Feeding the Meter
July 16, 1935 - The world's first parking meter was
installed in Oklahoma City. The parking meter was invented
by Carl Magee, a member of the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce Traffic Committee.
Magee had been assigned the task of solving the parking problems in downtown area
caused by people parking on the street all day long. By charging for the use of
parking spaces the city not only encouraged turn-over in the availability but also found a new revenue source. You can view newsreel footage of the new parking meters here.
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The Nazi Bible
July 18, 1925 - Adolf Hitler published the first volume
his personal manifesto Mein Kampf (translation: My Struggle). Hitler began the dictation of the book while he was
serving a five year prison sentence for his involvement in a failed revolutionin November 1923. The book combines elements of autobiography with an
exposition of Hitler's political ideology, in which he describes the Germanic
people as a master race destined to rule Europe.
Hitler also expressed his belief that there was a Jewish conspiracy to control
the world. While Hitler expressed anti-Semitic views in the book, he did not
advocate murdering Jews, but rather stripping them of their German citizenship
and forcing them to leave the country. Scholars believe the idea of a Jewish genocide
was not developed until 1940. Today it is illegal to publish Mein Kampf in Germany and many other European
nations, although it is not unlawful to own a copy.
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Breaking the Code
 July 19,
1799 - The Rosetta Stone was discovered in an Egyptian village by a member
of the French Army during Napoleon's Egyptian Campaign. The stone -- measuring 3 feet 9 inches long, 2 feet 4.5 inches wide and 11 inches thick -- provided the key to translating ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphics.
The text on the stone is that of a decree issued under King Ptolemy V, which
required his subjects to worship him as a god. The decree was written in three
distinct bands of writing, Egyptian Hieroglyphics, Egyptian Demotic Script and
Greek. Linguists' knowledge of Greek and Egyptian Demotic Script enabled the
translation of the hieroglyphics. The French troops that discovered the stone
were subsequently defeated by the British, who carried the stone back to London were it has been
on display at the British museum since 1802.
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Mistaken Identity
July 21, 1973 -
Ahmed Bouchiki, a
Moroccan citizen working as a waiter in Lillehammer, Norway, was killed by a
team of Israeli agents who mistook Bouchiki for Ali Hassan Salameh, one of
the leaders of Black September, a militant Palestinian organization that murdered
11 members of the Israeli Olympic team during the 1972 Munich Olympics.
After the Munich massacre Israeli Prime Minister Golda
Meir authorized an operation to assassinate members of Black September
responsible for the attack. The Lillehammer
affair proved to be an embarrassment for Israel when the agents involved in
the botched assassination were arrested before they could leave the country. Ali
Hassan Salameh was killed six years later by a car bomb planted by another
group of Israeli agents.
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"Standing by a parking meter, When I caught a glimpse of Rita, Filling in a ticket in her little white book. In a cap she looked much older, And the bag across her shoulder Made her look a little like a military man."
The Beatles - Lovely Rita, Meter Maid
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T.R.: The Last Romantic
by H.W. Brands
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