American Mystery Writer Rex Stout on This Day in History

 

Today in History: American mystery writer Rex Stout was born on this day in 1886. His best-known characters are the detective Nero Wolfe and his assistant Archie Goodwin, who were featured in 33 novels and 39 novellas between 1934 and 1975. Nero Wolfe is a fictional character, a brilliant, oversized, eccentric armchair detective who lives in a luxurious brownstone on West 35th Street in New York City, and he is loath to leave his home for business or anything that would keep him from reading his books, tending to his orchids, or eating the gourmet meals prepared by his chef, Fritz Brenner.

The Nero Wolfe corpus was nominated Best Mystery Series of the Century at Bouchercon 2000, the world's largest mystery convention, and Rex Stout was nominated Best Mystery Writer of the Century. However, Nero Wolfe often lags behind others in the genre, like Sherlock Holmes, Hercules Poirot, Miss Marple, Sam Spade, Phliip Marlowe and Alex Cross. Interestingly, Columbo, according to many lists, is named as the most original detective.

See also True Crime + Mystery Fiction - 500 Books on 2 DVDroms

Serial Killer Gary Ridgway on This Day in History

 

The Green River Killer - Gary Ridgway - Biography Documentary

Today in History: Gary Ridgway was apprehended and charged with four murders as the Green River Killer on this day in 2001. Ridgway was convicted of 49 deaths and he confessed to 71. Wikipedia has an entry for the most prolific serial killers, and the USA does not even make it in the top 10. Luis Garavito (Colombia/Ecuador/Venezuela) was number one with 138 proven deaths, but he may be responsible for as many as 300. Number 2 is Pedro Lopez (Colombia/Ecuador/Peru) who is responsible for 110 proven deaths. Javed Iqbal from Pakistan killed 100, Mikhail Popkov from Russia killed 83, Daniel Camargo Barbosa (Colombia/Ecuador/Brazil) killed 72, Pedro Rodrigues Filho from Brazil killed 71, Kampatimar Shankariya from India killed 70, Yang Xinhai from China 67 and two other Russians round out the top 10. 

The most prolific American serial killer is Samuel Little, someone I've never even heard of. That however makes Gary Ridgway the most prolific white American serial killer. 

See also Notorious Criminals, Crimes & Criminology - 100 Books on DVDrom

For a list of all of my disks and downloads click here

Thomas Edison on This Day in History

 

How Thomas Edison Changed the World

Today in History: Thomas Edison demonstrated his phonograph for the first time on this day in 1877. Thomas Edison is highly regarded as an inventor, a businessman, and as an industrialist, but there has been an effort to cast him as a total dick as well. 

"The phrase 'Edison was the better business man' seems to be used as a negative description of Edison. Many successful inventors realize that experimentation and research takes money. Edison's first invention was the Universal Stock Ticker in 1869. Edison used the money he earned from the stock ticker to start his 'invention factory.'

Edison's legacy was in creating his 'invention factory' where Edison used his staff to develop ideas and turn them into patents. Some point to the concept of the invention factory as the reason for his success. Critics say Edison took his invention factory too far, and Edison took credit for any individual creativity by his employees.

How many inventions and innovations made in the name of Apple or Microsoft were not the direct work of Gates or Jobs? How is Edison getting credit for the work of his staff any different that the large number of engineers, designers, and programmers working for Microsoft or Apple, but all we hear about is the success of Bill Gates or Steve Jobs?

Likewise the term industrialist is used like it is mutually exclusive of being an inventor. Why is that? Steve Jobs was an industrialist, in some ways much more so than Thomas Edison, in that he was a leading figure in his industry. But the world today seems to see Steve Jobs as a hero, and Thomas Edison as a villain. In many ways I see Edison as very similar to Steve Jobs." ~Tom Peracchio

Legendary Stock Trader Jesse Livermore on This Day in History

 

Today in History: Legendary American stock trader Jesse Livermore died on this day in 1940. He is considered a pioneer of day trading and was the basis for the main character of Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, a best-selling book by Edwin Lefèvre. At one time, he was one of the richest people in the world. 

In a time when accurate financial statements were rarely published, getting current stock quotes required a large operation, and market manipulation was rampant, Livermore used what is now known as technical analysis as the basis for his trades. His principles, including the effects of emotion on trading, continue to be studied.

Some of Livermore's trades, such as taking short positions before the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and just before the Wall Street Crash of 1929, are legendary and have led to his being regarded as the greatest trader who ever lived.

He learned to read and write by the time he was 3 and a half. By the time he was 5, he was reading newspapers and devouring the financial pages.

He died by suicide. He shot himself with an Automatic Colt Pistol. Interestingly, his son and grandson would go on to kill themselves as well.

Anders Celsius and the Metric System on This Day in History

Today in History: Swedish astronomer, physicist and mathematician Anders Celsius was born on this day in 1701. Anders Celsius greatest contribution to mankind was the Centigrade temperature scale which was later renamed Celsius in his honor. To this day there are only 3 countries in the world that do not this metric way of measuring temperature: Burma, Liberia and the United States.

I understand the wisdom behind metric system...but I still prefer the old imperial system. Telling me that someone is 177.8 centimeters tall means nothing to me, but 5 feet 10 inches tells me everything I need to know. I understand 190 pounds better than I would 86.1826 kilograms, and 60 miles an hour tells me I am driving one mile per minute. Metric time never caught on, so we still use a day measurement of 24 hours instead of the 10 hours a metric time system would demand.

And the Proclaimers song "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" just doesn't sound the same when converted to metric.

 

The Concorde Supersonic Jet on This Day in History

 
The Concorde Breaking the Sound Barrier

Today in History: This day in 2003 marks the last flight of the Concorde supersonic jet. It had a maximum speed over twice the speed of sound, at Mach 2.04 (1,354 mph or 2,180 km/h at cruise altitude), with seating for 92 to 128 passengers. "The record time for Paris-to-NY was (and still is) two hours, 52 minutes and 59 seconds. On average, the Concorde traveled one mile every two and three quarter seconds. It was so fast that on westbound flights, it was possible to arrive at a local time that was earlier than when you left your original destination. And of course Concorde's publicists didn't miss that opportunity: British Airways used the slogan 'Arrive before you leave.'" Mental Floss

The Concorde would reach up to 60,000 ft, a height of over 11 miles and due to the intense heat of the airframe, and the aircraft used to stretch anywhere from 6 to 10 inches during flight. Every surface, even the windows, was warm to the touch by the end of the flight.

The accompanying video records the noise of the Concorde breaking the sound barrier (at about the 1:00 mark) and it is quite dramatic.

"Robber Baron" Andrew Carnegie on This Day in History

 
Andrew Carnegie: Robber Baron or Hero of Capitalism?

Today in History: The original man of steel, Andrew Carnegie, was born on this day in 1835. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans in history. He did now, not by gouging and screwing his customers, but by making his product more easily accessible. For instance, Carnegie almost single-handedly reduced the price of steel rails from $160 per ton in 1875 to $17 per ton nearly a quarter century later. 

Andrew Carnegie had an interesting philosophy when it came to wealth. "Carnegie spoke of the millionaire’s duty to live a 'modest' lifestyle, shunning extravagant living and administering his wealth for the benefit of the community. To do otherwise, he warned, would encourage an age of envy and invite socialistic legislation attacking the rich through progressive taxation and other onerous anti-business regulations. Carnegie practiced what he preached, giving away over $350 million in his lifetime. One of his first acts after U.S. Steel went public was to put $5 million into a pension and benefit plan for his workers...he spent millions building 2,811 public libraries, donating 7,689 organs to churches, and establishing Carnegie Hall in New York and the Carnegie Institution in Washington. He financed technical training at the Carnegie Institute of Technology and established a pension fund for teachers through the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching." Mark Skousen

Carnegie's dictum was (1) To spend the first third of one's life getting all the education one can. (2) To spend the next third making all the money one can. (3) To spend the last third giving it all away for worthwhile causes.

See also: Capitalism in America - 100 Books on DVDrom (Captains of Industry)