FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
HISTORY
Synthetic rubbers were invented in the laboratories of Bayer in the 1920s. Rubber shortages in the United Kingdom during WWII prompted research on alternatives to rubber tires with suggestions including leather, compressed asbestos, rayon, felt, bristles and paper.
In 1946, Michelin developed the radial tire method of construction. Michelin had bought the bankrupt Citroën automobile company in 1934, so it was able to fit this new technology immediately. Because of its superiority in handling and fuel economy, use of this technology quickly spread throughout Europe and Asia. In the US, the outdated bias-ply tire construction persisted, until the Ford Motor Company adopted radial tires in the early 1970s, following a 1968 article in an influential American magazine, Consumer Reports, highlighting the superiority of radial construction. The US tire industry lost its market share to Japanese and European manufacturers, which bought out US companies.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
We’ve just moved into a new home, and the yard is overrun with bamboo. Is there anything we can do (besides just yanking the plants out) to get rid of it?
If you have a patch of bamboo that you want to get rid of, cut the stalks about a foot above the ground and clear away the cuttings. Fill a plastic pail roughly one-quarter full of rock salt. Fill the rest of the pail with boiling water and stir well. Pour the hot mixture into the hollow stalks. Wait a week, then dig out the bamboo stalks and roots. You may need to repeat the process. It’s tough to dig out a complete bamboo root, but this way you know you’ve killed the plant.
Advice of the Day
Use clean, empty milk jugs to store sand or commercial ice-melting products.
Home Hint of the Day
Keep a bucket of sand or kitty litter outside the door (and another in the trunk of the car) to spread for traction.
Word of the Day
Brontophobia
Fear of lightning/thunder
Puzzle of the Day
Why is a star like an old barn?
Because there are r-a-t-s in both.
Born
- Johannes Kepler (astronomer) – 1571
- Sir George Cayley (Father of Aviation) – 1773
- Louis Pasteur (chemist) – 1822
- Louis Bromfield (writer) – 1896
- Charles Olson (poet) – 1910
- Cokie Roberts (journalist) – 1943
- Tovah Feldshuh (actress) – 1952
- Heather O’Rourke (actress) – 1975
- Carson Palmer (football player) – 1979
- Emilie de Ravin (actress) – 1981
Died
- Gustave Eiffel (architect) – 1923
- Lester Pearson (Canadian prime minister) – 1972
- Hoagy Carmichael (composer) – 1981
- George Roy Hill (director) – 2002
- Sir Alan Bates (actor) – 2003
- Norman Schwarzkopf (Army general) – 2012
- Carrie Fisher (actress) – 2016
Events
- An ill youth in Rochester, New York, wrote in his diary: I don’t see no need of being sick now that school is out. Darn it!– 1864
- Prohibitionist Carry Nation carried out her first public smashing of a bar at the Carey Hotel in Wichita, Kansas– 1900
- J. M. Barrie’s play Peter Pan premiered in London– 1904
- Radio City Music Hall opened in New York City– 1932
- Rubber rationing began in the U.S. with restrictions placed on rubber tires– 1941
- The first episode of The Howdy Doody Show aired– 1947
- ALH 84001 Mars meteorite found in Antarctica– 1984
- Steve Largent’s 752nd career catch set NFL record– 1987
Weather
- Parts of Tennessee had the heaviest snowfall seen in that state in 25 years– 1876
- 12.5 inches of snow fell in Dumas, Texas– 2000
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