Amazing historical factoids

[Syne]

Booker T. Washington was truly one of the greats. It's so sad that nowadays more people follow the "talented tenth" ideology of his rival, W.E.B. Du Bois, rather than the hard work and merit values of Booker T..

[Magical Realist]

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[Magical Realist]

Henry Frank Phillips (June 4, 1889 – April 13, 1958) was an American businessman from Portland, Oregon. The Phillips-head ("crosshead") screw and screwdriver are named after him.[1]

The importance of the crosshead screw design lies in its self-centering property, useful on automated production lines that use powered screwdrivers.[2] Phillips' major contribution was in driving the crosshead concept forward to the point where it was adopted by screwmakers and automobile companies. The credited inventor of the Phillips screw was John P. Thompson who, in 1932, patented (#1,908,080) a recessed cruciform screw and in 1933, a screwdriver for it.[3]

After failing to interest manufacturers, Thompson sold his self-centering design to Phillips in 1935.[4] Phillips formed the Phillips Screw Company in 1934. After refining the design (U.S. Patent #2,046,343, U.S. Patents #2,046,837 to 2,046,840) for the American Screw Company of Providence, Rhode Island, Phillips succeeded in bringing the design to industrial manufacturing and promoting its rapid adoption as a machine screw standard.[5] American Screw then spent $500,000 originating a method of manufacture.[6] One of the first customers was General Motors who used the innovative design in 1936 for its Cadillac assembly-lines. By 1940, 85% of U.S. screw manufacturers had a license for the design.[7]

Due to failing health, Phillips retired in 1945. He died in 1958.

[Magical Realist]

Deodorant was introduced in the late 1800s.

The first deodorant that killed odor-causing bacteria was called Mum and it was trademarked in 1888. It was a waxy cream that came in a metal tin and used zinc oxide to fight odor. Back then, deodorant was a fairly novel idea, as most women simply used perfume to smell fresh.

[Magical Realist]

How did Einstein die?

"Einstein died of a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm on April 18, 1955. He was 76. Smoking makes one roughly eight times more likely to develop an aneurysm; Einstein was a devotee to pipe-smoking." Apr 19, 2023"--Internet

[Magical Realist]

"Germany is credited with starting the Christmas tree tradition—as we now know it—by the 16th century when sources record devout Christians bringing decorated trees into their homes. Some built Christmas pyramids of wood and decorated them with evergreens and candles if wood was scarce.

It is a widely held belief that Martin Luther, the 16th-century Protestant reformer, first added lighted candles to a tree. According to a common version of the story, walking home one winter evening, Luther was awed by the stars twinkling amidst evergreens. To recapture the scene for his family, he erected a tree in the main room and wired its branches with lighted candles."---
https://www.history.com/topics/christmas...tmas-trees

[Magical Realist]

"President Zachary Taylor died from a cherry overdose! Zachary Taylor passed away after eating way too many cherries and drinking milk at a Fourth of July party in 1850. He died on July 9th from gastroenteritis. The acid in cherries, along with the milk, is believed to have caused this."--Internet

[Magical Realist]

"To fulfill that dream of a white Christmas, companies started making fake snow alternatives in the early 1900s, some that used asbestos. Hollywood quickly jumped on board, famously using asbestos for fake snow in many movies, including The Wizard of Oz, Holiday Inn and It's a Wonderful Life."

https://www.mesothelioma.com ›
Dangerous Asbestos Created Christmas of Hollywood's Past

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[Magical Realist]

https://www.businessinsider.com/basic-be...tCpVHTfP4A

"Senate Bean Soup — also called House Bean Soup, depending on which congressional kitchen you're eating from — has been a staple served to lawmakers and their guests every day in the halls of Congress for roughly 120 years.

According to one story, the Senate's bean soup tradition began early in the 20th century at the request of Senator Fred Dubois of Idaho, who, as chair of the committee overseeing the Senate Restaurant, passed a resolution in the committee requiring that bean soup be on the menu daily," the official Senate website reads in an entry about the tradition of the soup. "Another story attributes the request to Senator Knute Nelson of Minnesota, who expressed his fondness for the soup in 1903 and insisted that it be on the menu each day."

In the House, the lore behind the soup is slightly different, per the Office of the Historian website, which reads: "Bean soup became a permanent fixture in the institution when Speaker Joe Cannon of Illinois discovered that his favorite meal had not been prepared by the kitchen staff on a hot, summer day in 1904. Dismayed by the omission, the Speaker directed that bean soup be served in the House every day, regardless of the weather."

The recipe's bare-bones ingredient list includes navy beans, ham hocks, onion, and butter. Dubois' variation of the soup, which is recorded on the Senate site, contains celery, parsley, garlic, and a quart of mashed potatoes (yes, really). Both Senate versions are boiled in water, not stock, and Dubois' modifications exclude seasoning of any kind, while the base recipe includes salt and pepper.

The House version, a slight variation on the famous Senate restaurant bean soup recipe published in a 1955 House restaurant menu, calls for Michigan beans and omits the onion, salt, and pepper.

There is nary a bay leaf in sight.

While the soup boasts over a century of historical significance, with the kitchen omitting the dish from the menu on just one recorded day during WWII since the tradition began, the basic soup is a simple but powerful example of the much-needed upgrades and new flavors needed in Congress.

This isn't a dig at the humble hero that is a good soup, but even pantry-clearing meals on a budget need not be so bland. Consider the depth of flavor one can achieve merely by substituting stock for the water or adding a single herb. As much as this recipe could be transformed into a nourishing, delicious meal with just a few small changes, Congress would also benefit immensely from a little variation.

Today, Congress remains less diverse than the US as a whole, with non-Hispanic white Americans representing 75% of voting members, according to statistics maintained by the Pew Research Center.

While female representation in Congress is at an all-time high, women comprise just 28% of all members.

The 13 publicly out LGBTQ+ Congresspeople make up just 2% of the House and Senate, compared to 6.5% of the rest of the population.

As of a 2020 report from OpenSecrets, more than half of Congress are millionaires. And, on average, members of Congress are 20 years older than the rest of the country.

In short, our elected representatives don't feel like they represent the average American because most congressional members don't.

So it's no wonder they're so out of touch — they're stuck in a timewarp where four-ingredient bean soup without salt is a delicacy worthy of eating daily."

[Magical Realist]

Who invented bread?

"According to history, the earliest bread was made in or around 8000 BC in the Middle East, specifically Egypt. The quern was the first known grinding tool. Grain was crushed and the bakers produced what we now commonly recognize in its closest form as chapatis (India) or tortillas (Mexico)."--Internet