Money Out the Window
DECEMBER 31, 1695 - A window tax was imposed in England, causing many residents to brick up their windows to
avoid the tax. The tax was designed to be relative to the prosperity of the
taxpayer, but without the controversy that then surrounded the idea of income
tax. When the window tax was introduced, it consisted of two parts: a flat-rate
house tax of 2 shillings per house and a variable tax for the number of windows
above ten windows. Properties with between ten and twenty windows paid a total
of four shillings, and those above twenty windows paid eight shillings.
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Smell the Roses
JANUARY 1, 1902 - The first American college football bowl game, between Michigan and Stanford, was held in Pasadena, California as part of the Tournament of Roses Festival. Michigan was leading Stanford by a score of 49-0 when Stanford
quit in the third quarter. The game was so lopsided that for the next 15 years,
the Tournament of Roses officials returned to hosting other events such as chariot and ostrich races, instead of football. On New Year's Day 1916, football returned to
stay when Washington defeated Brown University in the first annual Rose Bowl.
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Drop the Ball
January 1, 1908 - The New Year Ball was dropped for
the first time at Times Square in New York City. The original ball was constructed with iron and wood
materials weighing 700 pounds and measuring 5 feet in diameter. It
was lit by 100, 25-watt bulbs. The ball was dropped one second after midnight.
During World War II, the dropping of the Ball was stopped due to wartime
lighting restrictions in case of enemy attack. Celebrants instead observed a
moment of silence at midnight,
followed by chimes. The current version of the ball weighs 11,875 pounds, measures12
feet in diameter and is covered in Waterford crystal. The Ball descends 77 feet over the course of
a minute, coming to rest at the bottom of its pole at 12:00 am.
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iHistory
JANUARY 3, 1977 - Apple Computer was incorporated by Steve Jobs
and Steve Wozniak. The company was started on April 1, 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne, but
when it was inc orporated, Wayne sold his share of the company back to Jobs and
Wozniak for $800. Apple's first product Apple I was just a motherboard, less than what is considered a personal computer
today, and sold for $666.66 ($2,500.00 in today's dollars). |
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"I want to put a ding in the universe. "
-- Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computer
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Heath is Reading
The Secret Servant by Daniel Silva
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