Thursday, March 28, 2024

Tidbits, March 14

Posted
Be fire safe

How discombobulated have you felt this week after losing just one hour of sleep due to Daylight Saving Time?

In addition to remembering to change your clocks, state and local fire officials are encouraging residents to change the batteries in their smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. If you haven't done it recently, now is as good a time as any.

"Smoke alarms most often fail because of missing, dead or disconnected batteries so maintenance is a simple, effective way to protect you and your family," said State Fire Marshal Charles M. Duffy in a news release.

Warnings from smoke alarms can provide those critical extra seconds people need to get out of their homes safely. Plan, discuss and practice escape routes with your household members. Being prepared and knowing what to do in the event of a fire can save lives.

For more information about fire safety, please visit the State Fire Marshal website at www.wsp.wa.gov/fire/firemars.htm.

This day in history

March 14 is a busy day in American and world history!

1629: A royal charter was granted to the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

1647: During the Thirty Years War, France, Sweden, Bavaria and Cologne signed a Treaty of Neutrality.

1743: The first town meeting was held in Boston at Faneuil Hall.

1794: The cotton gin was patented by Eli Whitney.

1891: The submarine Monarch laid telephone cable along the bottom of the English Channel to prepare for the first telephone links across the Channel.

1900: U.S. currency went on the gold standard with the ratification of the Gold Standard Act.

1901: Utah Governor Heber M. Wells vetoed a bill that would have relaxed restrictions on polygamy.

1903: The U.S. Senate ratified the Hay-Herran Treaty that guaranteed the U.S. the right to build a canal at Panama. The Columbian Senate rejected the treaty.

1914: Henry Ford announced the new continuous motion method to assemble cars. The process decreased the time to make a car from 12.5 hours to 93 minutes.

1923: President Warren G. Harding became the first president to file an income tax report.

1939: The Republic of Czechoslovakia was dissolved, soon to be occupied by the Nazis.

1943: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first president to fly in an airplane while in office.

1947: The U.S. signed a 99-year lease on naval bases in the Philippines.

1950: The FBI's "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" list made its debut.

1951: U.N. forces recaptured Seoul for the second time during the Korean War.

1958: Perry Como's single "Catch a Falling Star" became the first Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) gold record.

1964: A Dallas jury found Jack Ruby guilty of the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, who allegedly assassinated President John F. Kennedy.

1979: The Census Bureau reported that 95 percent of all Americans were married or would get married.

1989: Imported assault guns were banned in the U.S. under President George H.W. Bush.

1990: The Soviet Congress voted Mikhail Gorbachev into the newly-created and powerful position of president.
Opinion / Columnists

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here