Bottom of the News… Friday, July 16, 2010

Good morning my fellow Rotarians. This morning we look back at this day in history at memorable events that shaped our world…

July 16, 1790… Only 14 years after signing the Declaration of Independence, the US Congress declared that a swampy, humid, muddy and mosquito-infested site on the Potomac River between Maryland and Virginia would become the nation's permanent capital. Named after the leader of the American Revolution, “Washington” would be a part of a designated a federal "District of Columbia." Geo Washington was out of office before the White House was finished, which took 10 years to complete. President John Adams was the first resident for only one year in 1800 followed by Thomas Jefferson.

July 16, 1935… The world's first parking meter, known as Park-O-Meter No. 1, was installed on the corner of First St & Robinson Ave in Oklahoma City. The meter was the brainchild of a newspaper owner to help combat limited parking in their growing downtown. Many opposed the meters calling the fees another “tax” on their cars – it cost 5 cents to park for one hour. Retailers however loved them because they encouraged quick turnover of cars and customers. Along with meters came the first painted parking spaces. Within 10 years over 140,000 meters were operating in the US.

July 16, 1945… 65 years ago, the US successfully tested their first atom bomb at Alamogordo, New Mexico. The six year Manhattan Project was the key to ending World War II, when the bomb was soon to be dropped twice on Japan to force their surrender. The original budget for the Manhattan Project was $6,000 and actually cost over $2 billion.

July 16, 1964… Republican presidential nominee Barry M. Goldwater of Arizona accepted the nomination for his party and went on to be soundly beaten by Texas Democrat Lyndon Johnson. Johnson was former VP and then president just nine months earlier after the assassination of John Kennedy.

July 16, 1969… Apollo 11, the first US mission to put men on the moon, launched from Cape Canaveral, FL. The craft traveled 240,000 miles in 76 hours and shortly thereafter, astronaut Neil Armstrong was the first human to walk on the moon beginning with his infamous quote to millions back on earth… "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." The Appollo project involved over 400,000 engineers, technicians, and scientists, and cost $24 billion as a result of President John F. Kennedy's 1961 mandate to beat the Soviets to the moon.

July 16, 1980… Former actor and California Gov. Ronald Reagan won the Republican presidential nomination at the party's convention in Detroit on a conservative platform and went on later that year to beat sitting president Jimmy Carter in a landslide victory.

There you go, notable events on this day in history, the bottom of our news for this Friday, July 16, 2010.

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