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1513 - Vasco Núñez de Balboa became the first European to see the eastern shore of the Pacific Ocean and return to tell about it.

1775 - Ethan Allen was captured by the British and forced to sit out the rest of the Revolutionary War.

1789 - Congress sent the Bill of Rights to the states.

This may have been the most precarious moment in U.S. history since the end of the Revolutionary War. Its importance cannot be overemphasized.

1926 - Henry Ford established a 40-hour 5-day work week.

At that time, workers commonly worked 12 hours 6 days a week for wages as low as $2 a day.

Ford was a strange character. Vehemently anti-union, anti-communist, anti-war and even leaning toward fascism, he unilaterally gave labor more than it dared to ask for.

1956 - The first trans-Atlantic telephone cable went into service.

I had not known until today that trans-Atlantic telephone service came into being so late. Before that, only telegrams and shortwave radio were available.

1957 - U.S. Army troops escorted black children to Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, enforcing the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision.

1981 - Sandra Day O'Connor was sworn in as the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

- Jim

seamusTX wrote: 1956 - The first trans-Atlantic telephone cable went into service.

I had not known until today that trans-Atlantic telephone service came into being so late. Before that, only telegrams and shortwave radio were available.

1957 - U.S. Army troops escorted black children to Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, enforcing the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision.

we have come a long way in just 50 years . on both accounts .

No kidding.

For all of human history until the 1830s, information traveled no faster than a galloping horse or clipper ship (about 10 MPH). By 1900, the speed of light was the only limit. I remember not so long ago that international phone calls cost more than $1 a minute. Now I have a cell phone on my hip that can reach out to anyone in the world whose number I know (and whose language I speak) at a trivial rate.

Then we have e-mail.

The acceleration of communications and transportation have been a theme in my "This day in history" messages. I think no other factor has been as significant in the past two centuries.

As for racial integration, I don't need to comment further.

- Jim

when i was a lad , it was a big deal to make or receive a long distance call .
everyone would whisper ..shhhh , its long distance .

i remember my dad speaking loudly as if the greater distance meant he had to do so .
and i'm only talkin about a few hundred miles .

USA1 wrote:when i was a lad , it was a big deal to make or receive a long distance call .

Same here. We got maybe one a year, and it usually meant someone had died.

- Jim

Computer voice and video chats have gotten pretty good, too; and they're absolutely free after your Internet connection is paid for.

I work with people on the East Coast. We use it all the time in preference to the phone.

- Jim

Russell wrote: home phone

whats a "home phone"

USA1 asked, "what is a house phone"? ... That is the one some people call the "Land Line".

In 1984, I married a girl from Zagreb. We called her mother at least every other week. The only phone company to make
connections from Texas to Zagreb was AT&T. It cost $.85 per minute. Over the next few years, it rose to $1.25 per minute.
And then we discovered calling cards (MCI IIRC). Calling cards cost $.25 per minute (I thought I was saving money!). More
recently, I have subscribed to one of the voip providers (http://www.voipstunt.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) and it is now $.025 per minute.

I had 2 landlines ... Ike taught me that I can do quite well without. and haven't bothered to reconnect. I can't think of a good reason to get a landline anymore. Might get a voip line someday though.

Liberty wrote:I had 2 landlines ... Ike taught me that I can do quite well without. and haven't bothered to reconnect. I can't think of a good reason to get a landline anymore. Might get a voip line someday though.

Everybody's situation is different. I tried three different mobile carriers and none had a usable signal at my home. I got a land line and DSL bundled for the same price as dry loop DSL. (That one is a head scratcher, I admit.) The DSL bundle is cheaper than comparable speed cable modem service.

snorri wrote:

Liberty wrote:I had 2 landlines ... Ike taught me that I can do quite well without. and haven't bothered to reconnect. I can't think of a good reason to get a landline anymore. Might get a voip line someday though.

Everybody's situation is different. I tried three different mobile carriers and none had a usable signal at my home. I got a land line and DSL bundled for the same price as dry loop DSL. (That one is a head scratcher, I admit.) The DSL bundle is cheaper than comparable speed cable modem service.

I had DSL, but I moved in quickly and I really wanted cable so I switched my Internet to cable. To be honest I would much rather deal with ATT than Comcast. My point was, that after 9 months without a landline we got used to it and it just didn't seem as important as it once did. Before Ike not having a land would have seemed irresponsible to me.

We have a land line simply because the alarm company requires one (or a VERY expensive wireless upgrade) for the monitoring.

I hate Comcast with a passion and we use Verizon DSL. We bundled it all togehter with the TV and cell phone service. It works fine for us.