Of the Week

Advancements - "separable fastener" (zipper) patented - toggle light switch patented - marshmallow creme invented - 100-inch telescope completed (largest in its day) Facts - A little less than 5% of Americans owned a car, truck, or motorcycle. - 1917 had the most (recorded) consecutive days above 120 °F (43 days in Death Valley, California). - The year also had the coldest temperatures ever recorded in Tennessee (−32 °F) and West Virginia (−37 °F). Firsts - 1st jazz recording commercially released - 1st Pulitzer Prizes given Deaths - William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody - Louisa M. R. Stead (wrote the words to "Tis So Sweet To Trust in Jesus") - Andrew Murray - Ferdinand von Zeppelin - Emil von Behring - Scott Joplin - Asa Hull - Adolf von Baeyer Births - Robert Lowell - Hans Conried - John F. Kennedy Literature - J. R. R. Tolkien, on medical leave from the British Army, began writing  The Book of Lost Tales  (the first version of ...

Inventions / Patents - Lincoln Logs - tow truck - toggle light switch Facts -  The cost of a first class US postage stamp was 2¢. - A loaf of bread cost about 7 ¢ in the US. - The world had fewer than 2 billion people. - The average life expectancy was 49.6 for men and  54.3 for women in the US. - The US population was  101,961,000. - The Eiffel Tower was the tallest building on earth. - The US flag had 48 stars. Firsts - 1st Jew to become a US Supreme Court justice (Louis Brandeis) - 1st Chicago Cubs game - 1st time one of Norman Rockwell's illustrations appeared on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post - 1st American self-service grocery store (Piggly Wiggly) - 1st time a woman (Jeannette Rankin) was elected to the US Congress (She was also the only person to vote against US participation in both WW1 and WW2) Deaths - James Whitcomb Riley - Charles Taze Russell - Jack London - Grigori Rasputin Births - Harold Wilson - Gregory Peck ...

Inventions Brillo pads zippers stainless steel crossword puzzles Firsts 1st minimum wage law in U.S. 1st U.S. presidential press conference 1st small claims court in U.S. 1st Chinese parliament 1st pilot to parachute from airplane 1st aerobatic maneuver of an airplane 1st U.S. paved coast-to-coast highway 1st flight over the Mediterranean Sea 1st of Ford's moving assembly lines 1st Chinese president 1st school of dental hygiene 1st drive-in gas station 1st movie serial's premiere Deaths Harriet Tubman John Pierpont Morgan Rudolf Diesel Births Richard Nixon Rosa Parks Vince Lombardi Gerald Ford "Red" Skelton Menachem Begin Jesse Owens Alexander Scourby Benjamin Britten Events 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution adopted Woodrow Wilson's first Presidential inauguration 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution adopted Woolworth Building finished Albania recognized as new country Gettysburg 50th anniversary reunion for ...