to a finicky customer. The customer was very pleased. In the 1920s, Herman Lay introduced potato chips to the masses.
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Sunday, July 17, 2011

First nuclear explosion

The first nuclear explosion in history took place at 5:29 AM on July 16, 1945 at the Alamogordo Test Range on the Jornada del Muerto desert in New Mexico. The test was the culmination of three years' planning and development within the top secret Manhattan Project.
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Saturday, July 16, 2011

Apollo 11

The Apollo 11 rocket ship blasted off from the United States on July 16, 1969. Four days later, Neil Armstrong became the first man to step on the Moon. The crew did experiments and planted a U.S. flag on the Moon. On July 24, the Apollo 11 crew came back to Earth safely. This amazing mission capped a 1961 national challenge by President John F. Kennedy to put a man on the Moon.
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Friday, July 15, 2011

Nineteenth Amendment

The Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted woman the civil right to vote in elections. This marked the first time that all citizens in the United States were eligible to vote in government elections. The Fifteenth amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1870, prohibited the restriction of voting rights based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
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