|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
Reflections
The truth about the first ship to travel the Panama Canal : Reflections : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisThe truth about the first ship to travel the Panama Canal
| by Roger Matile
| 6/7/2012
|
Here it is nearly the middle of June, and the nation is all a flutter with political goings on.
Which, in a Presidential election year, is probably as it should be. However, the flutters this particular election are causing are a bit different than usual. The Republicans are trying to pretend they really, really like their candidate, while the Democrats try to pretend they're really, really worried too.
Meanwhile, the true nuts are trying to figure out whether or not to vote at all given the recent assaults on their views of the world.
As the year progresses, we will see things get back to normal, campaign-wise, as the right-wing tries to paint President Obama as some sort of closeted Communo-Islamic infiltrator who only pretends to be smart thanks to his ever-present teleprompter and the rest of us try to understand why science has become such a dirty word to so many Americans.
And while all that is going on, though, the U.S. Postal Service has maintained its volume of deliveries here at the Matile manse, despite right-wing attempts to destroy the service and put FedEx or UPS in its place, although some folks are having second thoughts about having to spend $43 to send a letter via FedEx from Oswego to Yorkville. The good thing is, it might cut down on the volume of junk mail. On the other hand, the bad news is that it would cut down on the junk mail, because there are gems hidden among the junk mail dross. Really. In fact, with no further ado, here are some things we never would have found out if we hadn't opened all our junk mail each and every day the mail carrier showed up out front-at least for the time being:
On Aug. 15, 1914, the SS Ancon became the first vessel said to officially transit the Panama Canal. The key word, though, is "official," because actually, the first complete transit of the canal was part of a work routine on Jan. 7, 1914, when the self-propelled floating crane Alexandre La Valley, purchased from the French when the U.S. took over the canal's construction, crossed the Pacific locks without ceremony. All in a day's work, so no biggie.
Thinking of taking a train to the sun? At an average speed of 60 miles per hour, it would take your train 176 years to travel the 96 million miles. Better hope the dining car is well stocked.
The first Presidential press conference to be televised was held by President Dwight Eisenhower on Jan. 19, 1955. Presidents since have refined the televised press conference to the point where today's conferences consist of questions shouted at the President and his wife and dog as all three hustle from a hovering helicopter to the White House after weekend trips to Camp David.
The redness in the Red Sea is caused by a crimson algae that is very abundant there. And here we always thought the Communists had something to do with it.
According to the most recent estimates, there are about 40,000 different varieties of fish.
Talk about a small world. In 1895, there were just two autos registered in the state of Ohio. That year, in another first, the two collided during the state's first auto accident.
The word "geometry" comes from the Greek words for "Earth" and "to measure." And here we always thought it stood for "that puzzling math class we had to take as sophomores."
Octopi are smarter than any fish and are thought by some scientists to be as intelligent as cats--but more cuddly.
The piano (official name: Piano Forte) was invented by an Italian harpsichord maker named Bartolomeo Cristofori, to remedy the harpsichord's inability to play soft ("piano" in Italian) as well as loud ("forte" in Italian). Now aren't you glad we got that cleared up once and for all?
Speaking of elections (see comments above), one of Thomas Edison's lesser known inventions was the electric voting machine, first used in 1892 after its invention in 1869.
It was a long dry spell, but an Iowan finally broke it The first woman lawyer to practice in America was Mistress Margaret Brent, colonial attorney for the Lord proprietor of Maryland in the 1640s. The next lady lawyer was Arabella Mansfield, who was admitted to the Iowa bar in 1869--220 years later.
We take them for granted now, but written tests weren't always given in schools. The first written exams in American elementary schools were initiated in Boston in 1845. Prior to that time, all tests were oral.
Although the name hippopotamus means "river horse," it looks something like a big-mouthed elephant and is actually related to the pig.
Congress did not authorize the use of adhesive postage stamps until July 1, 1847.
Like those banana splits (and we're not talking the late '60s Saturday morning TV series here)? The first recorded importation of bananas to the U.S. arrived on the schooner "Reynard" in 1804.
Finally, speaking of firsts, the Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York City installed the first passenger elevator in a U.S. hotel in 1859. Many of the guests preferred the stairs, however, because of the propensity of elevators of the era to lose their grip, so to speak, and plummet to the bottom of their shafts while loaded with terrified passengers. It wasn't until Elisha Otis invented and perfected the safety elevator (which used weights and other mechanisms to keep elevator cars from crashing to the basement in case of an incident) that people felt comfortable in being whisked from floor to floor.
Looking for more local history? Visit http://historyonthefox.wordpress.com
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
