Flying Platform. US Navy demonstrates its Flying Platform in 1955, a “flying skateboard” or “hover board” vehicle that uses a direct lift rotor aircraft, using contra-rotating ducted fans controlled by the pilot shifting his body weight around to tilt the platform. Although it looked like it could have been a massive development [and a great [...]
As Syria continues to burn and its citizens fight doggedly to rid themselves of Bashar Assad, here’s a look back at the country from the turn of the 20th Century. During this time, Syria was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire and was part of the Levant, an area which made up what is modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, [...]
A chance discovery by British Film Institute (BFI) curator Byrony Dixon has brought to light what is believed to be the earliest Dickens-inspired film, ‘The Death of Poor Joe.’ Thought to be the work of British filmmaker G.A. Smith, the minute-long silent film is based on an episode in Dickens’ novel ‘Bleak House’, and was filmed in [...]
From a collection of photographs produced by the L.M. Melander & Brother Company of Chicago between 1874 – 1889 depicting posed clichés, humorous situations and examples of the popular spirit photography genre of the time. Image credit.
What would be the effect upon me if gravity were removed, and removed it would be at a point some thousands of miles away from the moon?… This is certain: as I approach the moon I will have the sensation of falling headlong through space – a terrifying sensation, which it might be impossible to [...]
As boys throw stones from slingshots whirled around their heads, so a rotating catapult just patented will enable aircraft to take off from restricted areas, like the roofs of buildings. To a vertical pole that rotates at high speed is attached a long lever. This is pivoted to the pole at its top, while a [...]
Hughes was involved in a near-fatal aircraft accident on July 7, 1946, while piloting the experimental U.S. Army Air Force reconnaissance aircraft, the XF-11, over Los Angeles. An oil leak caused one of the contra-rotating propellers to reverse pitch, causing the aircraft to yaw sharply. Hughes tried to save the craft by landing it at [...]
Standing pertly on round bases, with a mallet hanging from one hand and a dinner gong from the other, these gay little figures will add a touch of color to your table. If desired, they can be mounted on large, square bases and used in restaurants and tea rooms to hold napkins and menus as [...]
Cecil H. Dill, of Traverse Coty, Michigan, an aspiring radio artist demonstrating his ability to render popular melodies by pressing his hands together. Dill modestly tells how he discovered his unusual talent.
Equally useful for the expert swimmer or the beginner, a new swimming pad is being introduced that does not interfere with the free movement of the arms. An air-filled rubber pad of triangular shape is held on the person’s chest and another on the back, both pads being attached to a belt that passes around [...]
Sigrid Schultz, former Chicago Tribune Berlin correspondent, presented her papers to the Wisconsin Historical Society in 1965. The collection included a heavy photo album, 15 by 13 inches, with one word on its grey cover — Angora. More tellingly — the cover also included the runic lightning flashes of the Nazi SS. The album is [...]
In 1912, William D. Boyce, the American businessman, explorer and founder of the Boys Scouts of America wrote of Rio in his book, Illustrated South America: A Chicago Publisher’s Travels and Investigations in the Republics of South America: The Bay of Rio de Janeiro has been the subject of poetic praise and description since it [...]
The bookmatch was patented in the 1890’s by John Pusey, a Pennsylvania patent lawyer, who sold the patent outright to the Diamond Match Co. in 1896. It soon became hugely popular as an advertising give away. The Diamond Match Company’s first big order, 10 million booklets for the Pabst Brewing Company, is said to have started [...]
Motorcyclists will appreciate a handy and inexpensive map holder which can be fastened to the handlebars of the machines, and is always in plain view. The road map is folded to show the route to be traveled and then inserted in the holder, which has a transparent celluloid cover. The rider thus has the map [...]
There is no longer any need to pity the “poor fish” because today there are fish with calling cards, fish doctors, surgeons, and dietitians, water-conditioned buses for fish, trout engineers and architects, fish elevators, modern rest rooms or pools for trout and home-coming days for wandering salmon. There are a few of the piscatorial wonders [...]
As Elon Musk strives for the creation of a permanent human presence on Mars on Mars, Popular Science Monthly, in their March issue from way back in 1954, laid out the steps which man would take as he set about constructing an outpost on the Red Planet. What followed was a scientific report describing: an amazing scheme [...]
