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Post by DrCank on Feb 8, 2006 11:19:22 GMT -5
February 8, 1922, was a big day at the White House. On this day President Harding had a radio installed. At the time, radio was the hottest technology there was, and the White House was on the cutting edge. Almost two years later, Calvin Coolidge, who followed Harding, was the first president to broadcast from the White House. Coolidge's address for Washington's Birthday was heard on 42 stations from coast to coast. Before that historic broadcast, radio had played a big role in Coolidge's victory in the 1924 presidential election. The night before the election, Coolidge made history when the largest radio audience ever tuned in to the broadcast of his final campaign speech. Coolidge won the election easily, and in March, Americans listened for the first time to their president take the oath of office on the radio. Back in the 1920s, radio was in what is now called its "golden age." Broadcasting was more than a business or a job--it was considered to be a very glamorous profession. Radio was a formal affair; announcers dressed up for work in tuxedos and evening gowns, even if there was no studio audience. Many local stations had a staff orchestra, and some had their own dramatic groups. Each station had its own group of fans who tuned in each week to listen to their favorite programs. Radio was at its peak then, and its influence is much like that of TV or the Internet today. Starting in the 1920s, people gathered around the radio to listen to programs or the news, much like we gather around the TV. With its new popularity, radio became a powerful communication tool in politics. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who became president in 1933, used the radio to deliver regular updates to the American public. In his first address, he explained his plan for fighting the Great Depression, "My friends, I want to tell you what has been done in the last few days, why it has been done, and what the next steps are going to be." The talks became known as "fireside chats," named by Harry Butcher, a CBS station manager in Washington. Today, although we still have radio addresses by the president, more people see the president speak on television than listen to him on the radio. In 1939, Roosevelt was the first U.S. president to deliver a televised speech. The "golden age" of radio was about to fade as television entered its "golden age." -2006, "America's stories from America's Library": The Library of Congress. www.americaslibrary.gov
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Post by DrCank on Feb 9, 2006 12:16:38 GMT -5
A British band from Liverpool takes "The Ed Sullivan Show" stage and sends waves of teen-agers into screaming convulsions across America, bewildering millions of parents. A new top 100 list from VH1 and Entertainment Weekly magazine says that was rock 'n' roll's biggest TV moment -- the day Beatlemania hit the states and stayed. The Beatles' U.S. debut even topped the 1968 comeback of the King. An estimated 73 million people were watching that night in '64 -- about three times the audience of an episode of this summer's TV blockbuster "Survivor." John Lennon was so nervous he taped song lyrics to the back of his guitar. As Ringo Starr explained, the band didn't realize until it arrived in America how important Sullivan's Sunday night showcase was. For a generation of rock 'n' rollers, it was the moment they knew they wanted to be stars. "I remember thinking, 'This can be done. I can do that,"' singer Billy Joel said. -2005, July25: CNN.com. www.cnn.com
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Post by DrCank on Feb 10, 2006 11:23:57 GMT -5
Amendment XXV (The proposed amendment was sent to the states July 6, 1965, by the Eighty-ninth Congress. It was ratified Feb. 10, 1967.) Section 1
[Succession of vice president to presidency.] In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President. Section 2
[Vacancy in office of vice president.] Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress. Section 3
[Vice president as acting president.] Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President. Section 4
[Vice president as acting president.] Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President. Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office. -2006, "Amendments to the Constitution of the United States": www.InfoPlease.comwww.infoplease.com/ipa/A0749825.html
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Post by Student Cank on Feb 10, 2006 17:28:36 GMT -5
The Dr is always relaying relevant and timely factoids.
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Post by Student Cank 2 on Feb 11, 2006 4:29:52 GMT -5
I agree, I find the Dr.'s postings very informative and educational.
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Post by DrCank on Feb 13, 2006 12:40:32 GMT -5
There were a few choices today: 1949 - A mob burns a radio station in Ecuador after the broadcast of H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds." 1633 - Galileo Galilei arrived in Rome for trial before the Inquisition. But Edison wins out due to the numerious facets of Degicank this technology influences. One word TUBES The flow of an electric current through a laboratory vacuum, between two metal wires, one of which is heated. The current flows only when the heated wire is more negative, because it is due to free electrons released from the wire by heat. The Edison effect made possible "vacuum tubes" used in radio and television equipment before the invention of the transistor. For more information check out: www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/welect.html-2006, "The Exploration of the Earth's Magnetosphere": Nasa www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/wmap.html
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Post by DrCank on Feb 14, 2006 14:42:35 GMT -5
Original IBM logo from 1924; Source: Wikipedia The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. is renamed International Business Machines Corporation (IBM). The company had operated under the IBM name in Canada since 1917. The first issue of Business Machines is published as an IBM internal publication. It would be a staple for IBM employees for the next 40 years. IBM introduces a self-regulating time system. IBM's Fred M. Carroll develops the Carroll Rotary Card Press to produce punch card blanks at high speed. At a rate of 1000 cards every 60 seconds, the press produced a dollar of revenue for IBM every minute it was in operation.
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Post by DrCank on Feb 15, 2006 11:00:30 GMT -5
Galileo Galilei was an Italian physicist and astronomer. He was born in Pisa on February 15, 1564. Galileo's father, Vincenzo Galilei, was a well-known musician. Vincenzo decided that his son should become a doctor. In 1581, Galileo was sent to the University of Pisa to study medicine. While a student at the university, Galileo discovered that he had a talent for mathematics. He was able to persuade his father to allow him to leave the university to become a tutor in mathematics. He later became a professor of mathematics. In 1609, Galileo heard about the invention of the spyglass, a device which made distant objects appear closer. Galileo used his mathematics knowledge and technical skills to improve upon the spyglass and build a telescope. Later that same year, he became the first person to look at the Moon through a telescope and make his first astronomy discovery. He found that the Moon was not smooth, but mountainous and pitted - just like the Earth! He subsequently used his newly invented telescope to discover four of the moons circling Jupiter, to study Saturn, to observe the phases of Venus, and to study sunspots on the Sun. Galileo's observations strengthened his belief in Copernicus' theory that Earth and all other planets revolve around the Sun. Most people in Galileo's time believed that the Earth was the center of the Universe and that the Sun and planets revolved around it. The Catholic Church, which was very powerful and influential in Galileo's day, strongly supported the theory of a geocentric, or Earth-centered, Universe. After Galileo began publishing papers about his astronomy discoveries and his belief in a heliocentric, or Sun-centered, Universe, he was called to Rome to answer charges brought against him by the Inquisition (the legal body of the Catholic Church). Early in 1616, Galileo was accused of being a heretic, a person who opposed Church teachings. Heresy was a crime for which people were sometimes sentenced to death. Galileo was cleared of charges of heresy, but was told that he should no longer publicly state his belief that Earth moved around the Sun. Galileo continued his study of astronomy and became more and more convinced that all planets revolved around the Sun. In 1632, he published a book that stated, among other things, that the heliocentric theory of Copernicus was correct. Galileo was once again called before the Inquisition and this time was found guilty of heresy. Galileo was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1633. Because of his age and poor health, he was allowed to serve his imprisonment under house arrest. Galileo died on January 8, 1642. -2006, "Star Child": Goddard Space Flight Center;Nasa. starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/StarChild.html
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Post by DrCank on Feb 16, 2006 16:06:57 GMT -5
Explorer 9 was the first in a series of 3.66 m inflatable spheres to be successfully placed into orbit solely for the determination of atmospheric densities. It was identical in its objectives and configuration to the earlier unsuccessful launch of Explorer S-56. The spacecraft consisted of alternating layers of aluminum foil and Mylar polyester film. Uniformly distributed over the aluminum surface were 5.1 cm-diameter dots of white paint for thermal control. The sphere was packed in a tube 21.6 cm in diameter and 48.3 cm long and mounted in the nose of the fourth stage of the launch vehicle. Upon separation of the third and fourth stages, the ejection bellows, a nitrogen gas bottle, inflated the sphere and a separation spring ejected it out into its own orbit. The two hemispheres of aluminum foil were separated with a gap of Mylar at the spacecraft's equator and served as the antenna. A 136 MHz, 15 mW beacon was carried for tracking purposes, but the beacon failed on the first orbit and the SAO Baker-Nunn camera network had to be relied upon for tracking. Power was supplied by solar cells and rechargable batteries. Explorer 9 was the first spacecraft placed in orbit by an all-solid rocket and the first spacecraft successfully launched from Wallops Island. The spacecraft reentered the earth's atmosphere on April 9, 1964. -2006, "NSSDC Master Catalog Display: Spacecraft": Goddard Space Flight Center; Nasa. starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/StarChild.html
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Post by DrCank on Feb 17, 2006 12:09:01 GMT -5
Just before his 40th move in the sixth and final game of his match against Deep Blue, the world's strongest chess computer, Garry Kasparov, the world's strongest human chess player, picked up his watch from the table and put it back on his wrist. Check out The full article: query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9507E3DB1339F93BA25751C0A960958260&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fK%2fKasparov%2c%20Garry1996, Weber, B.:"It's Man Over Machine as Chess Champion Beats Computer He Calls Tough Opponent", The New York Times. www.nytimes.com/
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Post by Bill on Feb 17, 2006 12:32:06 GMT -5
Good one. Didn't Gary get into trouble with the communist for some reason? I think he is not allowed in certain countries now. May be another famous chess player that im thinking of.
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Post by DrCank on Feb 17, 2006 13:29:18 GMT -5
I know Bobby Fisher is no longer allowed in the United States. He played a match in a country we had a travel embargo against, somewhere in eastern Europe (Yugoslovia?). In fact if I remember correctly he is in France, and the US asked for his extradition, so he could be placed in a US jail, but france denied the extradition reqeust. They believe he should not be jailed for his actions.
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Post by Bill on Feb 17, 2006 14:11:50 GMT -5
That's the guy i was thinking of. Pretty interesting character. Pretty silly of our government to try to put someone in jail for playing a little game of chess, in another cuntry no less.
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Post by JOE on Feb 18, 2006 1:56:00 GMT -5
THIS IS A GREAT DEGICANK SECTION!!!!
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Post by DrCank on Feb 20, 2006 8:51:27 GMT -5
John Glenn blasted into orbit on February 20, 1962, part of a space race between the United States and the Soviet Union in which the Americans were lagging. The successful completion of Glenn's mission (he orbited the Earth three times) did much to restore American prestige worldwide. Encased in a bulky, pressurized suit, strapped into a seat, and crammed into a tiny capsule, Glenn put his life at risk as he traveled at 17,500 miles per hour 160 miles above Earth. With great skill, courage, and grace, Glenn piloted the spacecraft manually as the autopilot function failed, and Mission Control wondered whether the capsule's life-saving heat shield would hold while reentering the atmosphere. Glenn returned to Earth after 5 hours, suffering no injury more severe than scraped knuckles, sustained as he prepared to exit the capsule after a safe splashdown. After Glenn began his second orbit, Mission Control received a signal that the heat shield, designed to prevent the capsule from burning up during reentry, was loose. Although it could have been a faulty signal, Mission Control took no chances. Normally, the retropacket package would be jettisoned after the rockets were fired to slow the capsule for reentry. In this case, however, Glenn was ordered to retain the retropack to hold the heat shield in place. While struggling to maintain control of the spacecraft, Glenn watched as huge chunks flew past the window and wondered whether it was the retropack or heat shield breaking up. The heat shield held. If it hadn't, Glenn and his capsule would have been incinerated. See the actual Nasa transcripts from this mission: www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/friendship_7_transcript/reentry_transcript.html-2006, "Featured Docments": National Archives and Records Administration www.archives.gov
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