Trivia People

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act into Law in 1935 (Photo from Social Security Administration via Wikimedia Commons)

On this date in 1937, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed a judicial reform bill that would have allowed him to appoint up to six new justices to the Supreme Court.

Here are some things you might not know about what came to be known as Roosevelt’s Court-Packing plan.

Roosevelt won the 1932 election on the basis of his New Deal program to help lift the nation out of the Great Depression. A Democratic-controlled Congress was also elected that year. During Roosevelt’s first 100 days in office, Congress wrote and passed a huge amount of legislation designed to reform the banking system, provide jobs to the unemployed and repair the economy.

During Roosevelt’s first term as president, the Supreme Court, which had a Republican majority, struck down several parts of the New Deal program as being unconstitutional.

Roosevelt won reelection to a second term in a landslide over Kansas governor Alf Landon. Roosevelt won 98.49 percent of the electoral vote, the highest percentage ever in a contested election. Roosevelt won every state except Maine and Vermont. He also took 60.8 percent of the popular vote, the second-highest percentage since 1820.

Using this political capital, Roosevelt moved forward with a plan to increase the number of justices on the Court. The idea was that because the Constitution does not define the size of the Supreme Court, it was within the rights of Congress to change it. The proposed legislation focused on the age of the justices. For every justice who didn’t retire within six months of turning 70, the president could nominate a new, younger justice. It would allow the president to appoint up to six new justices.

Public opinion on the change was split, with a consistent plurality against the plan. Roosevelt took to the airwaves with his ninth Fireside Chat radio address to make his case. He blamed the court for misinterpreting the Constitution and for its opposition to the New Deal. The address did little to sway the public. It also did little to sway Congress. The House Judiciary Chairman Hatton W. Sumners split the legislation up in order to prevent the court expansion. Unable to gain a foothold in the House, the administration turned to the Senate, where it stalled as well.

Soon after Roosevelt’s Fireside Chat, the Court handed down a decision upholding Washington state’s minimum wage law, seen as a victory for New Deal policies, and easing political tensions. In May, Justice Willis Van Devanter decided to retire, thus allowing Roosevelt to swing the Court’s majority his way by traditional means. In July, the bill’s champion in the Senate, majority leader Joseph Robinson,  died, ending the faint hope of enacting the legislation. The legislation was rewritten to reform the lower courts, but exclude the court-packing provisions. In August, Hugo Black was sworn in as associate justice.

Roosevelt would go on to appoint eight justices.

Our question, which president was elected with the highest percentage of the popular vote since 1820?

Today is Constitution Day in Mexico and Unity Day in Burundi. It’s National Weatherperson’s Day, National Wear Red Day and World Nutella Day. It’s the birthday of baseball great Henry Aaron, actor Christopher Guest and soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo.

In 1985, the year Cristiano Ronaldo was born, the top song in the U.S. was “I Want to Know What Love Is” by Foreigner ; the No. 1 movie was “Beverly Hills Cop,” while the novel “If Tomorrow Comes” by Sidney Sheldon topped the New York Times Bestsellers list.

The Inverted Jenny postage stamp featuring an upside down Curtiss JN-4 (Photo by U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing via Wikimedia Commons)

25 years ago today, first-class postage in the United States was increased from 25 cents to 29 cents.

Here are a few facts about the postal service, stamps and stamp collecting.

The earliest postal system in North America wasn’t much of a system at all. Ships would carry mail into port and advertise in the local newspaper the names of those who had mail waiting. The recipient would usually have to pay for the service. A private postal service began in Boston in 1639, but service between Boston and New York had to wait until 1672. In 1692, the British Crown granted Thomas Neale the right to set up a postal system and collect tax on all official documents. When the patent expired 21 years later, the British Parliament extended their system to the Colonies.

On July 26, 1775, the United States Post Office was created. Benjamin Franklin was the first Postmaster General and served until being named representative to France in September 1776. From 1829 to 1971, the Postmaster General was a position in the President’s cabinet. In 1971, the Post Office was replaced by the independent United States Postal Service.

The first American postage stamps were issued in 1847 in denominations of 5 and 10 cents. The five-cent stamp paid for a one-ounce letter traveling less than 300 miles. A 10-cent stamp was required for heavier letters or those going more than 300 miles. Five cents in 1847 is equivalent to $1.28 today. The cost of first-class postage eventually decreased to two cents in 1919. It has increased ever since. It passed the 10-cent barrier in 1974, 20 cents in 1981, 30 cents in 1995 and 40 cents in 2007. The current cost is 49 cents for a first-class letter, a bargain compared to 1847.

Package prices were separated from letter prices in 2007.

The study of stamps and postal history is called philately. Among the rarest and most valuable stamps are the British Penny Black, the Mauritius “Post Office” Stamp and the American Inverted Jenny, which was a misprint featuring an upside down airplane. The most valuable stamp is the British Guiana 1c Magenta, which sold for almost $9.5 million in 2014; only one copy is known to exist.

Our question: What do stamp collectors call envelopes?

Today is World Cancer Day and Independence Day in Sri Lanka.  It’s also national stuffed mushroom day, national thank a mailman day and homemade soup day. It’s the birthday of American civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks, aviator Charles Lindbergh, and Irish comedian Dara O’Briain.

In 1974, the year first-class postage hit 10 cents , the top song in the U.S. was “The Way We Were” by Barbra Streisand; the No. 1 movie was “The Exorcist,” while the novel “Burr” by Gore Vidal topped the New York Times Bestsellers list.

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Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Postal_Service

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_United_States_postage_rates

Buddy Holly promotional photo from Brunswick Records.

Today is the 57th anniversary of the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper and the plane’s pilot.

Here are some things you may not have known about The Day the Music Died.

Buddy Holly and his band were playing a tour called the Winter Dance Party across the upper Midwest. Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper, whose real name was J.P. Richardson, and Dion DiMucci were the opening acts.

The tour started on January 23, 1959, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and was scheduled to play in 24 cities in 24 nights.

The tour plan soon became a problem, as some of the towns were too far apart for a comfortable one-day drive.

The bus itself was also a problem, as the heater onboard broke on the second day of the tour. The flu spread among the musicians and Holly’s drummer was hospitalized with severe frostbite in his feet.

On February 2nd, which was originally scheduled to be a day off for the tour, the group played a concert at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa. Holly wanted a chance to rest before the next stop on the tour and decided to charter an airplane to fly him between Mason City, Iowa and Fargo, North Dakota.

Originally the plan was to have Holly and the two members of his backing band, Waylon Jennings and Tommy Allsup, fly ahead and have Valens, The Big Bopper and Dion meet them in Moorhead, Minnesota.

The Big Bopper had come down with the flu and switched Jennings for his seat on the plane. Valens won a coin toss with Allsup for the other seat. Dion was offered a seat, but declined due to the expense.

The manager of the Surf Ballroom drove Holly, Valens and The Big Bopper to the airport in neighboring Mason City. Waiting for them was 21-year-old pilot Roger Peterson and the plane, a Beechcraft 35 Bonanza. Light snow was falling with six miles of visibility and winds ranging from 20 to 30 miles per hour.

The plane took off at 12:55 a.m. on February 3. The owner of the flying service watched the plane until it disappeared from view.

The next morning, after not hearing from his pilot, the plane’s owner began retracing the planned route. He found the wreckage within minutes less than six miles from the origin of the flight.

It was determined that the plane crashed at around 170 miles per hour steeply banked to the right with its nose down. The plane cartwheeled 540 feet. Holly, Valens and The Big Bopper were all ejected during the crash. Peterson, the pilot, was tangled in the wreckage.

All of them died instantly.

After an investigation, it was determined that Peterson was not qualified to fly by instruments at the time. The weather forecast provided before the flight was also insufficient, failing to mention any adverse conditions along the route.

The tour continued with Waylon Jennings taking Holly’s place as lead singer.

Buddy Holly was 22 years old, Ritchie Valens was 17 and The Big Bopper was 28.

Our question: What was Buddy Holly’s only Number 1 hit in the U.S.?

Today is Heroes’ Day in Mozambique and Veterans’ Day in Thailand. It’s National Girls and Women in Sports Day, National Carrot Cake Day and National Wedding Ring Day. It’s the birthday of writer Gertrude Stein, painter Norman Rockwell, and actor Nathan Lane.

In 1959, the top song in the U.S. was “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” by The Platters; the No. 1 movie was “Ben-Hur,” while “Doctor Zhivago” by Boris Pasternak topped the New York Times Bestsellers list.

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Seven volumes of the 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition (Photo by Dan via Wikimedia Commons)

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Today is the 132nd anniversary of the publication of the first volume of the Oxford English Dictionary.

Here are some things you may not have known about the dictionary.

It’s a descriptive dictionary, meaning it describes word usage and variations. Descriptivism is the opposite of prescriptivism, which aims to establish a standard of usage. The dictionary also shows the historical development of English though the ages.

In 1844, three members of the Philological Society were unsatisfied with current dictionaries and wanted to create one of their own that addressed what they perceived as shortcomings of the existing works. The idea of creating a new dictionary remained just that until June 1857 when an “Unregistered Words Committee” was formed to find words that had been left out of other dictionaries. The group also wanted to focus on obsolete words, related words and determining earliest use, among other things. Shortly after forming the committee, they decided a comprehensive dictionary was needed and would include words in common use. The title of the work would be “A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles.”

Originally, the group planed for a four-volume, 6,400-page dictionary. It ended up being 10 volumes and 15,490 pages.

In 1878, Oxford University Press agreed to publish the dictionary. The first section of the dictionary was published on February 1, 1884, covering words from A to Ant in 352 pages. After it was determined that the project was taking too long, a second senior editor was hired to oversee other parts of the alphabet. Among those hired as researchers was J.R.R. Tolkien, who handled etymologies from waggle to warlock. After 10 years, 11 volumes had been published through the letter E. The final fascicle, the 125th, was published on April 19, 1928. In 1933, the first supplement was published. Four more supplements followed in 1972, 1976, 1982 and 1986 before a second edition was published in 1989. The second edition is 20 volumes and 21,730 pages. Two volumes of additions have followed since.

Work on a third edition is underway and is expected to be completed in 2037. According to the CEO of Oxford University Press, it’s unlikely that the third edition will be published in book form and will exist only in electronic form.

Our question: Who is the most quoted writer in the Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition?

Today is National Freedom Day in the United States, in observance of the signing of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution which banned slavery. It’s also National Baked Alaska Day, Car Insurance Day and National Serpent Day. It’s the birthday of film director John Ford, actor Clark Gable, writer Langston Hughes and singer Harry Styles from One Direction. (Insert sound of screaming girls here).

27 years ago in 1989, the year the second edition of the Oxford English Dictionary was published, the top song in the U.S. was “Two Hearts” by Phil Collins; the No. 1 movie was “Rain Man,” while “Sands of Time” by Sidney Sheldon topped the New York Times Bestsellers list.

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Peter Sellers as Dr. Strangelove. (Image via Wikimedia Commons)

Today is the 52nd anniversary of the release of Stanley Kubrick’s “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb.”

Here are a few things you may not have known about the film.

It was loosely based on the novel “Red Alert” by Peter George. The film is about an insane U.S. Air Force general named Jack D. Ripper who orders a nuclear strike against the Soviet Union, which he believes is using fluoridated water to poison what he calls the “precious bodily fluids” of Americans.

The code to recall the bombers is known only to Ripper, played by Sterling Hayden. Ripper’s executive officer, Group Captain Lionel Mandrake of the Royal Air Force, discovers that the Pentagon has not ordered the strike and tries to stop Ripper. Mandrake, played by Peter Sellers, is eventually locked in Ripper’s office.

Among the planes en route to the Soviet Union is a B-52 under the command of Major T.J. “King” Kong, played by Slim Pickens.

Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., the president, also played by Sellers, has called together his top military advisers. One of them, General Buck Turgidson, played by George C. Scott, attempts to convince the president into allowing the attack to happen, catching the Soviets off-guard. The president wants no part of a nuclear attack and calls the Soviet ambassador to the war room. Once there, the ambassador contacts the Soviet premier, who tells them about a doomsday device that the Soviets have activated, but hadn’t told the Americans about yet. The president’s scientific adviser, a wheelchair-bound former Nazi named Dr. Strangelove, once again played by Sellers, calls attention to the fact that having such a device is pointless if it is kept secret.

The U.S. Army arrives at the air base, eventually taking over the base, leading Ripper to kill himself rather than be tortured for the secret recall code. Mandrake identifies the code and relays the message to the Pentagon. All but one of the planes are recalled. Kong’s B-52 was damaged by a surface-to-air missile, which destroyed its radio. The president tells the Soviets the plane’s target, so they can shoot it down. However because of the damage, Kong has decided to bomb a closer target. As the plane approaches its target, the bomb bay doors fail to open. Kong, straddling the bomb, crimps two damaged wires together, opens the doors, rides the bomb to oblivion, and triggers the doomsday device.

Strangelove recommends gathering thousands of people in mineshafts to avoid the radiation, suggesting a 10:1 female-to-male ratio for a breeding program. Turgidson warns that the Soviets will do the same. The film ends when Strangelove stands from his wheelchair and says, “Mein Fuhrer, I can walk!” followed by a montage of nuclear explosions accompanied by the song “We’ll Meet Again” by Vera Lynn.

Originally Peter Sellers was supposed to play the role of Major Kong, in addition to Mandrake, President Muffley and Dr. Strangelove. He sprained an ankle, some say on purpose, to avoid playing Kong on the cramped airplane set.

The character of Dr. Strangelove was based on several real people, including rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, who had worked for the Nazis before being recruited to the United States after the war. Contrary to some claims, the character was not based on Henry Kissinger.

The original script called for the film to end with a pie fight in the war room. Kubrick later said that the farcical nature of the pie fight didn’t fit with the satirical tone he had intended.

The film earned more than $4 million in its initial release. It was nominated for four Academy Awards,

Space Shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after take-off on Jan. 28, 1986. (NASA photo via Wikimedia Commons)

Thirty years ago today, the space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff, killing the seven crewmembers aboard.

Here are some things you may not have known about the disaster.

The mission was originally scheduled to launch on January 22, but was delayed by the previous space shuttle mission which landed on January 18. Weather delays at landing sites and at Kennedy Space Center pushed the launch back to January 27. The scheduled launch that day was delayed by hatch problems and a stripped bolt. The weather forecast for January 28 was for unusually cold weather. The night before launch, the overnight low temperature was 18 degrees fahrenheit. The temperature warmed slightly on the morning of the launch, but was still below freezing. Up to that point, the coldest temperature for a space shuttle launch was 53 degrees fahrenheit.

Engineers from the contractors who built the shuttle and the solid rocket boosters were initially unsure whether the launch should proceed. Both groups reversed themselves for reasons that are unclear and gave the go-ahead for launch.

Onboard the Challenger that day was a crew of seven: commander Dick Scobee, pilot Michael J. Smith, mission specialists Ellison Onizuna, Judith Resnick and Ronald McNair and payload specialists Gregory Jarvis and Christa McAuliffe. McAuliffe was a social studies teacher from Concord, New Hampshire, selected to the crew as part of the Teacher in Space Project. Because of the increased interest in the mission brought by having a teacher onboard, thousands of schoolchildren across the country watched the launch live in their classrooms.

With 6.6 seconds remaining in the countdown the main engines of the shuttle ignited as planned. As the countdown hit zero, the solid rocket boosters fired lifting the shuttle and its massive fuel tank from the launch pad at Cape Canaveral. A little more than a half-second after liftoff, several puffs of dark gray smoke came from the right solid rocket booster. The last puff came about two seconds later. The smoke was later determined to be from the opening and closing of a joint in the booster rocket caused by failed O-ring gaskets. In a bit of good luck, aluminum oxides from the burned rocket fuel helped seal the joint temporarily.

The good luck ended there however. Wind shear caused the oxide seal to shatter allowing flame to pass through the failed joint. About 58 seconds after launch, a plume could be seen forming on the booster rocket. Two seconds later, flames could be seen. Four seconds later, the liquid hydrogen tank was breached by flame. At 72 seconds after liftoff, the external fuel tank failed creating a massive fireball. The shuttle itself began breaking up shortly afterward. The crew cabin, which was reinforced, survived the breakup and could be seen exiting the gas cloud.

It is likely that at least some of the crew survived the initial blast, as the unused air supply was consistent with the amount expected to have been consumed during the 2 minute, 45 second free fall to the Atlantic Ocean. It was also discovered that several switches had been moved from their usual launch positions, likely by pilot Michael J. Smith after the explosion.

An investigation following the disaster could not determine the cause of death of the crew, however it found that the forces during the “breakup were probably not enough to cause death or serious injury and that the crew possibly, but not certainly, lost consciousness due to a loss of cabin pressure.”

The cabin was found on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean on March 8, 1986.

From left to right, Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee, pose in front of Launch Complex 34 which is housing their Saturn 1 launch vehicle. (NASA photo via Wikimedia Commons)

On this date in 1967, three American astronauts died in a training accident on the launch pad in Florida.

Here are some things you may not have known about Apollo 1.

Following the successes of the Mercury and Gemini programs, the next step in landing a man on the moon was the three-man Apollo program. The astronauts chosen as the first crew for the Apollo program were Gus Grissom, one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts, Ed White, who had been the first American to walk in space, and rookie Roger B. Chaffee. Chaffee’s spot had originally been given to Donn F. Eisele, who was grounded after dislocating his shoulder during weightlessness training on board a training craft nicknamed a “vomit comet.”

Gus Grissom was born in Indiana in 1926. After serving in the Army Air Forces during the end of World War II, Grissom returned home an earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University in 1950. He reenlisted in the Air Force after graduating and served during the Korean War, flying 100 combat missions. In 1958 he was selected by NASA to be part of a preliminary group of pilots for the Mercury program. He was nearly disqualified when he was found to suffer from hay fever, but was allowed to continue once it was determined that there wasn’t any ragweed pollen in space.

Grissom was the second American in space in Liberty Bell 7. Grissom’s first space flight lasted 15 and a half minutes. After splashdown, the hatch cover exploded open filling the capsule with seawater. Grissom’s spacesuit also filled with water, but he was rescued. The capsule sank and wasn’t recovered until 1999.

Grissom became the first American to fly into space twice when he piloted Gemini 3 with John W. Young. It was the first manned Gemini mission. The mission lasted a little under five hours.

Ed White was born in Texas in 1930. He graduated from West Point in 1952 and served in the Air Force, stationed in West Germany. He narrowly missed qualifying for the U.S. Olympic team in the 400-meter hurdles. He was part of the second group of astronauts and was chosen to fly on Gemini 4. On that flight he was the first American to leave a space capsule. He enjoyed the experience so much that he had to be ordered to return to the capsule. A mechanical issue made it difficult to open and close the hatch door, which had to be latched to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere. The capsule and crew returned safely following a four-day mission.

Roger Chaffee was born in Michigan in 1935. He graduated with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Purdue. He served as a naval aviator, logging more than 2,000 hours in jet aircraft. He was part of the third group of astronauts and served on the ground as a capsule communicator for Ed White’s Gemini 4 mission.

On January 27, 1967, the crew was loaded into the spacecraft as part of a “plugs-out” test to see if the module would operate on internal power. The test was considered non-hazardous because the the vehicle was not fueled and all pyrotechnic systems were disabled. At 2:45 p.m., the hatch was closed and the cabin was filled with oxygen at 2 psi more than atmospheric pressure. At 6:31 p.m., one of the astronauts yelled “Hey!” or “Fire!.” Two seconds later, Chaffee reported a fire in the cockpit. Seven seconds later, a garbled transmission seemed to say “We’ve got a bad fire — Let’s get out .. We’re burning up.” The last communication ended a little less than 16 seconds after the first report of a fire. The fire caused the pressure inside the capsule to rise to 29 PSI which led the inner ...

Poster for the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France. (Image via Wikimedia Commons)

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On this date in 1924, the first Winter Olympics opened in Chamonix, France.

Here are some things you may not have known about the Winter Olympics.

The first Winter Olympics weren’t originally considered Olympics at all. Bowing to pressure from winter sports federations, the International Olympic Committee decided to hold what they called an “International Winter Sports Week” in association with the Summer Olympics that would be held in Paris later that year.

The winter sports week was actually 11 days and drew 250 athletes from 16 nations, competing in 16 events.

The first Winter Olympic gold medal was won by Charles Jewtraw of the United States in 500-meter speedskating.

Two traditional Winter Olympic sports had previously been held during the Summer Olympics. Figure skating was contested in the 1908 Olympics in London and the 1920 Games in Antwerp. Ice Hockey was also contested in Antwerp. This led to skater Gillis Grafstrom of Sweden and the Canadian hockey team defending Summer Olympic medals at the following Winter Olympics.

Norway and Finland tied for the most gold medals with four. Norway earned the most overall medals with 17. A total of 10 nations earned at least one medal with the United States finishing with one gold, two silvers and one bronze.

Germany was banned from competing in 1924 as a result of World War I.

In 1925, the IOC decided to create a separate Winter Olympics and the 1924 games were retroactively designated as the first Winter Olympics.

The next Winter Olympics were held in 1928 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The Winter Games were held every four years until 1992, except 1940 and 1944, which were canceled due to World War II. Starting in 1994, the Winter Olympics were rescheduled to occur in alternating even-numbered years opposite the Summer Olympics.

The next Winter Olympics will be held in 2018 in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Our question: What was the site of the first Winter Olympics held outside of Europe?

Today is Burns Night in Scotland and National Voters’ Day in India. It’s unofficially Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day, Macintosh Computer Day and National Opposite Day. It’s the birthday of writer Virginia Woolf, singer Etta James and runner Steve Prefontaine.

Five years ago in 2011, the top album in the U.S. was “Speak Now” by Taylor Swift; the No. 1 movie was “No Strings Attached,” while “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest” by Stieg Larsson topped the New York Times Bestsellers list.

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Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_Olympic_Games

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1924_Winter_Olympics

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_25

https://www.checkiday.com

http://www.biography.

A Macintosh 128K. (Image via Wikimedia Commons)On this date in 1984 the Apple Macintosh computer was introduced with a commercial during the Super Bowl.

Here are a few things you may not have known about Apple, the Macintosh and the iconic advertisement.

Apple was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne.

Let’s talk about Ronald Wayne for a minute

Because of the failure of an earlier business venture, Wayne decided to sell his share of the company back to Jobs and Wozniak for $800 shortly after it was founded. He later received $1,500 to forfeit any claims against Apple.

In the 1990s, Wayne sold his copy of the original Apple company agreement for $500. That agreement sold at auction in 2011 for $1.6 million.

He has said he doesn’t regret selling his share of the company, but does regret selling his copy of the agreement.

The first Apple computer went on sale in July 1976. The Apple II followed in April 1977 and the business-oriented Apple III came in 1980.

By 1982, Steve Jobs was leading a team that was creating a new computer with a graphical interface called the Lisa, named after his daughter. The Lisa, which cost $9,995 when it debuted in 1983, was a commercial flop. Also under development at the same time was the Macintosh. The Mac had the performance of the Lisa, with a much lower production cost and retail price of $1,995.

To launch the Macintosh, Apple planned a massive marketing push. Apple allowed journalists an inside look at the product’s creation. The company published an 18-page brochure in several magazines. But the centerpiece of the marketing push was the $1.5 million television commercial directed by Ridley Scott, who had already directed the feature films “Alien” and “Blade Runner.”

The commercial, called “1984” was an allusion to George Orwell’s novel of the same name, featuring the same dystopian future under a leader similar to “Big Brother.”

The commercial starts with an industrial setting with a line of people marching though a tunnel. A woman wearing the clothing of a track and field athlete runs into the scene wielding a large hammer as she is chased by four police officers. She runs toward a screen with the image of a big-brother figure giving a speech. As “Big Brother” says “We shall prevail” the runner throws her hammer at the screen, destroying it. A voice over then says, “On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like ‘1984.’”

The ad ran once nationally during Super Bowl 18 on CBS. It’s also ran in 10 other markets just before midnight on New Year’s Eve to qualify for 1983 advertising awards.

More than 125 million Macs have been sold since its debut.

Our question, in what city is Apple’s headquarters?

A DeLorean DMC-12 (Photo by jeremyg3030 via Wikimedia Commons)

On this date in 1981, the first DeLorean DMC-12 rolled off the production line.

Here are some things you may not have known about the car made famous as the time machine in “Back the the Future.”

Company founder John DeLorean was well known for his work at General Motors. He designed the Pontiac GTO, Firebird and Grand Prix, and the Chevy Vega. He was promoted to head the Chevrolet division and eventually was made Vice President of production of General Motors cars and trucks.

However, he didn’t fit the conservative mold of most General Motors executives and eventually parted ways with the company in 1973.

DeLorean formed the DeLorean Motor Company in 1975.

DeLorean had early investments from entertainers such as Johnny Carson, Roy Clark and Sammy Davis Jr. He also raised money by having car dealers buy shares in the company. This wasn’t enough money to start a car company from scratch, however.

DeLorean approached several governments with the promise of building the cars in their country in exchange for massive incentives and tax breaks. Places which expressed initial interest included Ireland and Puerto Rico. Eventually, DeLorean struck a deal with the British government to build the cars in then-economically depressed Northern Ireland.

DeLorean built six buildings to house his company on the outskirts of Belfast. Many of the workers were inexperienced, which led to quality issues, especially in early models.

The car, famous for its stainless steel shell and gull-wing doors was powered by a six-cylinder engine developed by Peugot, Renault and Volvo. The initial sticker price for the DMC-12 was $25,000, about $70,000 today.

The underpowered engine, lack of personalization options and less-than-sterling quality led to weaker-than-expected sales. This, combined with high costs and lousy exchange rates hurt the company’s cash flow.

A reorganization centered on a stock offering was derailed by U.S. government questions about the company’s viability. The British government refused to help further unless DeLorean found matching funds from private investors.

In an attempt to scrounge up private investment, John DeLorean became the target of an FBI sting operation focusing on drug traffickers. He was arrested in October 1982 on charges of conspiring to smuggle $24 million worth of cocaine into the United States. DeLorean was famously videotaped talking with undercover FBI agents about the drug deal. DeLorean was eventually acquitted, after it was revealed that the FBI agents originally approached him as legitimate investors.

However, the case permanently tarnished his reputation.

The DeLorean Motor Company went bankrupt in 1982 after producing just 9,000 vehicles.

John DeLorean retired to New Jersey, where he continued to fight legal cases regarding his company into the 1990s. In 1999, he declared personal bankruptcy and was evicted from his home. He died following a stroke in 2005 at the age of 80.

In 2007, a company that purchased the parts that remained following the bankruptcy announced it would sell like-new versions of the DMC-12 for $57,000.

Our question: What speed did the DeLorean in “Back to the Future” need to reach to travel through time?

Today is Flag Day in Quebec. It’s National Hug Day and National New England Clam Chowder Day. It’s the birthday of comedian Benny Hill, golfer Jack Nicklaus and singer Placido Domingo.

40 years ago in 1976, the top song in the U.S. was “I Write the Songs” by Barry Manilow; the No. 1 movie was “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,...