The Man With A High Altitude of Himself

 

On this day in 1926 at McCook Field, near Dayton, Ohio, First Lieutenant John Arthur Macready, Air Service, United States Army, took off in an experimental airplane, the Engineering Division XCO-5. He was attempting to exceed the existing Fédération Aéronautique Internationale world altitude record of 39,587', but he did establish a new United States national altitude record of 38,704'. Macready reported, “My watch stopped at 30,000' and I believe it was frozen, because just before landing it started again.” He observed a temperature of -79.6 ° at 34,600'.

The official observers of the National Aeronautic Association were Orville Wright (co-inventor with his brother Wilbur, of the airplane); George Smith of Dayton; and Levitt Custer (inventor of the stratoscope, the original barometric altimeter). Macready is pictured above with his wife. 

Everything Within Easy Reach

 

The 1959 Acme Market Food-O-Mat (above) in Nottingham Plaza, Syracuse, New York, features the "carton flow" form of shelving that uses a gravity-feed rear-load design. Lansing Shield, President of Grand Union Company, formed a company called Food-O-Mat to sell the carton flow system by 1948. Gauer Metal Products manufactured the carton flow units for Food-O-Mat markets. The carton flow rack shelving system always keeps items within easy reach. The carton flow design has gone through countless changes over the years and has now evolved into full shelving units, more widely used in warehousing.

A modern sectional shelving unit

Transforming a Thunderbird Into a Lincoln

 

American auto enthusiasts probably are aware that Ford Motor Company's studies for the 1961 "bullet" Thunderbird looked a lot like the Lincoln Continental of the same year---a stretched version for the T-bird---which lost its slab sides and squared fenders to the Lincoln. But the family resemblance in the grille design remained. 

As beautifully subtle as the Lincoln was from three-quarter views, the side profile has become a bit dated over time due to the technology and designers of the era. The symmetry of the interior cabin right in the middle suggests it is either coming or going. Above is my suggestion of what Lincoln might have done to its first generation of new Continentals---shortening the overhang on the front and slice about eight inches off the rear. This makes for a slight asymmetrically balance of the cabin. The subtle change presents a more cohesive design overall.

The Ubiquitous Dixon Ticonderoga Pencil

 

Joseph Dixon introduced the yellow No. 2 Ticonderoga pencil In 1913. It was originally manufactured with brass ferrule, but it was temporarily changed to green plastic due to a metal shortage during World War II. The now-iconic color scheme continued after the war on a metal ferrule. The Czech company, Koh-i-Noor Hartdmuth, is credited with starting the yellow colored pencil trend at the World’s Fair in 1889 by painting its pencils. They patented the first pencil lead made from a combination of kaolin and graphite, a technique that allowed for the hardness of the graphite to be varied. Pencil makers everywhere were able to classify a pencil's graphite core. The US uses a number system while the EU uses a lettering system where HB equals a No. 2.

Richard Kimble's Brief Encounters

 

Carol Rossen was a frequent female guest star on ABC's The Fugitive, appearing five times. Her intensity and depth were a good match opposite Janssen. First, she and her husband (Leslie Nielson) decide to kidnap a young boy for ransom in Tiger Left, Tiger Right (1964); her husband (Telly Savalas) thinks Kimble was responsible for their daughter's death in May God Have Mercy (1965); she was the love interest to Kimble in Middle of a Heat Wave (1965); then she and Kimble are duped into a scheme to discredit a demanding music instructor (Donald Pleasence) in With Strings Attached (1966); she played a prostitute whose self-serving ways appears to help Kimble from a severe beating in A Clean and Quiet Town (1966).

One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)

 

On this day in history was the premiere of Walt Disney Productions animated adventure comedy based on the 1956 novel, The Hundred and One Dalmatians, by Dodie Smith. Its huge box office success rescued the studio from the financial slump caused by Sleeping Beauty. Set in London, England, it is a story about a litter of Dalmatian puppies kidnapped by the villainous Cruella de Vil, voiced effectively by radio's Betty Lou Gerson, who wants to use their fur to make coats.

The Jumbo Jet Era Begins

On this day in 1970, Captain Robert Weeks, Captain John Noland and Flight Engineer August McKinney flew the Pan American World Airways Boeing 747-121, N736PA, Clipper Young America, arrived in London from New York for its six-hour, fourteen-minute maiden transatlantic flight of the new jumbo jet. Aboard was a cabin crew of 17 and 332 passengers. London Airport services were geared to deal as quickly as possible with the passengers and 30,000 pounds of baggage and cargo aboard. Loading delays dealing with the large aircraft, coming and going, did not concern most passengers but a few selected other options for their return to New York.

Earlier this year, Boeing announced that the final 747s, four 747-8F freighters, had been ordered by Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. When they have been built, the production of the “jumbo jet” will come to a close.

Early Twentieth Century News

 

Corn Products Refining Company, and later Corn Products International, was founded by the merger of leading US corn refiners in 1906. The company was incorporated in New Jersey, supplying the raw materials for Argo cornstarch and Mazola corn oil. After additional mergers, since 2012 it is known as Ingredion Incorporated, an American multinational ingredient provider based in Westchester, Illinois. Producing mainly starch, modified starches and starch sugars as glucose syrup and high fructose syrup, they turn corn, tapioca, potatoes, and other vegetables and fruits into ingredients for the food, beverage, brewing, including the pharmaceutical industry and numerous industrial sectors. The company was named the “World's Most Ethical Company” in 2014 by the Ethisphere Institute.

Impracticality, Thy Name Is Harley Earl

On this day in 1954, General Motors introduced their gas turbine concept called the XP-21 Firebird, later referred to as the Firebird I, at GM's Motorama in conjunction with the New York Auto Show. The design team was headed by Harley Earl, who took inspiration from the innovations in fighter aircraft design at the time. Engineer Emmett Conklin led the development of the Whirlfire Turbo Power gas turbine coupled to a two-speed gearbox. For a time he was the only person qualified to drive the car. GM's feasibility study was simply showcasing their technological dominance of the era and never intended the impractical design or their subsequent gas turbine concept cars for production. 

An Amber Caution Zone

 

A Detroit, Michigan traffic officer, William Potts, created the three-color, four-way traffic signal in 1920 which was first installed at Woodward Avenue and Fort Street in Detroit, Michigan. It became the standard by the mid-1930s. The prior red and green-only signals resulted in numerous fender-benders: when the signal turned green, vehicles would immediately proceed through the intersection, expecting others to have stopped before crossing into the intersection. The middle amber/yellow signal allowed for a "caution zone" to proceed through the intersection if one could not safely stop when the signal turned red. Likewise, vehicles already stopped would need to wait until they received their green light to proceed. The design was adopted in future traffic light designs across the world. Today there are well over 310,000 traffic signals in the US alone. 

Note: The first traffic lights were invented in London in the 1860s, but they were not effective. Adapted from the railroad signal system, only red gas lights were used at night to signal stops, and green gas lights during the daytime. The life of the first traffic light signal was short-lived when a gas leak caused one of the signals to explode not long after being installed. It took the United States nearly forty years to adopt the system but with higher safety standards. 

The Jungle Yacht

 

A 1939 advertisement for the International Trucks that powered the Jungle Yacht "camper" for Commander Atillio Gatti's tours of the Belgian Congo. These colorful and luxurious rigs were ahead of their time but difficult to maneuver on challenging terrain. Two were designed and built by Count Alexis de Sakhnoffsky. Gatti and his wife's African explorations spanned from 1922-47. 

This Is Jim Rockford

Hi, Jim --- thanks for the dinner invitation. I'd love to but does it have 

to be the taco stand?

The Rockford Files Message: The Deep Blue Sleep, 1975
Janet MacLachlan guest stars

Ted Mack and The Original Amateur Hour

 

On this day in 1948, William Edward Maguiness aka Ted Mack hosted this talent competition show that premiered. It aired simultaneously on ABC Radio and the DuMont Television Network until the radio version ceased in 1952. The show soon moved to NBC, ABC, ultimately to CBS until cancellation in 1970. Radio personality, Major Edward Bowes, originated the talent show on radio in 1934.