Beer story is on page 47 of the thread. Churchill and the Nippon are on page 130. Here in year 3 its getting harder and harder not to repeat material, but its still fun. Sometimes I run across interesting things and just file them to the back of my head for when the date comes up; I saw one just today that I'll try to remember to use at the end of May. Have you ever seen the movie Men of Honor with Cuba Gooding and Robert DeNiro? The nuke lost in the Med is a pivotal event in that movie.
I've seen the movie but its been a while back and didn't make the connection. Speaking of a while back, you posted the 1/24 beer story in 2020; 2 years ago. Do you look back at previous years to see if you already posted an item?
On January 25, 1915, Alexander Graham Bell makes the first transcontinental telephone call. Bell received his first patent on the telephone in 1876. Forty years later, there were nearly 6 million telephones in the U.S. but west of Texas, phone service was virtually non-existent, except for some areas of California. AT&T strung the first transcontinental phone line in 1914, and Bell demonstrated the service by calling - from the AT&T office in NYC - to his long-time assistant, Thomas Watson, who was at a residence in San Francisco, about 3400 miles away. The first commercial call was made later that same day, at a cost of about $20 for a 3-minute call - about $400 in today's money. On January 25, 1890, American journalist and adventurer Nellie Bly completes the fastest solo trip around the world to that date. Bly was a reporter with the New York World, and wanted to emulate the journey Jules Verne described in his novel Around The World in 80 Days. She departed NYC on November 14, 1889 and headed east by steamship, with only the clothes on her back, a bag containing several changes of underwear and personal products, and about £200 in English bank notes and gold, as well as some American currency (the publicity photo below is an accurate depiction of her travel ensemble). Traveling by steamer and train, she completed the 40,700 kilometer journey (including a stop in France to meet Verne) in just 72 days, 8 days faster than the 1870 journey of American entrepeneur Charles F. Train, who was likely Verne's inspiration. Just two years later, Train hit the trail again and broke Bly's record by 5 days. On January 25, 1947, Thomas T. Goldsmith, director of research for DuMont Laboratories in New Jersey, receives a U.S. patent for a "cathode ray tube amusement device" - the first video game. The game emulates World War II radar displays, the players using analog dials to control a beam of light representing a missile to attempt to hit targets on the screen. Though he earned the patent, Goldsmith did not have the money to market the game, and it never got past the hand-built prototype. The call letters of WTTG TV 5 in Washington, DC, an original affiliate of the DuMont Television Network, honor Goldsmith.
There is a much disputed claim that a black guy actually invented the telephone before Bell. I think he may actually have but his didn't work, Bells did! Something like that.
I think that's the case with a lot of inventions. History generally remembers the person who got the first patent, or who makes the most advancements on the product.
On January 26, 1500, Spanish explorer Vicente Yanez Pinzon is believed to be the first European to see modern-day Brazil. Pinzon is moving up in the world exploration game; the captain of the Nina during Columbus' historic first expedition west received his own commission from the Spanish crown to explore further south. While there is question as to whether he or a Portuguese expedition reached Brazil first, Pinzon without question was the first to explore the mouth of the Amazon River, later on during the same voyage. On January 26, 1970, Lt. Everett Alvarez, Jr, US Navy, spends his 2,000th day in captivity as a prisoner of the North Vietnamese. Alvarez was shot down August 5, 1964 in an A-4 Skyhawk during Operation Pierce Arrow. He spent his first 6 months of captivity as the first American held in Hoa Lo Prison (the "Hanoi Hilton"). He would become highly esteemed by his fellow prisoners for his deportment during his captivity, frequently subjected to torture, isolation and starvation. He would be released February 12, 1973, his 3,113th day of captivity. one of the longest-serving POW's in American history. He retired from the Navy in 1980, later serving as Deputy Director of the VA in the Reagan Administration. He now runs an IT consulting firm. On January 26, 2020, former basketball superstar Kobe Bryant, his 13-year old daughter Gianna and 7 others are killed in a helicopter crash north of Los Angeles. Investigators determined the pilot became disoriented in foggy conditions. Bryant was selected for the NBA All Star Game in 18 of his 20 seasons, won 5 championships and was named league MVP in 2008. His death at age 41 was one of the most shocking sports world moments of the 21st century to date.
