On this Day in History: 26th August

[Anarcho-Socialist]

On this Day in History: 26th August

2004: (Cannibalism, Britain) The Daily Mirror ran an exposé alleging that Margaret Thatcher had killed her husband Dennis with hammers, and had eaten his fresh entrails along with close family and friends.

1994: (International relations, Britain) On a state visit to Britain, Russian President Boris Yeltsin vomits over Prince Philip after an overnight vodka binge.

1964: (Geographical alignment, Britain) A freak blustery storm causes the county of Cornwall to detach from the rest of Britain and float helplessly towards Newfoundland. The pulling-power of 523 tugboats and several lassoed seals helped Britain to recover and reattach the wayward province by 1972.

1959: (Constitutional Affairs, U.S.A.) New Snowyville was admitted to the Union as the 49th state by President Dwight Eisenhower. The state changed its name to Alaska the following year in a state-wide ballot. This reflected the growing popularity of the Baked Alaska dish, which was consumed three times a day by all Americans until the late 1960s.

1906: (Technology, U.S.A.) Respected innovator Thomas Edison invents the bugle, believing Americans needed more leisurely things to do with the lights on.

1905: (Court intrigue, Vatican City) Pope Pius X declares war on San Marino. The war continues to this day as a stalemate.

421: (War & pillage, Italy) Tribes of Saxons and Vandals sack Rome.

[non sociopath skin]

1. Interesting that Edison invented the bugle in exactly the same year...

... that Adolphe Sax invented the Sousaphone.

The entry also got me to musing over my morning bowl of yak-tail soup on the debt which we owe to Edison.

As I recollect, his inventions included:

The trouser-turn up
The cardboard shoe-box
Cardboard shoes
The inflatable contralto (indispensable to small opera-houses everywhere)
The automatic pilot (seven years before the invention of the aeroplane - what a forward-thinker the man was!)
The tank-top
The top
The tank
Potted meat
The Treadmill
Stonehenge

Frankly, it's difficult to imagine what the world would have been like without him...

Can anyone add to the list?

The Skin

[moggie]

2. Other Edison inventions

He invented the patent system, of course. So, indirectly, we have him to thank for Special and General Relativity, since if it hadn't been for the Swiss patent office, Einstein would have continued his career in the sex industry. Edison also invented the pornograph, but that was suppressed by the government.

His rivalry with Nicola Tesla is well known, but they later patched that up and married. This was later commemorated when his great-grandson, Malcolm Young, founded the band AC/DC.

Interestingly, Edison's name was originally Thomas Alva. He suffered greatly at school for having a "girly name", so changed his name at the age of 21, adopting "Edison" after his father, Eddie Alva.

[non sociopath skin]

3. It is, of course, to the Edison-Tesla family's interest in family planning

... that we owe the "Tesla coil," although there are still those who claim that as an intra-uterine device, it can be a little unwieldy and dangerous.

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://albachten.com/rudy/bobs_tesla_coil/&h=596&w=892&sz=67&tbnid=CO53VbdKGnkJ:&tbnh=96&tbnw=145&hl=en&start=2&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2BTesla%2BCoil%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26sa%3DN

The Skin