Today in History – August 19, 1934 – First All-American Soap Box Derby.  This youth competition was inspired by photographer Myron Scott while he was covering a story on the soap box cars built by local boys for the Dayton Daily News. He was motivated to develop a similar program at a national scale. Not [...]

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Today in History – August 17, 1807- Robert Fulton’s North River Steam Boat, called the Clermont, began its first voyage up New York’s Hudson River to complete a successful round-trip from New York City to Albany, traveling 150 miles in 32 hours. Although Robert Fulton did not invent the steamboat, he is credited with making [...]

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Today in History – August 15, 1914 – First ship through the Panama Canal. Ever since Europeans discovered the new world, sailors dreamed of linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans across the Isthmus of Panama, a narrow neck of land connecting North and South America in what is now the country of Panama. The construction [...]

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Today in History – August 13, 1913 – English metallurgist, Harry Brearley cast the first true stainless steel in Sheffield, England. This steel alloy was composed of 0.24% carbon and 12.8% chromium. Brearley (upper left photo) was trying to develop a more erosion-resistant steel for rifle barrels. He etched samples with acid before examining the [...]

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Today in History – August 12, 1981 – IBM introduces the first PC personal computer for $1,600 base price. The IBM PC was introduced only one year after Bill Lowe, Director of IBM’s Boca Raton division in Florida, was given the go ahead to begin operations. The project was controversial as few believed that an [...]

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