Crabs and Beer!

On this day in 1928, the first loaf of sliced bread was sold by the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri. Their product, “Kleen Maid Sliced Bread”, proved to be a success. Otto Frederick Rohwedder (July 7, 1880 – November 8, 1960) was an American inventor and engineer who created the first automatic bread-slicing machine for commercial use.

St. Louis baker Gustav Papendick bought Rohwedder’s second bread slicer and set out to improve it by devising a way to keep the slices together at least long enough to allow the loaves to be wrapped. After failures trying rubber bands and metal pins, he settled on placing the slices into a cardboard tray. The tray aligned the slices, allowing mechanized wrapping machines to function.

W.E. Long, who promoted the Holsum Bread brand, used by various independent bakers around the country, pioneered and promoted the packaging of sliced bread, beginning in 1928. In 1930, Wonder Bread, first sold in 1925, started marketing sliced bread nationwide.

The phrase “the greatest thing since sliced bread” is a common idiom used to praise an invention or development. A writer for The Kansas City Star wrote that “the phrase is the ultimate depiction of innovative achievement and American know-how.”

This photograph depicts a “new electrical bread slicing machine” in use by an unnamed bakery.

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Apparently not for everyone…

Bethan’s Rock is a small grey stone on display at Poole Museum in Poole, England. It was donated to the museum in 2019 by a five-year-old girl named Bethan, and it has since attracted significant attention on social media and become the museum’s most famous object. – Wikipedia

This is one of my Patsy Cline favorites…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gzthI-oltM

On this day in 1885, 9-year-old Joseph Meister was badly bitten by a rabid dog. After consulting with physicians and obtaining their assistance, Louis Pasteur agreed to vaccinate the boy with his rabies vaccine, which he had successfully used to prevent rabies in dogs. This was done at some personal risk for Pasteur, since he was not a licensed physician and could have faced prosecution for treating the boy.

Over 11 days, Meister received 13 inoculations, each inoculation using viruses that had been weakened for a shorter period of time. ^Three months later he examined Meister and found that he was in good health. Pasteur was hailed as a hero and the legal matter was not pursued.

Studio portrait of Louis Pasteur

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Art meme

today is the birthday, in 945, of Rik Elswit, guitarist, with American rock band Dr Hook who had the 1970s hits ‘The Cover of Rolling Stone’, ‘A Little Bit More’, ‘When You’re in Love with a Beautiful Woman’ and ‘Sylvia’s Mother’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVXVO_vF2Io

On this day in 1775, George Washington takes command of the Continental Army in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He directed the successful siege of Boston and commanded the Continental Army until the Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783, in which Britain officially recognized American independence. Washington disbanded his army, giving a farewell address to his soldiers on November 2. He oversaw the evacuation of British forces in New York and was greeted by parades and celebrations.

He served the whole time without pay but was reimbursed for his expenses. In early December 1783, Washington bade farewell to his officers at Fraunces Tavern and resigned as commander-in-chief soon after.

The earliest authenticated portrait of George Washington shows him wearing his colonel’s uniform of the Virginia Regiment from the French and Indian War. The portrait was painted about 12 years after Washington’s service in that war, and several years before he would reenter military service in the American Revolution. Oil on canvas.

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Here’s Eddie Cochran with his Summertime Blues…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti38LFY7x1Y

On this day in 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It is a landmark civil rights and labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requirements, racial segregation in schools and public accommodations, and employment discrimination. The act is considered one of the most significant legislative achievements in American history.

The legislation was proposed by President John F. Kennedy in June 1963, but it was opposed by filibuster in the Senate. After Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson pushed the bill forward. The United States House of Representatives passed the bill on February 10, 1964, and after a 72-day filibuster, it passed the United States Senate on June 19, 1964. The final vote was 290–130 in the House of Representatives and 73–27 in the Senate.

Segregated water fountains In Wilmington, North Carolina

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Victor Willis, the lead singer of the Village People who also co-wrote many of the group’s high-camp disco-era hits, including “Y.M.C.A.” and “Macho Man,” died on Monday. He was 74. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS9OO0S5w2k

Today is the birthday of Amy Johnson. She was a pioneering English pilot who was the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia. she set many long-distance records during the 1930s. In 1933, Katharine Hepburn’s character in the film Christopher Strong was inspired by Johnson. She flew in the Second World War as a part of the Air Transport Auxiliary. Her aircraft crashed into the Thames Estuary: she died after bailing out. Because her body was never recovered, the precise cause of her death—drowning, hypothermia or being pulled into a warship’s moving propellers, is unknown.

Amy Johnson. Approximate date of photograph: 1930

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Today is the birthday, in 1945, of Deborah Harry, American singer, songwriter, and actress with Blondie who scored five UK No.1 singles including the 1979 UK & US No.1 single ‘Heart Of Glass’ and the 1978 world-wide No.1 album Parallel Lines. As a solo artists she scored the 1986 UK No. 8 single ‘French Kissing In The USA’. A former Playboy Bunny, her acting career spans over thirty film roles and numerous television appearances. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGU_4-5RaxU