Day Tripping: March 23

Lifts, Lofts, and Loony tunes

Welcome to my daily feature where each day on the calendar marks a part of our shared history.

Going Up

The E.V. Haughwout & Company Building at 488 Broadway in New York is the site where the world’s first passenger elevator for commercial use was installed by Elisha Otis. Utilizing a steam-powered mechanism, the novelty of a hydraulic lift that took customers safely between the building’s five floors was purchased for $300.

Elisha’s successful invention of the safety braking system would be a critical factor in New York’s and the world’s future of skyscraper buildings.

Going Way Up

Highly decorated British flyer, John Cunningham stets a world altitude record of 59.466 feet, over ten miles, in a modified de Havilland Vampire fighter jet. The ten-year-old record was broken in 1948 above an airfield in Hertfordshire, England. Captain Cunningham is also credited with breaking an airspeed record the year before, flying at nearly 500 miles per hour in 1947.

The distinguished airman was awarded medals by all three allied nations for his missions during World War II.

Going Way Out

US President Ronald Reagan introduced the Strategic Defense Initiative in 1983. Dubbed ‘Star Wars’ because of its seemingly impossible technology, the initiative was proposed to protect the United States from attack by nuclear missiles through an intricate series of lasers in space.

Reagan asked American scientists to “give us the means of rendering these nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete.” After spending $30 billion over the next ten years with no hope of a successful conclusion, the program was defunded by Bill Clinton in 1993.

But wait! Now there’s Space Force…(echo, echo, echo)

Musical Milestones

In response to Jim Morrison’s behaviour and subsequent arrest in Miami for indecent exposure, a Rally For Decency was held in 1969 where 30,000 people showed up to counter the counter culture. Kate Smith, Jackie Gleason, and Anita Bryant were among the celebrities who attended.

Narratives

An investigation using GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar) in 2016 determined that William Shakespeare’s tomb at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford was probably robbed, and his skull is the missing item.

Remembrance

Peter Lorre was famous for his sneering nasally voice and his roles as a sinister villain in The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca died in 1964.

Her violet coloured eyes and striking good looks shot Elizabeth Taylor to instant fame at a young age. She went to become an iconic star, philanthropist, and entrepreneur before passing away in 2011.

Notable Births

1912 — German rocket scientist who revolutionized the atomic age, Wernher von Braun

1929 — Roger Bannister was the first athlete to break the four-minute mile.

K. Barrett Katie Wallace Maria Rattray Maryam Merchant Dr Mehmet Yildiz Tree Langdon Myriam Ben Salem Phil Truman Chelsea Mandler MAT Terry Mansfield Hollie Petit, PhD. Terry Trueman Dr Preeti Singh John Gruber Bill Abbate James G Brennan ScienceDuuude Marcus Liam Ireland Claire Kelly Noorain Hassan, BMS

The Story Of Day Tripping Through History What’s Past Is Often Present