Paul’s Blog Archives

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Thursday, November 18, 2021  1928 Steamboat Willie, Disney’s first cartoon with synchronized sound, was released. Mickey’s voice was provided by none other than Walt Disney himself! 1949 The great Jackie Robinson

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021  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 Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021 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. 1959

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Friday, Nov. 12, 2021 1933 The first photo claiming to be of the Loch Ness Monster was taken by Hugh Gray. It was published in the Daily Express the following month. 1946 Exchange

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Thursday, November 11, 2021  1919 Veterans Day was established as a U.S. federal holiday honoring military veterans. 1921 The remains of an unidentified American serviceman from World War I was interred at

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021  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 Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021 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 Monday, Nov. 8, 2021  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 Friday, Nov. 5, 2021 1946 Chuck Connors (who went on to star in TV’s The Rifleman), playing for the Boston Celtics, was the first to ever shatter a backboard during the pre-game

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Thursday, November 4, 2021  1879 Thomas Edison filed for a patent for his incandescent electric lamp. Note: Joseph Swan had also patented an incandescent light in Great Britain the previous year. 1939

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Wednesday, Nov. 3 2021  1930 The Detroit Windsor Tunnel first opened with vehicular traffic to a foreign country. 1952 Clarence Birdseye patented frozen Peas 1956 The Wizard if oz was first

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021 1896 The first automobile insurance was sold, by General Accident Co. in Britain. 1988 The first Internet worm is released by Robert Tappan Morris, a Cornell graduate

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Friday, Oct. 29, 2021 1929 The Great Stock Market Crash, marking the end of the Roaring ’20s and the start of the great depression. 1960 The future Muhammad Ali began his professional boxing

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021  1636 The first US College was founded. Harvard. 1793 Eli Whitney applied for a patent for the Cotton Gin 1904 The first use of ‘finger printing’ to

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Monday, Oct. 25, 2021  1854 This was the day of the “Charge of the Light Brigade” in the battle of Baklava in the Crimean War. 1930 The first transcontinental air service

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Friday, Oct. 22, 2021 1922 Famed aviator Amelia Earhart flew to an altitude of 14,000 feet, setting a world record for female pilots and her first of many records. 1938 Chester

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021  1879 Thomas Edison succeeded in making his electric light. It had taken about 1,200 experiments and cost more than $40,000 (about $850,000 today). It operated for 13

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Wednesday, October 20, 2021  1910 The first use of a cork-centered baseball in a World Series game. Before that it had a feather center. 1954 The musical “Peter Pan” opened at

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Tuesday, Oct 19, 2021 1752 Ben Franklin’s famous kite experiment that proved lightning and electricity were related. It is unlikely the kite was struck by lightning, as this would have probably

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Monday, Oct. 18, 2021  1767 The Mason-Dixon Line was officially drawn separating the colonies. 1851 The classic Moby Dick, was published by Herman Melville. At first, the book was not well

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Friday, Oct. 15, 2021 1860 An 11-year-old girl wrote to Abraham Lincoln suggesting he should grow a beard. He wrote back saying it would be silly to start growing a beard;

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021  1947, pilot Chuck Yeager became the first person to break the sound barrier. 1968 Apollo 7 astronauts Donn F. Eisele and Wally Schirra sent the first live television transmission from

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Wednesday, October 13, 2021  1775 Congress established the U.S. Navy by authorizing the construction of two warships and appointing a Marine Committee in response to the news that the British fleet

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Tuesday, Oct 12, 2021 1492 Christopher Columbus reached one of the Bahama Islands, naming it San Salvador. 1869 D.C. Stillson patents his pipe wrench. It was the first practical pipe wrench design

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Monday, Oct. 11, 2021 1919 The first in flight meal was served on an airplane in flight. It was a cold boxed lunch on a Handley Page Transport flight. 1968 Apollo

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Friday, Oct. 8, 2021 1869 American inventor James Frank Duryea built the first successful gas-powered car in the U.S. and won the first U.S. automobile race. He and his brother Charles

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021  1849 40-year-old American poet and horror writer Edgar Allen Poe died mysteriously in a Baltimore hospital. He was found delirious wandering the streets of Baltimore wearing someone

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Wednesday, October 06, 2021  1927  The Jazz Singer starring Al Jolson premiered. It was the first feature-length motion picture with a synchronized score and synchronized singing and speech in some scenes. It heralded

Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Tuesday, Oct 5, 2021 October 5, 1922, William Aloysius Keane was born. Aka: Bill Keane, creator of The Family Circus cartoon and creator of the famous quote: “Yesterday’s the past, tomorrow’s the