1909

Today in History 02/05/18

Plastic objects made from phenol formaldehyde, marketed as bakelite, between 1920 and 1939 (© SSPL/Getty Images)(1909) Bakelite, the first synthetic plastic, is announced
Leo Baekeland, a Belgian-born chemist working in New York, announces his invention of the world’s first manmade plastic material, naming it Bakelite. It will help launch the plastics revolution.
Bakelite, or polyoxybenzylmethyleneglycolanhydride, is an early plastic. It is a thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, formed from a condensation reaction of phenol with formaldehyde. It was developed by the Belgian-American chemist Leo Baekeland in Yonkers, New York, in 1907.
Inventor: Leo Baekeland

Bakelite color chart 1924 Gifts to Treasure Embed Art Company Jewel only
Bakelite Color Chart, showing “Bakelite Pearl Colors” (pink, yellow, pale pink, green, white and purple) and “New Bakelite Jewel Quality Colors” (various yellows, ambers, red, greens, orange, mottled). Originally published in Gifts to Treasure, Embed Art Company catalog, 1924.
wiki/Bakelite
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Today in History 04/06/17

Athletes prepare for the 100-meter race during the Olympic Games in Athens, 1896 (© Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)(1896) The first modern Olympic Games open in Athens
Athens, Greece hosts the first Olympic Games to be held in 1,500 years as athletes from 13 nations parade before an audience of 60,000. Events include track and field, gymnastics, wrestling, and the first ever marathon, which will be won by Spyridon Louis, of Greece.
The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, was the first international Olympic Games held in modern history. Organised by the International Olympic Committee, which had been created by Pierre de Coubertin, it was held in Athens, Greece, from 6 to 15 April 1896.
Number of countries: 14
Start date: Apr 06, 1896
End date: Apr 15, 1896
Number of athletes: 241

wiki/1896_Summer_Olympics
(From left) File photos of Robert Edwin Peary and Matthew Henson (© Topical Press Agency/Getty Images; APIC/Getty Images)(1909) Peary and Henson reportedly reach the North Pole
US explorers Robert Peary and Matthew Henson arrive with four Inuit men at what they and others believe to be the exact location of the North Pole. Their claims will be questioned in 1989 when an examination of navigational errors in Peary’s logs place the explorers about 60 miles short.
Mathew HensonMatthew Alexander Henson was the first African-American Arctic explorer, an associate of Robert Peary on seven voyages over a period of nearly 23 years. They made six voyages and spent a total of 18 years in expeditions. Henson served as a navigator and craftsman, traded with Inuit and learned their language, and was known as Peary’s “first man” for these arduous travels.
Lived: Aug 08, 1866 – Mar 09, 1955 (age 88)
Spouse: Lucy Ross (m. 1906)
Education: Harvard University
Children: Anauakaq
Written works: A Black Explorer at the North Pole
Highlights
  • 1906: Matthew Henson married Lucy Ross in 1906.

  • 1909: He and Peary with their teams covered thousands of miles in dog sleds and reached the “Farthest North” point of any Arctic expedition until 1909 .

  • 1912: In 1912 Matthew Henson published his memoir about his arctic explorations, A Negro Explorer at the North Pole.

  • 1937: Henson was invited in 1937 as a member of The Explorers Club due to his achievement and was the first African American to be accepted.

  • 1948: In 1948 he was made an honorary member, a distinction for 20 people annually.

  • 1955: Henson died in the Bronx on March 9, 1955, at the age of 88.

wiki/Matthew_Henson
Robert Edwin PearyRobert Edwin Peary Sr. was an American explorer who claimed to have reached the geographic North Pole with his expedition on April 6, 1909. Peary’s claim was widely credited for most of the 20th century, rather than the competing claim by Frederick Cook, who said he got there a year earlier. Both claims were widely debated in newspapers until 1913.
Lived: May 06, 1856 – Feb 20, 1920 (age 63)
Spouse: Josephine Diebitsch Peary (m. 1888 – 1920)
Education: Bowdoin College · Portland High School
Children: Marie Ahnighito Peary · Kali Peary · Robert Edwin Peary Jr.
Buried: Arlington National Cemetery
Highlights
  • 1886: Peary made his first expedition to the Arctic in 1886, intending to cross Greenland by dog sled, taking the first of his own suggested paths.

  • 1888: On August 11, 1888, Peary married Josephine Diebitsch, a business school valedictorian who thought the modern woman should be more than just a mother.

  • 1892: On May 3, 1892, Peary finally set out on the intended trek with Henson, Gibson, Cook and Astrup.

  • 1902: Peary also achieved a “farthest north” for the western hemisphere in 1902 north of Canada’s Ellesmere Island.

  • 1908: For his final assault on the Pole, Peary and 23 men, including Ross Gilmore Marvin, set off from New York City on July 6, 1908 aboard the SS Roosevelt under the command of Captain Robert Bartlett.

  • 1909: Robert Edwin Peary, Sr. (May 6, 1856 – February 20, 1920) was an American explorer who claimed to have reached the geographic North Pole with his expedition on April 6, 1909.

wiki/Robert_Peary
Two US soldiers wear gas masks while walking through plumes of smoke during World War I (© Hulton Archive/Getty Images)(1917) US declares war on Germany and enters World War I
After three years of war between European powers, the once-neutral United States, spurred on by German naval attacks on US civilian merchant ships, enters the fray as Congress declares war. Two million American soldiers will be shipped to Europe’s battlefields.
The United States declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917, during World War I. The U.S. was an independent power and did not officially join the Allies. It closely cooperated with them militarily but acted alone in diplomacy. The U.S. made its major contributions in terms of supplies, raw material and money, starting in 1917. American soldiers under General John Pershing, Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), arrived in large numbers on the Western Front in the summer of 1918. They played a major role until victory was achieved on November 11, 1918 at 11:00am. Before entering the war, the U.S. had remained neutral, though it had been an important supplier to Great Britain and the other Allied powers. During the war, the U.S. mobilized over 4 million military personnel and suffered 110,000 deaths, including 43,000 due to the influenza pandemic. The war saw a dramatic expansion of the United States government in an effort to harness the war effort and a significant increase in the size of the U.S. Armed Forces. After a relatively slow start in mobilizing the economy and labour force, by spring 1918 the nation was poised to play a role in the conflict. Under the leadership of President Woodrow Wilson, the war represented the climax of the Progressive Era as it sought to bring reform and democracy to the world, although there was substantial public opposition to U.S. entry into the war.
Wilson War Message 1917

wiki/United_States_in_World_War_I
A crowd gathered to watch the departure of 'New Orleans,' one of four aircraft to start the round-the-world flight. Leaving Lake Washington in Seattle on April 6, 1924, two remaining planes returned on Sept 28. (© E. Bacon/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)(1924) First round-the-world airplane flight departs
The US Army Air Service launches the first aerial circumnavigation of the globe, using a specially modified torpedo bomber and relay teams of pilots. Several countries had vied to be the first to accomplish the feat, but 175 days and 27,553 miles later, the US team will fly into the history books.

The first aerial circumnavigation of the world was conducted in 1924 by a team of aviators of the United States Army Air Service, the precursor of the United States Air Force. The trip took 175 days, covering over 27,553 miles (44,342 km).

In 1929 Australian Charles Kingsford Smith completed the second circumnavigation of the world by flight, and the first within both hemispheres, including the first trans-Pacific flight to Australia in 1928.


Douglas - First Around the World

wiki/First_aerial_circumnavigation
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