ON THIS DAY

On this date in 1814, Napoleon lost Paris. If he had only waited two hundred years, he could have found out how easy a Paris could be.

The refrigerated railroad car was patented way back in 1868. Only problem was finding a refrigerator big enough to put it in.

In 1880, Wabash, Indiana, became the first town to be completely illuminated with electric light. Not surprising, they were also the first town in America to get an electric bill. And, of course, with that honor, they also had the distinction of being the first town in the U.S. to have a power outage.

On this date in 1889, French engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel officially opened the Eiffel Tower in Paris to the public. Most visitors that first day agreed -- it was an eye full. (an Eiffel?)

In 1918, Daylight Saving Time went into effect for the very first time.
99 years later, we still haven't figured out if it means it gets later lighter or darker sooner.
And you think we complain a lot about it now?
Well, not exactly at this time, but an hour later... or was it earlier?
Back then, the slogan was "Spring Ahead, wow, it's only Monday!"
I've always thought the time change should take place during the workday. Spring ahead an hour at 4pm on a Friday, and fall back on Monday morning, whenever I get in.

On this day in 1932, the Ford Motor Company publicly unveiled its new V-8 engine.
After enjoying a breakfast of tomato and vegetable juice.
Why they invented an engine that ran on vegetable juice, we'll never know.
The creator got the idea from a can of tomato juice.

In 1960, Massachusetts congressman Tip O'Neill called rock and roll "a type of sensuous music unfit for impressionable minds." Not that it was a bad thing.

In 1964, The Beatles owned this country. They had the top five songs on Billboard's Top 100 list and seven more songs on the list. (Those top five songs were: "Can't Buy Me Love," "Twist & Shout," "She Loves You," "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" and "Please Please Me.")

On this date in 1980, gasoline hit the $1 a gallon mark for the very first time. Boy, those were good times. Back then, a guy would come out to your car and say "Filler up?" Now, they might as well be saying, "Stick 'em up!" It's a vicious cycle: when I think of the price of gas, I get gas.

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