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LaGuardia Airport: New York’s First Major Airport
On this date in 1939, LaGuardia Airport in New York opened. Here are some things you may not have known about the closest airport to Manhattan. LaGuardia was the city’s first major airport. Until that time, the only commercial airport in the New York region was in Newark, New Jersey. Supposedly, the decision to develop…
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Channel Tunnel: Rail Link Between Britain and Europe
On this date in 1990, crews tunneling from England and France met under the English Channel. Here are some things you may not have known about the Channel Tunnel. The first proposal for a tunnel under the English Channel was made in 1802 by Albert Mathieu, a French mining engineer. He proposed horse-drawn carriages in…
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Pong: The First Video Game Sensation
On this date in 1972, Atari released “Pong,” the first commercially successful video game. Here are some things you may not have known about it. It wasn’t the first home video game, or the first arcade game, for that matter. The first home video game console was the Magnavox Odyssey, which was released in September…
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Grand Ole Opry: Country Music’s Most Hallowed Stage
On this date in 1925, the radio show that would become the “Grand Ole Opry” premiered in Nashville, Tennessee. Here are some things you may not have known about the Grand Ole Opry. The Opry began as the “WSM Barn Dance,” modeled after a similar program on WLS in Chicago. The first program featured 77-year-old…
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Joe DiMaggio: The Story of the Yankee Clipper
Today is the birthday of baseball Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio. Here are a few things you may not have known about the Yankee Clipper. DiMaggio was born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio in Martinez, California, in 1914. He was the eighth of nine children. His father was a fisherman, who moved from Sicily in 1898, followed…
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DB Cooper: America’s Most Notorious Skyjacker
Welcome to the Trivia Minute, your daily dose of history, facts and tidbits from TriviaPeople.com … I’m Marcus Michelson. On this date in 1971, a man using the alias Dan Cooper hijacked a Northwest Orient Airlines flight between Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington. Here are some things you may not have known about DB Cooper.…
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Marx Brothers: The First Family of Comedy
Today is the birthday of Harpo Marx, the second-oldest of the Marx Brothers comedy troupe. Here are some things you may not have known about Harpo and his brothers. Adolph Marx was born in New York, and grew up on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. He was the third son of Sam and Minnie…
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Blackbeard: The Prototypical Pirate
On this date in 1718, the pirate known as Blackbeard was killed in a battle with the British Navy. Here are some things you may not have known about the man regarded as the prototypical pirate. Not much is known about Blackbeard’s early life, including his actual name. He was known as Edward Teach or…
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Brief History of Audio Recording
On this date in 1877, Thomas Edison announced his invention of the phonograph. Here are some things you may not have known about sound recording. Edison’s phonograph was the first machine to record sound and then play it back. But it wasn’t the first to record sound. The first device known to record sound was…