Monthly Archives: March 2024

History

On this day March 5

Today in History

  • 1981 The home computer ZX81 is launched

    The British ZX81 was one of the world’s first home computer and was sold over 1.5 million times.

  • 1970 The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty enters into force

    Nuclear powers China, Russia, U.S., U.K., and France initiated the treaty in 1968. It has since been ratified by 190 nations around the world.

  • 1960 Alberto Korda takes his famous picture of revolutionary Che Guevara

    The iconic photograph, called Guerrillero Heroico, was taken at a memorial service for the victims of the La Coubre explosion.

  • 1872 The air brake is patented

    George Westinghouse is credited with the design of the railway braking system that uses compressed air.

  • 1616 Nicolaus Copernicus’ revolutionary book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium is banned by the Catholic Church

    In the book, Copernicus claimed that the Earth revolves around the sun. The Church maintained Ptolemy’s geocentric system. The book is considered a milestone in the history of astronomy.

History

On this day March 4

Today in History

  • 2007 The world’s first national internet election is held

    Estonia was the first country to allow its citizens to vote in a parliamentary election through the world wide web.

  • 1980 Robert Mugabe becomes Zimbabwe’s first black prime minister

    A hero of the black struggle against the white minority rule in his country, Mugabe won a landslide victory. More recently, his oppressive style of leadership has been condemned domestically and internationally.

  • 1977 The Vrancea earthquake claims over 1500 lives

    Most of the victims were residents of Romania’s capital Bucharest.

  • 1918 The first documented cases of the Spanish flu herald a deadly worldwide pandemic

    The disease quickly spread around the world, causing over 25 million deaths.

  • 1789 The U.S. Constitution is put into effect

    The law is one of the world’s oldest constitutions still in use. The oldest is the Constitution of San Marino, which was issued in 1600.

Sunday Stuff

Sunday March 2

Old Stuff Day

March 2 is Old Stuff Day. Take some time on this made-up holiday to appreciate the beauty of all things old and vintage.

An old workbench in a basement.

 

Or you can reflect on the same old, and sometimes boring, things that you do every day and take the opportunity to change things up.

Value

While people often see old things as something to be replaced by newer, shinier things, not all of them are useless. Wines, for example, are more valuable and tastier as they grow older.

Many old items like maps, books, jewelry, furniture, clothes, and artifacts also gain value as they age. This is because they represent workmanship and aesthetics of a previous historical era, as well as technology that may not exist in present times.

Much more valuable than old inanimate items is the wisdom and knowledge we can get from old people. From old family members, one can learn their family history, their genealogy, and their origins. Old people can provide us a richer and more colorful account of the past than any history book can.

Antique Or Vintage

Not all old things are created equal. Those who study history divide historical items into two groups based on their age. Antiques are items that are at least 100 years old, while vintage items usually have to be at least 30 years or more old.

 

FYI…

…that earliest known pieces of jewelry made by humans are thought to be about 100,000 years old? Found in a cave in Israel, the pieces were made from mollusk shells.

Quote

“Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted.” —John Lennon

Uncategorized

Covered Bridge Potato Chips factory burns down

Fire started around 6 p.m. Friday and is still an active scene

 
 
A building on fire
Fire tore through the Covered Bridge Potato Chip Factory in Hartland on Friday evening. Nobody was hurt but onlookers say there’s nothing left of the facility. (Submitted by Amy Crawford)

Firefighters from several departments have converged to battle a fire at Covered Bridge Potato Chips factory in Hartland, a major employer in the New Brunswick town.

The call came in at 6 p.m., said RCMP Cpl. Dan Sharpe. He said 20 to 30 employees were safely evacuated.

By 9 p.m., the fire was still going but the building looked like a total loss, said Summerville resident Kelly Gillin, who lives nearby and watched the fire from across the highway.

“It’s devastating, there’s nothing left,” she said in an interview with CBC News.

“They’re still hauling water to it now, I don’t know how many trucks, I counted seven that were just zooming by back and forth to help put it out.”

Read CBC Story