The LEGO Advent Calendars began in 1998, with at least one advent calendar every year since. The LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar was released in September 2012 and features 10 mini-figures and around 15 mini-models. A Gonk Droid is built from individual Lego bricks. The LEGO Star Wars Calendar was…
This geocentric model was the dominant model from the 4th century BC until the 17th century AD. The solar system center is sometimes located in the sun and sometimes out of the sun but is never exactly at the sun’s center. Returning to the original question, people have historically thought…
On the morning of May 25, 1979, six-year-old Etan Patz walked the two blocks from his home to his bus stop in Manhattan. It was his first time walking there alone before school, and the last day his parents would ever see him. By March 1985, 700 of 1600 independent…
Gilgamesh is the semi-mythic King of Uruk in Mesopotamia best known from The Epic of Gilgamesh (written c. 2150 – 1400 BCE) the great Sumerian/Babylonian poetic work which pre-dates Homer’s writing by 1500 years and, therefore, stands as the oldest piece of epic world literature. The Epic of Gilgamesh was…
The first portable computer was created in April 1981 by a company called Osborne, led by a journalist turned entrepreneur named Adam Osborne. To celebrate the long-gone company’s 30th anniversary, Harry McCracken at Technologizer has an excellent feature on Osborne today. It was launched by Osborne Computer Corporation in April…
The Epic of Gilgamesh started out as a series of Sumerian poems and tales dating back to 2100 B.C., but the most complete version was written around the 12th century B.C. by the Babylonians. The Epic of Gilgamesh is, perhaps, the oldest written story on Earth. It comes to us…
In 1960 the first patent for a polyethylene portable restroom was issued by George Harding, the co-founder of the PolyJohn Corporation. In the 1970s, fiberglass toilets along with a whole host of other toilet-related improvements were developed, bringing the porta potty further into the public sphere. Sir John Harington, an…
Essential Air Service (EAS) is a U.S. government program enacted to guarantee that small communities in the United States, which had been served by certificated airlines prior to deregulation in 1978, maintained commercial service. Its aim is to maintain a minimal level of scheduled air service to these communities… The…
The Eyemouth Disaster, or ’Black Friday’ as it came to be known locally, was a major disaster resulting in the death of 189 fishermen who were out in their boats. It was a catastrophe, decimating communities. Ten percent of Eyemouth’s male population – 129 men – died that day. The…
The Factory Act of 1833, passed after Sadler had left Parliament, restricted the working day in textile mills to 12 hours for persons aged 13 through 17, and 8 hours for those aged 9 through 12. Did it solve the problems of children in factories? In 1833 the Government passed…