Edited by Gerald Boerner
Introductory Comments:
The notable events on this day through history range from those that were informative, propaganda intended to change public opinion to those that highlight greed and avoid conflict leading to war. A couple of days ago, we dealt with the philanthropy of John D. Rockefeller; today we look at how he accumulated his billions of dollars through the monopoly of Standard Oil of Ohio. The 1870s was a time that saw the rich accumulate great sums of money and value through the control of access to this country’s natural resources, like oil, steel, or transportation. It took President Teddy Roosevelt to bust these trusts to restore the resources to the people.
On the other hand, we also look at the creation of the League of Nations in 1920 that brought the nations of the world together in a deliberation forum to talk out their differences without resorting to warfare. Good idea, but it didn’t necessary work. Woodrow Wilson, the architect of the Fourteen Points, suffered a stroke and was unable to campaign for the ratification in a Senate dominated by isolationist; the Treaty of Versailles, and therefore, the League of Nations, was not ratified and the United States did not participate. That, combined with the British and French quest for lands in the middle East. So much for a good idea!
Other good ideas did catch on. The Leonardo of America, Benjamin Franklin, start publishing Poor Richard’s Almanack on this day back in 1753. This publication would become the standard reference for farmers of the time, being helpful in knowing when to plant and harvest their crops. Likewise, Thomas Paine started serializing his famous tomb, Common Sense, on this date in 1776; this propaganda document served as a call to arms to the colonists in their battle with the British.
Finally, a technology innovation was released on this date in 1949 — the 45 rpm record. RCA provided this recording format to replace the 78 rpm record. The 45 allowed two high-quality recordings to be place on the two sides of this disk; it became the iconic mode of distributing songs during the Rock ‘n Roll era of the 1950s and early 1960s. Besides providing a better medium for selling records, it also created the opportunity for selling new record players due to its large central hole. It also made it easier to load more music in juke boxes in vogue during that period. Just like it replaced the 78 records, it was replaced by the 33 1/3 rpm album popular starting in the late 1950s. Ah, yes, those were the days.
So let’s get going on our overview of the significant events on January 10th… GLB
These Introductory Comments are copyrighted:
Copyright©2012 — Gerald Boerner — All Rights Reserved[ 1048 Words ]
Quotations Related to Benjamin Franklin:
[ http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/b/benjamin_franklin.html ]
“A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body.”
— Benjamin Franklin
“A life of leisure and a life of laziness are two things. There will be sleeping enough in the grave.”
— Benjamin Franklin
“A place for everything, everything in its place.”
— Benjamin Franklin
“All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.”
— Benjamin Franklin
“All who think cannot but see there is a sanction like that of religion which binds us in partnership in the serious work of the world.”
— Benjamin Franklin
