Instant Camera
Polaroid Land Camera, Model 95
November 26, 1948: The first instant camera, the Polaroid Land Model 95, sells for $89.75 ( about $865.00 in 2009 USD) at the Boston, Massachusetts Jordan Marsh department store. The camera produced a 3.25 by 4.25 inch dry print. These early cameras used roll film; in 1963 peel-apart pack film came into use.
The term “photography” was first used in 1839 by John F.W. Herschel, combing the Greek “photo” for light and “graph” for to draw. In the summer of 1827 Joseph Nicéphore Niépce took eight hours to produce the first lasting photographic image. By 1839 Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre was producing lasting pictures in less than thirty minutes. Daguerreotypes could not be copied, the pictures were one of a kind.
William Henry Talbot invented the negative to positive process in 1841, making it possible to create copies of pictures. Frederick Scott Archer came up with a Collodon process in 1851 that took the time down to 3 seconds for creating a picture. But the negative needed immediate developing. So in 1871, the next step was taken by Richard Leach Maddox and development of the film could be delayed. Celluloid film was brought to market in 1898 by Hannibal Goodwin and mass produced Kodak Brownie cameras came on the scene in 1900. Kodacolor film was introduced by Kodak in 1941.
Polaroid brought the largest patent lawsuit against Kodak on April 26, 1976 citing several patent infringements. Polaroid held many of the patents for the instant photography method. After five years of pre-trial preparation and a 75 day trail, Kodak was found to be in violation concerning 12 patents held by Polaroid. Kodak was forced to remove its camera from the market and could no longer make film for existing cameras. They not only lost the case, but compensated Kodak Instant Camera owners whose cameras were now useless without the film.
“Photograph: a picture painted by the sun without instruction in art.” – Ambrose Bierce
“Sometimes I do get to places just when God’s ready to have somebody click the shutter.” – Ansel Adams
“A good snapshot stops a moment from running away.” – Eudora Welty
“If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn’t need to lug around a camera.” – Lewis Hine
Also on this day, in 1917 the National Hockey League was founded.
Trapped
The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie
November 25, 1952: The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie is first produced on stage, the longest running play in London, still running today. The cast of characters is limited to eight, with a reference to the first murder victim. The cast gathers at Monkswell Manor and each in turn is considered to be the murderer of Maureen Lyon in London. Mrs. Boyle proves her innocence by being the next victim, also proving the murderer is present. The classic whodunit continues to enthrall after more than fifty years on stage.
Agatha Mary Clarrisa Miller married twice, first was Colonel Christie with whom she had a daughter. During December 1926 Ms. Christie disappeared for ten days to much fanfare in the press. Was this a publicity stunt or was it in fact due to PTSD? Was she suffering a temporary amnesia after the death of her mother and the revealed infidelity of her husband? She married Sir Max Mallowen, an archeologist, after her divorce. The marriage was initially happy, but eventually it, too, devolved into infidelity.
Christie was a prolific author. She is listed in The Guinness Book of Records as the best-selling fiction author with only the Bible and Shakespeare outselling her works. She has sold at least 1 billion copies of her work in English and another 1 billion in the 45 languages into which her works have been translated.
She had written over 80 novels with 39 of them starring Hercule Poirot, the Belgian detective, and another 15 with Miss Marple solving crimes. She also authored four non-fiction books. She wrote seven romances under the name of Mary Westmacott. She wrote 25 plays, 4 radio plays, 1 television play, along with 222 short stories in 21 collections. Her tales have been adapted into 25 movies, 44 TV movies, and a TV series. There is even a video game. She died peacefully in her sleep at the age of 85 after suffering from a cold.
“It is a curious thought, but it is only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realize just how much you love them.”
“Dogs are wise. They crawl away into a quiet corner and lick their wounds and do not rejoin the world until they are whole once more.”
“Good advice is always certain to be ignored, but that’s no reason not to give it.”
“The happy people are failures because they are on such good terms with themselves they don’t give a damn.”
“There’s too much tendency to attribute to God the evils that man does of his own free will.” – all from Agatha Christie
Also on this day, in 1984 Band Aid records Do They Know it’s Christmas.
Little Jamie
Photo of James Bulger realeased by the parents to the police
November 24, 1993: Jon Venables and Robert Thompson are found guilty of the murder of James Bulger. Two-year-old Jamie was at the mall with his mother when she left him standing outside a shop for a few minutes. Jon and Robert, both ten, took his hand and walked him from the mall. This was caught on closed circuit TV timed at 3:39 PM. The three boys walked 2.5 miles to an isolated railway bed.
On the way, the group stopped at a canal where Jamie was dropped and sustained injuries to his face and head. The group walked on passing an incredible 38 people on the way. Some stopped them and were told that the older boys were babysitting a younger brother, some were told that the small boy was lost and the group was on the way to the police. Some claimed the child looked happy while others noted the injuries and said he looked distressed. All let the boys carry on.
The older boys threw blue paint in Jamie’s face. They kicked him and struck him repeatedly with bricks, stones, and a 22 pound iron rod. After he was dead, they placed his body over the railroad tracks and weighed down his head. They thought that if a train ran over him that traces of violence would be thought to be from the accident. The pathologist was not fooled.
At their trial it was stated that both boys were from violent families plagued by alcoholism and abuse. It was also brought forth that they had been watching violent movies. They did not take the stand in their own defense. They were found guilty and sentenced to a young offenders institution at Her Majesty’s Pleasure rather than a life sentence. The minimum term to be served was eight years. Both young men were released after spending eight years in prison with life license, meaning that they will be sent back to prison if they break the terms of their release. The British government has spent about £4 million helping the young men build their lives and hide their identities after their release. Jamie’s mother received £7,500 criminal compensation from the government.
“Ah! Happy years! Once more who would not be a boy?” – Lord Byron
“We find delight in the beauty and happiness of children that makes the heart too big for the body.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“We are the world / We are the children / We are the ones / To make a better day.” – Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie
“Oh, a devil of a childhood, rich only in dreams; frightful and loveless in realities.” – George Bernard Shaw
Also on this day, in 1971 Dan or D.B. Cooper jumped from a plane after collecting ransom money.
Healthy Hearts
Dr. Michael E. DeBakey
November 23, 1964: Dr. Michael E. DeBakey performs the first successful coronary artery bypass graft [CABG] operation. DeBakey was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA in 1908 to Lebanese immigrants. He received his MD from Tulane University in New Orleans and joined their teaching staff in 1937.
He volunteered to serve in World War II and became the Director of Surgical Consultants’ Division. He initiated the idea of Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals [MASH] for rapid treatment of the wounded. The idea proved highly successful in Korea and again in Vietnam.
After WWII, DeBakey moved to Houston, Texas and Baylor University College of Medicine. He continued his innovative practice and groundbreaking research. He invented or improved surgical instrumentation that even today bears his name. He pioneered the use of Dacron arteries, artificial hearts, heart pumps and transplants as well as surgical improvement for the vascular condition of the heart. He has been advisor to presidents and world leaders and helped to establish the largest collection of medical literature in the National Library of Medicine.
In the year 2003, in the US alone more than 1.2 million angioplasties were performed. This less invasive procedure opens the arteries in the heart and can forestall the more invasive CABG that Dr. DeBakey pioneered. Even so, the more serious surgical procedure was performed nearly one-half million times in the same year.
“Americans spend $17 billion a year on bypass operations.” – Betty Fussell in the New York Times, December 23, 1993
“I got the bill for my surgery. Now I know what those doctors were wearing masks for.” – James H. Boren
“Surgery is by far the worst snob among the handicrafts.” – Austin O’Malley
“The practice of medicine is a thinker’s art the practice of surgery a plumber’s.” – Martin H. Fischer
Also on this day, in 1644 John Milton published a pamphlet advocating against censorship.
Blackbeard
Engraving of Blackbeard the Pirate by Thomas Nicholls
November 22, 1718: Lt. Robert Maynard chases down and kills the notorious pirate Blackbeard. Edward Teach was born around 1680 in England, probably Bristol. He began his seafaring life during the War of Spanish Succession in Jamaica. He joined forces with another pirate, Benjamin Hornigold in 1716.
Teach was a large man with a bushy black beard. He wove hemp into his beard and lit it on fire while approaching ships. The terrifying specter was often enough to forestall any form of resistance. He was a scary person with legends that were bandied about even in his own time. He is said to have shot and killed one of his own crew just to remind the rest of the crew who was boss.
Teach made captain in the pirate fleet when he overtook a French slave ship, Le Concorde. She was a two-ton frigate with 20 cannons. Teach refitted her with another 20 cannons and rechristened her the Queen Anne’s Revenge. He eventually commanded four ships with over 300 pirates under his control.
He stayed along the coastlines and in the estuaries because the shallow waters made it harder to defend against his superior strength. In May 1718, the Queen Anne foundered and was lost. Blackbeard had homes in Nassau and in North Carolina where payoffs to the governor, Charles Eden, kept him safer. However, the British were not amused with the piracy and eventually Lt. Maynard led the attack, bringing Blackbeard down with five gunshots and over 20 cuts from swords. Blackbeard was beheaded as proof of his demise in order to collect the £100 reward. His head was hung from the bowsprit for bravado and place on a pike in Bath, England as a warning.
“Why join the navy if you can be a pirate?” – Steve Jobs
“If you can’t find something here, you can’t find it anywhere, … There’s a pirate in everyone!” – Michael Egan
“May we all co-operate and join this war on pirates.” – Jackie Chan
“Suddenly you’re like a pirate, you’re 65 years old and you’ve got an earring.” – Fred Willard
Also on this day, in 1928 Bolero by Maurice Ravel was first performed.
Missing Link
Piltdown Man rendering
November 21, 1953: A skull fragment, portion of jawbone, and a few teeth that had been discovered in 1912-15 are declared to be a hoax. Throughout the last half of the 19th century there were many discoveries of ancient bones that spoke to the history of the evolution of mankind. The Origin of Species was also published by Charles Darwin.
Many discoveries were made in continental Europe and Asia, but nothing was found in England until 1912. At that time, Charles Dawson found the above mentioned bones and brought them to the attention of the Geological Society of London in December. Arthur Smith Woodward went to the Piltdown quarries in Sussex, England along with Dawson and discovered even more bone fragments. The finds were called Piltdown Man due to the location of the site. The skull fragments were similar to man but much smaller while the jaw and teeth were indistinguishable from modern chimpanzees. Even at the time, there was some doubt as to the efficacy of the find.
Woodward and Martin A. C. Hinton, both officials in museums, found parts of bone at digs conducted with Dawson. The “missing link” between man and monkey was called Eoanthropus dawsoni for Dawson. Piltdown Man was memorialized in 1938 with a marker erected at the site. Dawson claimed to find Piltdown II at a site a couple of miles from the original, but no details remain and the site was never quite found.
Who was the perpetrator of the hoax? Why do this? It is theorized that it may have been a practical joke that spun out of control. Was Dawson working alone? Did Woodward, Hinton, and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin [who also found a tooth at the first site] know what they were doing? Were the grounds salted or did these men plan the hoax? Even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is named as a possible perpetrator. We don’t know who or why, but it is the perfect working of science after all. Even though at the beginning the “truth” was in error or misrepresented, due to diligent testing, study, and improved technologies, the hoax was eventually brought to light.
“It’s a hoax. Somebody got this started and it has gone all over the place.” – Gary Gibson
“Most people are genuinely wanting to see their work published in the best way possible. Very few people are trying to hoax the system, but you have to be aware of those who are.” – Vicky Taylor
“The testing confirmed it was a hoax.” – Michael Potter
“Under a forehead roughly comparable to that of Javanese and Piltdown man are visible a pair of tiny pig eyes, lit up alternately by greed and concupiscence.” – S. J. Perelman
Also on this day, in 1942 the opening of the Alaska Highway was celebrated at Soldier Station.
What a Yo-Yo
Patent drawing for the new toy
November 20, 1866: James L. Haven and Charles Hittrick of Cincinnati, Ohio receive a patent for improved manufacturing of a toy called “whirlgig” which was an improved bandalore. This is important for two reasons, the first of which is it led the way for patenting the process and improvements of the manufacturing of items. The second is that it brought the world’s second oldest toy to the United States.
Only dolls predate this toy, which shows a history dating back to at least 500 BC where there are vases of Greek design showing a boy playing with it. In the early nineteenth century, the French called the toy a bandalore while the English called it a quiz. The toy consists of two equally sized and weighted discs held together by an axle to which a string is wound.
There are unsubstantiated rumors that the bandalore was originally a weapon, at least in the ancient past. But the physics of the toy negate this. It is simply a toy that has traveled around the world and stood the test of time. Usually enjoyed by children, those same children can become very adept at its control and execute tricks with the whirlgig.
A Filipino-American named Pedro Flores began with a handful of handmade toys in 1928 in California. He turned his business into a successful operation and a year later had two factories with 600 employees turning out 300,000 units daily. The next year, Donald D. bought the concern for $250,000 – depression era dollars, a truly vast sum of money. Although the toy was never a weapon Mr. Duncan who marketed the toy as Duncan Yo-yos made a killing.
“Toys were lots of fun before they became capitalist tools.” – Beth Copeland
“The simplest toy, one which even the youngest child can operate, is called a grandparent.” – Sam Levenson
“The intellect is a very nice whirligig toy, but how people take it seriously is more than I can understand.” – Ezra Pound
“Of audiences: they were really tough – they used to tie their tomatoes on the end of a yo-yo, so they could hit you twice.” – Bob Hope
Also on this day, in 1992 part of Windsor Castle burned. Part being about 100 rooms.
Synonymous with Failure
November 19, 1959: The Ford Motor Company announces the cessation of production for the entire Edsel line of cars. Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motors Co. had a son named Edsel. Edsel died on May 26, 1943 from cancer. Edsel’s son, Henry II took over the presidency of the car manufacturing venture on September 21, 1945. On September 28, 1948 he instructed the Forward Product Planning Committee to come up with a line of mid-priced cars.
The Ford Edsel
At the time, GM had Chevy, Olds, Pontiac, Buick, and Cadillac while Chrysler had Plymouth, Dodge, DeSoto, Chrysler, and Imperial. Ford had only three divisions: Ford, Mercury, and Lincoln. As people could afford better cars, they fell through the pricing differentials offered by Ford. Big cars were impressive in 1948 but design was halted during the Korean War and by the time the Edsel line debuted in 1957 economy cars were making headway in the market.
There was a huge build-up prior to the launch of this new car. “E Day” was scheduled for September 4, 1957 when the 1958 model year cars were introduced. Only certain dealerships carried the new line. The car did not receive the hoped for accolades. There was a top rated TV special, The Edsel Show, that aired on October 13, 1957 but it could not overshadow the already mounting negative press.
The Edsel name is today synonymous with the term “failure.” What went wrong? There is no one answer but several factors contributed to the mess. The pricing was not much different from the Mercury line, the size of the car was wrong, the cars were poorly built and some even arrived at dealerships with lists of missing parts attached to the steering wheel. And the steering wheel was “wrong” because the gears were activated by buttons placed in the center where the horn “should” be. Of the almost 118,000 Edsels produced in the three years of production about 6,000 remain today and have their own cult following in the specialty car market.
“Failure after long perseverance is much grander than never to have a striving good enough to be called a failure.” – George Eliot
“Only those who do nothing … make no mistakes.” – Joseph Conrad
“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Confucius
“One who fears failure limits his activities. Failure is only the opportunity more intelligently to being again.” – Henry Ford
Also on this day, in 1997 the McCaughey septuplets were born.
Jonestown
The dead scattered on the ground after drinking cyanide.
November 18, 1978: Jim Jones, leader of the Peoples Temple in Jonestown, Guyana, leads a mass suicide rite where 913 people die, including 276 minor children. Jim Jones was born in Crete, Indiana in 1931. He was the son of a KKK member. After graduating from high school, Jones became a preacher and began his own church eventually called Peoples Temple. He funded it by selling monkeys door-to-door. He worked for racial equality and claimed to be the reincarnation of: Jesus, Akhenaton, Buddha, Lenin, and Father Divine. He began performing miracle healings to increase membership and for fundraising.
He was offered a Housing Commission position by the mayor of San Francisco. He moved his church to California. He moved again, this time to Africa, when he came under investigation for tax evasion. About 1000 people moved with him to set up an agricultural utopia in Guyana.
However, life near the equator was not utopian. The people worked long days in blazing heat with only rice and beans for food while Jones was known to have meat and refrigerated food. Relatives in the States formed a Concerned Relatives Group and told of beatings and sexual misconduct within the church. After months of allegations, US Congressman Leo Ryan met with State Department officials and mounted a trip to Africa to investigate. Many others heard of the fact-finding mission and came with him.
They arrived in Guyana on November 14 and met with resistance from the leadership of the Jonestown community. They did finally get to speak with members of Peoples Temple, but the air of hostility remained. The group left on November 18 and took with them about 20 members of the church who wished to leave. They were attacked at the airport and Congressman Ryan was shot and killed along with four others. Back at Jonestown, hundreds were drinking either by choice or by force, cyanide-laced Flavor Aid. A few were injected with cyanide when they failed to drink. Jim Jones was found shot in the head but it is not known who fired the shot.
“No neurotic harbors thoughts of suicide which are not murderous impulses against other redirected upon himself.” – Sigmund Freud
“Suicide is what the death certificate says when one dies of desperation.” – Peter D. Kramer
“To me death is not a fearful thing. It’s living that’s cursed.” – Jim Jones
“As anyone who has been close to someone that has committed suicide knows, there is no other pain like that felt after the incident” – Peter Greene
Also on this day, in 1307 William Tell shot an apple off his son’s head – so says the legend.
The Heidi Game
Heidi Game stats
November 17, 1968: The Oakland [California] Raiders are hosting the New York Jets in an American Football League game with each of the rivals sporting a 7-2 record for the season. The game was broadcast on NBC and began at 4 PM [EST] with a special network-produced movie of the children’s classic, Heidi, scheduled to follow at 7 PM.
As the half time production began, the Raiders were ahead 14-12 after a series of fights, flags, and fantastically frightening hits. During the third quarter, Jim Hudson, the Jets safety was ejected from the game. The score went first to one team and then back to the other. As the clock ran down, the Jets were leading 32-29 and it looked like they had the game in the record books already. There were another 65 seconds on the clock but it was commercial time.
When the break was over it was 7 PM and Heidi came on as scheduled. Dick Cline was in the control booth at NBC. Calls had been coming into the booth with some people demanding the movie starting on schedule and others demanding the game’s end be shown. Cline’s superiors could not get through and so the movie aired as previously scheduled.
What did not make the airwaves: Oakland completed a 20-yard pass, a 15-yard Jets penalty, Oakland’s Charlie Smith making a 43-yard run into the end zone with the score now at 36-32 Oakland. Then the kickoff, the Jets receiver Earl Christy bobbled the ball as he was blitzed by Raiders, the ball was dropped, Preston Ridlehuber scooped it up and ran into the end zone for a second Oakland touchdown. The final score: Oakland 43, Jets 32, and NBC 0. The network apologized. Today there are riders to contracts with networks that games must be broadcast in their entirety. NBC installed a special phone in the control booth with a private number – the Heidi phone.
“Probably the most significant factor to come out of Heidi was, ‘Whatever you do, you’d better not leave an NFL football game.’ ” – Val Pinchbeck
“It’s been more than 30 years and half the people who bring the Heidi game up to me weren’t even born when the game was played.” – Dick Cline
“Football isn’t a contact sport; it’s a collision sport. Dancing is a contact sport.” – Vince Lombardi
“Football combines the two worst features of American life. It is violence punctuated by committee meetings.” – George F. Will
Also on this day, in 1970 the first computer mouse or X-Y Position Indicator, was patented.
