Paul’s Blog Archives

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Weds., Dec. 13, 2023 1782 Brothers Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier tested their first balloon. They built a large box out of thin wood and lit a fire beneath it. The unmanned balloon took

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Monday, Dec 11, 2023  1934 Bill Wilson founded Alcoholics Anonymous. Wilson achieved sobriety when he had what he called a religious experience after asking God to help him get sober. 1941

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Friday, Dec. 8, 2023 1857 New York businessman Joseph Gayetty began marketing toilet paper.  It was made of pure Manila hemp paper and contained aloe and remained in use until 1935

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023 1941 Pearl Harbor was attacked. “A Day that will live in Infamy” 1963 CBS first used ‘instant replay’ in a game between Army and Navy. 1973 Apollo

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Weds., Dec. 6, 2023 345 A.D., the real St. Nicholas died. He secretly gave gifts to poor brides-to-be. 1884 the Washington Monument was completed.  1964 “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” first aired on NBC.

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Monday, Dec. 05, 2023 1933 Prohibition was repealed when Utah becomes the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment giving it the necessary 75% of states needed to enact it. 1952

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Thursday, Dec 4, 2021  1843 Manila paper is patented by John Mark and Lyman Hollingsworth of Massachusetts. They produced their paper from old marine hemp ropes. The hemp typically came from

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Friday, Dec. 01, 2023  1942 In order to conserve gas and rubber for the war effort, nationwide gas and tire rationing went into effect in the US. Families were allowed 3

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023 1940 Comedienne Minnie Pearl made her first appearance on the radio show Grand Ole Opry. She would continue making appearances for over 50 years. Minnie Pearl was of

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Weds., Nov. 29, 2023 1934 The Chicago Bears beat the Detroit Lions in the first NFL game broadcast. 1942 The U.S. began rationing coffee as a result of World War II. Coffee

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023 1895 The race almost didn’t happen as it was initially banned by police who would not allow automobiles to drive on city streets. It ran from Chicago

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Monday, Nov. 27, 2023 1924, The first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade as store employees marched to Macy’s Herald Square, the flagship store on 34th Street, dressed in vibrant costumes. There were

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Weds., Nov. 22, 2023  1718 British soldiers boarded the ship of Blackbeard the Pirate and shot him. They then cut off his black beard and flew it from the ship’s bow.

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2021 1877 Thomas Edison announced the invention of the phonograph. 1934 The New York Yankees purchased the contract of Joe Di Maggio from San Francisco. 1980 An estimated

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 1945 Prosecution began against 24 former Nazi leaders for war crimes in the Nuremberg Trials; 12 of which were sentenced to death. 2002 Singer Michael Jackson held

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Friday, Nov. 17, 2023 1800 The first meeting of the U.S. Congress in the newly formed Capital city of Washington D.C. 1970 A patent was issued to Douglas Engelbart for the

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023 1904 British electrical engineer John Fleming filed a patent for his “thermionic valve” also known as a vacuum tube which ushered in the modern era of electronics.

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Weds., Nov. 15, 2023 1885 The poem that inspired the comic strip “Little Orphan Annie” was first published. It was also the inspiration for the Broadway musical “Annie” which opened in

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023 1889 New York World reporter Nellie Bly set sail from New York in an effort to beat Philéas Fogg’s (from Jules Verne’s novel) time of 80 days for a 24,899-mile

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Monday, Nov. 13, 2023 1875 First football game with uniforms. Yale, wearing dark pants, blue shirts, and yellows hats beat Harvard who wore crimson shirts, pants, and stockings. 1946 Dry-ice pellets

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Friday, Nov. 10, 2023  1969 The long-running children’s educational program Sesame Street debuted on public TV with Jim Henson’s Muppets. 1975 The ore carrier “Edmund Fitzgerald” sank during a storm on Lake

 Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023 1799 Napoleon became the first dictator of France. 1989 The 28-year-old Berlin Wall was opened to the West. It was one of the most iconic symbols of

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Weds., Nov. 8, 2023  1887 The first flat disc record player was patented by Emile Berliner. Earlier recording devices by Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell used cylinders that were difficult

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023  1972 Despite the ongoing Watergate proceedings, President Richard Nixon was re-elected by a landslide. He received almost 18 million more popular votes than his Democratic opponent Senator

 Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Monday, Nov. 6, 2023 1928 Colonel Jacob Schick patented his first electric razor. Schick went on to form the Schick Dry Shaver, Inc. razor company and has become known as “The Father

  Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023 1896 The first automobile insurance was sold, by General Accident Co. in Britain. 1920 the start of regular broadcasting by the first U.S. radio station, KDKA

  Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Weds., Nov. 1, 2023 1800 U.S. President John Adams moved into what was at the time known as the “President’s House”, located in Washington D.C. George Washington is the only U.S. president who

  Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023 1517 Reformer Martin Luther started the Protestant reformation when he nailed his 95 theses against the corruption of the papacy in Rome to the door of the

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Friday, October 27, 2023  1858 RH Macy Department Store opened in New Your City. 1904 New York opened the first section of the underground railway. 1947 The first episode of “You