By Mona Hatfield
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Andrew Smith Hallidie (March 16, 1836 – April 24, 1900) was an American entrepreneur who was the promoter of the Clay Street Hill Railroad in San Francisco. This was the world’s first practical cable car system, and Hallidie is often therefore regarded as the inventor of the cable car and father of the present day San Francisco cable car system, although both claims are open to dispute. He also introduced the manufacture of wire rope to California, and at an early age was a prolific builder of bridges in the Californian interior.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
What are the best choices for a vine to climb a trellis?
Wisteria, bittersweet, morning glory, honeysuckle, glory bower, Carolina jasmine, and silver-lace vine are great choices for a trellis, arbor, or fence.
Advice of the Day
When black snails cross your path, black clouds much moisture hath.
Home Hint of the Day
You can adjust any door so that it latches more easily if you rub a soft pencil over the entire surface of the strike plate (the piece the latch goes into). The graphite in the lead reduces the friction between the latch and the strike plate.
Word of the Day
Keelhaul
To haul under the keel of a ship, by ropes attached to the yardarms on each side. It was formerly practiced as a punishment in the Dutch and English navies.
Puzzle of the Day
(Blank) (Blank) the day.(What’s the saying? Fill in the blanks!)
1) Sufficient 2) unto
Died
- King William II of England –
- Wild Bill Hickok (frontiersman) –
- Alexander Graham Bell (inventor) –
- Warren G. Harding (29th U.S. president) –
- Shari Lewis (actress and puppeteer, best known for Lamb Chop) –
- Francis “Frank” Gouin (plant physiologist) –
Born
- Pierre-Charles L’Enfant (architect) –
- Leopold Gmelin (chemist) –
- Jack Warner (the man behind the development of Warner Brothers Studios) –
- James Baldwin (author) –
- Caroll O’Connor (actor) –
- Peter O’Toole (actor) –
- Mary Louise Parker (actress) –
- Tim Wakefield (baseball player) –
- Jacinda Barrett (model & actress) –
- Hallie Kate Eisenberg (actress) –
Events
- Official signing of enlarged copy of the U.S. Declaration of Independence–
- Street letter boxes installed in Boston and N.Y.C., first in U.S.–
- In San Francisco, California, at four o’clock in the morning, Andrew Smith Hallidie successfully tested the world’s first cable car–
- The Oleomargarine Act established the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) laboratory system–
- The Lincoln Cent was issued to replace the Indian Head Cent–
- Adolf Hitler appointed himself dictator of Germany–
- Albert Einstein wrote a letter to President FDR explaining the possibility of an atomic bomb, thus marking the beginning of atomic weaponry–
- Olivia Newton-John’s “Magic” topped charts–
- Iraq invaded Kuwait–
- Viking ship replica Gaia arrived at L’Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland–
- Library of Congress announced Charles Simic to be the 15th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry–
- Yasmin Fudakowska-Gow began 32-hour yoga marathon in Quebec–
Weather
- Offshore hurricane battered fishing fleet and lightship near Nantucket, Massachusetts–
- It was 107 degrees F in Massachusetts, 105 degrees in Maine and New Hampshire, and 104 degrees in Rhode Island–
- Both New Bedford and Chester, Massachusetts, reported a high temperature of 107F (42C), setting a new state record.–
- During a heat wave, Sandi Fontaine successfully baked cookies on her vehicle’s dashboard in Bedford, New Hampshire–
COURTESY www.alamanac.com
