Cultural Heritage
On this date in 1938, alien creatures from Mars invaded the earth, wreaking widespread havoc. At least, that is what some believed after listening to an Orson Wells radio broadcast "War of the Worlds" on the popular Mercury Theatre series on the CBS radio network.
The Centennial Anniversary of the United States was approaching. The French public wanted to present a suitable gift to it's sister democratic republic. The result of much deliberation produced the prototype for the Statue of Liberty. The statue, crated in 214 separate boxes arrived in New York Harbor on June 17, 1885. On October 28, 1886, President Grover Cleveland dedicated the statue that has since stood as a symbol of the best qualities of the American vision. The Statue of Liberty is a copper statue designed by French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi and built by Gustave Eiffel. The Statue of Liberty design is inspired by Libertas, a robed Roman goddess of liberty from slavery, oppression and tyranny. She holds a torch above her head with her right hand and carries a tablet with Roman numerals spelling out July 4, 1776 inscribed on it and walks forward as a broken chain [...]
It was October 27, 1904 when the first underground line of the New York City subway opened. The construction methods at the time involved digging up the earth, digging the tunnel, building the subway and then re-covering the construction. 150,000 people rode the subway when it opened to the public for the first time, regarding the new form of public transit more as a circus act than as part of the drudgery of daily life.
On October 22, 1797, André-Jacques Garnerin, a French innovator, climbed into a hot air balloon and rose 3000 feet over Paris. A crowd gathered to watch. Then, Garnerin climbed over the balloon's basket and jumped. Behind him a large silken fabric trailed, then opened, filled with a rush of air. He floated to earth safely, the first parachutists.
On October 14th in the year 1066, a battle took place in England - Battle of Hastings, that in many ways determined the course of the next one thousand years of western history. The Norman army of Duke William of Normandy in France fought the English Army of King Harold II. Harold had been on the throne only a few months, and contested Duke William's right to rule England.
By spring of 2019, a restaurant near the southernmost point of Norway will open- and it will be five meters under water. The first-ever underwater restaurant in Europe is aptly named “Under”.
The Chicago Fire of 1871, also called the Great Chicago Fire, started on October 8 and lasted until October 10, 1871. The flaming blaze destroyed thousands of buildings and home dwellings and claimed hundreds of lives. Legend has it that a cow kicked over a lantern in a barn owned by Catherine O'Leary.
Founded on October 7, 1919, KLM is the oldest airline in the world operating under its original name. The first flight was on May 17, 1920 from London Croydon to Amsterdam on a press flight.
Little recognized by most people, Jason Lewis on October 6, 2007 became the first human to circumnavigate the planet entirely under his own power, using no motors and no sails.
On October 6, 1889, the famous Moulin Rouge opened its doors in Paris’s 18th district. The Eiffel Tower was constructed the same year, showcasing the cultural pioneering that dominated Paris at the time.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989, East Germany began facing mass emigration and protests, which eventually led to holding free elections and negotiations with West Germany regarding unification.
On October 2, 1950 seven newspapers, including the Seattle Times, the Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune ran the very first Peanuts comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip and its associated books, merchandise and television specials earned its creator over one billion dollars. Lucy, Linus, Snoopy and, of course, Charlie Brown are American icons. The comic strip ran until February 13, 2000, the day after Shultz died. Schulz was posthumously given the Congressional Gold Medal, the body's highest honor given to a civilian. In the Peanuts comic strip, Charlie Brown walks by two friends, one of whom remarks, "Well! Here comes 'ol Charlie Brown! Good 'ol Charlie Brown ... yes, sir! Good 'ol Charlie Brown ... how I hate him!" By the end of the decade, Peanuts comic had been picked up by hundreds of newspapers and had won Schulz a Reuben award, the highest honor given [...]
