1770 Boston, Massacre: tax protestors surrounded the Customs House and a few people in the crowd pelted the small detachment of Redcoat on guard with snowballs, some of which had rocks in them. Despite explicit orders not to fire, one Redcoat discharged a weapon, leading to a cascade of fire, resulting in five dead civilians, one a black man, Crispus Attucks. Two soldiers were tried in Boston and defended zealously by John Adams to show the fairness of colonial justice. They were found guilty of manslaughter, cashiered, and had an ‘M’ for murderer branded on the thumbs of their right hands. The shooting went into history as the Boston Massacre, and together with the scrupulously fair trial and the shooting the two events became symbols for American independence.
1876 Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone. The invention of the telegraph in 1843 had stirred him to think about transmitting voices over wires which he first called a ‘harmonic telegraph.’ He had worked with the deaf to find means to improve hearing.
1923 Poet Robert Frost published ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ in the ‘New Republic’ magazine. It became the entry point for millions of American students of poetry, including me. You Tube has some video of his recitation of ‘The Gift Outright’ in January 1961, which I remember well.
1963 USA, Entertainment: The Hula-Hoop craze reached its peak with twenty-five million sold. While in the Army the inventors saw Australian school children exercising with a wood hoop around their waists. They put that together with the Hula dances they had seen in Hawaii and…..!
1981 Dundee (Scotland), Technology: The British ZX81 from Sinclair Research went on sale and so became the world’s first home computer. Nearly two millions were sold. It was small; it was simple; it worked. It was sold mail-order or from stores like W.H. Smith Books for less and $US 100. In came in a box and some assembly was required. Batteries were not included.
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