Plastic Headquarters

Bakelite (pronounced bake-a-lite) is another name for phenolic resin, developed by the Belgian-American chemist Dr. Leo Baekeland in Yonkers, NY, in 1907. It was the first plastic made from synthetic components, making it revolutionary for its electrical nonconductivity and heat-resistant properties in electrical insulators, radio and telephone casings and such diverse products as pipe stems, children's toys, and firearms, as well as a popular alternative to everyone's silver kitchenware. It was also seen as an inexpensive alternative to high-end jewelry materials. Some bracelets can be quite beautiful due to the penetration of light and Bakelite's transparency. The resin can be molded quickly, is smooth, retains its shape, and is resistant to heat, scratches, and destructive solvents. It is not flexible, however.

Bakelite Corporation faced serious competition from other companies after its patent expired in 1927. The term Bakelite is sometimes used in the resale market to indicate various types of early plastics, including Catalin, Plaskon, Beetle, or Faturan, which may also be brightly colored material. Since its glory days through the 1940s, Bakelite jewelry and radios have become popular collectible items. New reproductions can resemble Bakelite, however.

Defining A Type-A Personality

 

On this date in 1918, Lieutenant Edward "Eddie" Vernon Rickenbacker, 94th Aero Squadron, Air Service, American Expeditionary Force, while flying a Nieuport 28 C.1, with the famous "Hat in the Ring" squadron, scored his first aerial victory. shooting down a Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte Pfalz D.III fighter near Saint-Baussant, France. He was awarded the first of eight Distinguished Service Crosses. By the end of World War I, he had destroyed twenty-six enemy aircraft making him the United States' most successful fighter ace in the war.

The Columbus, Ohio native's passions spanned many levels. He was a race car driver with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, an automotive designer, a government consultant in military matters, and a pioneer in air transportation, specifically as the long-time head of Eastern Air Lines. Rickenbacher died at the age of 82 in 1973.

Small Town of The Seas

 

As of 2018, Royal Caribbean’s Oasis-class ship, the Symphony of the Seas, is the world’s largest cruise ship. Not only is it the biggest, but with 18 decks, it provides unparalleled amenities for accomodating up to 6,680 guests. The facilities include a water park with a full-sized water slide known as Ultimate Abyss and a 43-foot tall rock climbing wall and an onboard auditorium that can host 1,400 guests. The ship is 1,184 feet long and at 228,081 gross tonnages, it is roughly four times that of the Titanic and longer than any ship barring oil tankers. The homeport is Miami and she cruises the Caribbean. Equipped with the latest azipod main engines, the ship consumes 25% less fuel than other comparable size vessels, outside the US Navy's nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.

Hammers In The Head

 

Anacin is the trade name of several analgesics manufactured by Prestige Brands. Anacin ingredients contain aspirin and caffeine. Their advertising campaigns became legendary in the Fifties and Sixties and were one of the earliest and best examples of a concerted television marketing campaign. The commercials advertised "tension producing" situations, and "hammers in the head" with slogans like "Tension. Pressure. Pain." Anacin was also a leading sponsor of the television soaps Love of Life, The Secret Storm, and the early years, The Young and the Restless.

Anacin was invented by William Milton Knight in 1916. It is one of the oldest brands of pain relievers in the United States, first sold in the 1930s. The pain reliever was originally sold by the Anacin Co. out of Chicago, Illinois. American Home Products (formally Whitehall Pharmacal Company) purchased the manufacturing rights in 1930. Insight Pharmaceuticals acquired the brand in the early 21st century which was in turn purchased by Prestige Brands in 2014. 

Richard Kimble's Brief Encounters

 

Dr. Kimble nearly settles down with Susan Oliver, as Karen Christian, except the series just started. Besides, with the one-armed man said to be in the area, it throws a wrench into their plans in this first two-part episode of the series, Never Wave Goodbye (1963). 

How to Fly An Oxcart

 

On this day in 1962, at a non-existent location in the Mojave Desert of Nevada, Lockheed Chief Test Pilot Louis Schalk, Jr., was scheduled to take the first Oxcart for a high-speed taxi test on the specially constructed 8,000' runway. However, he had received secret instructions from designer Kelly Johnson to take the craft airborne. Schalk roared down the runway, lifted off and flew at about twenty feet for two miles. The super-secret aircraft---code name Article 121---was oscillating badly so he set it down straight ahead on the dry lake bed and disappeared into a cloud of dust. Johnson feared the worst but Schalk taxied back to the runway. The malfunction was fixed with no further complications on subsequent flights.

This was the actual first flight of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Top Secret A-12 reconnaissance aircraft. The official first flight would come several days later. Built by Lockheed’s “Skunk Works,” the new airplane wasn’t state of the art, it was well beyond state of the art. Thirteen A-12s were built for the CIA which evolved into the more widely known two-place SR-71A “Blackbird” reconnaissance aircraft.

Buy Milk?

 

The American advertising agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners created the phrase "got milk?" for the 1993 California Milk Processor Board campaign. However, the ad agency thought the phrase was lazy, not to mention grammatically incorrect and almost did not become reality. The phrase did become very popular and was often parodied, but did little to increase the consumption of milk. Mostly liberal celebrities, sports figures, as well as fictional characters, got their upper lip "painted" white in mock milk fashion. It has gotten so phony there may not even be a glass of milk in the image while other ads suggest sex appeal over milk endorsement. The national campaign, run by the Milk Processor Education Program added the "got milk?" logo to its "Milk Mustache" ads beginning in 1995. In 2014, the phrase was officially dropped for a new tagline, "Milk Life," yet it continued to be used. Two years later the branding was used for a line of snack foods called "Got Milk Snacks." If the dairy farmers did not benefit, seems the celebrities did.