Looking Back…
1909
; IDEA was founded as National
District Heating Association.
; The Anglo-Persian Oil Co. was incor-
porated following the discovery of a
large oil field in Masjed Soleiman,
Iran. It was the first company to use
Middle East oil reserves.
; One barrel of crude oil
was 70 cents ($17.11
in 2008 dollars).
; The first wireless press
message is sent from
New York City to Chicago.
; Nikola Tesla filed a patent for a
turbine pump that used
smooth rotating disks
inside a volute casing.
Tesla’s novel method of
fluid propulsion was
based on two basic
principles of physics:
adhesion and viscosity.
; Only 11 states require automobile
operators to have driver’s licenses.
; Congress submits to the states a
constitutional amendment allowing a
federal income tax.
; The value of a field goal in football is
reduced from four to three points.
1934
; Franklin Delano
Roosevelt is the
U.S. president.
; U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission is
established.
; National Housing Act of 1934
created the Federal Housing
Administration.
1959
; Dwight D.
Eisenhower is
U.S. president.
; Castro takes over
Cuba.
; U.S. unemployment reaches
1. 4 million.
; Alaska admitted to the Union in
January.
; Hawaii admitted to the Union in
August.
; Pan Am
begins regular
flights around
the world.
; Charles Richter
and Beno Gutenberg develop the
Richter magnitude scale for quantify-
ing earthquakes.
; NASA names first seven astronauts
for Project Mercury.
; Popular songs include By the Light of
the Silvery Moon and Put on Your Old
Grey Bonnet.
; King Alexander of Yugoslavia and
French Foreign Minister Louis
Barthou were assassinated in France.
; Ford Motor
Company’s
Model T
celebrates its
first anniversary.
; The cost of a first-
class stamp is
3 cents.
; Half of U.S. homes
have radios.
