If Only They Could Have Known… France Tackles the Panama Canal…

August 22, 2022 by · Leave a Comment 

Today I happened upon a Frank Leslie’s Illustrated newspaper from February 14, 1880. On the front cover was a riveting image of Ferdinand Marie, Comte de Lesseps with his engineers in Panama right before the hard work to build the canal was to begin (see below). As I scanned the faces of the 23 men who joined him, I saw serious contemplation, enthusiasm, apprehension and perhaps a bit of excitement. What I didn’t see was horror, which is what seems to me was in the very near future.  Even glancing through this quick summary from Wiki …

” After two years of surveys, work on the canal began in 1882. However, the technical difficulties of operating in the wet tropics dogged the project. Particularly disastrous were recurrent landslides into the excavations from the bordering water-saturated hills, and the death toll from malaria and yellow fever. In the end, insufficient financial capital and financial corruption ended the project. The Panama Canal Company declared itself bankrupt in December 1888 and entered liquidation in February 1889.”

… I walked away shuddering at the thought of what must have been a fearsome scene. It seems fitting that these brave men are enshrined on the cover of a Leslie’s. Hopefully, I won’t be the only one who pauses to take notice…andexplore.

Snapshot 1798… Isaac Newton’s temperament…

May 10, 2018 by · Leave a Comment 

The following snapshot comes from the July 25, 1798 issue of The Weekly Register, London, England…

It’s amazing what one often finds buried in old newspapers…

June 22, 2017 by · Leave a Comment 

Flowers, leaves, photos, clumps of hair, historic trinkets… The list of what might be found buried within and among the inside pages of historic newspapers continues to foster our love for the collectible. The latest discovery? As we were scanning a September 22, 1880 issue of The Boston Investigator hoping to find a mention of Thomas Edison (which turned out to be successful), we noticed an article titled: “Strange Tribe Of Jews Discovered In The Caucasus”, which turned out to be quite interesting:

“A self-worth reality check… Isaac Newton edition”

May 22, 2017 by · Leave a Comment 

“How valuable am I?” “Am I indispensable?” “Will I be remembered when I’m gone?” Truth be told, if our value, degree of indispensability, and/or staying power in regards to remaining in the forefront of people’s minds is what determines our ultimate worth, we’re all in big trouble. This point was recently brought home when our staff discovered Isaac Newton’s burial report in a London Gazette dated March 30, 1727. As is typical, once discovered, we began to search the issues surrounding it for additional mentions of him, and quickly unearthed an article in the very next issue which hit us like a ton of bricks. By the time this follow-up issue went to print, Isaac Newton’s position and office had already been filled! No multi-week vigil. No adherence to mourning-etiquette before filling his shoes. No appreciation for his abundance of contributions to humanity through the claiming of his “space” as a memorial. No tour-bus route altered to include the very office where he likely pondered, explored, and then detailed some of the greatest thoughts of man. No! Within less than a week his position and office were filled, and life moved on. Quite sobering isn’t it. I don’t know about you, but this tandem of events reminds me of my own mortality, and the need for a worth which reaches beyond life’s veil.  Please “enjoy” both reports shown below.

Before there was the Chunnel…

February 22, 2016 by · Leave a Comment 

Blog-2-22-2016-English-Channel-BridgeFor over twenty years now the English Channel Tunnel, of the “Chunnel” has carried passengers, by train, between England and France. Although being the first such connection to come to fruition, it was not the first proposed.

Such a connection between England and the continent has been proposed since 1802 but none, obviously came to reality. The November 30, 1889 issue of “Scientific American reports on a bridge that was conceived as a viable effort, detailed in the article: “The Proposed Bridge Over The English Channel” and illustrated with a caption: “The Proposed Railway Bridge Between England and France.”

It is difficult to imagine the success of an elevated railway stretching over 30 miles, which might explain why this concept never became reality, but in hindsight it is interesting to perceive the vision of engineers over 100 years ago.

They put it in print… The floating soap surfaces…

April 27, 2015 by · Leave a Comment 

It’s interesting to find articles reporting the very beginning of some of the more commonplace items in present-day life, but which were given little consequence at the time. A good example is a rather inconspicuous article in an April 1, 1882 issue of “Scientific American.

Blog-4-29-2015-Ivory-SoapTitled simply “Floating Soap”, the article includes: “…the peculiarity of the soap they were using. When one of the men had soaped himself he would drop the soap into the water and it would ‘bob up serenely from below’ like a cork, ready for the next man to pick it up…The soap was called ‘ivory’, presumably on account of being of a creamy white color like ivory…We are pleased to note that Messrs. Proctor and Gamble, of Cincinnati, have at last discovered how to make a soap that will float & at the same time be durable & serviceable, & reasonably cheap.”

Ivory soap remains today–some 133 years later–a very common product on store shelves around the world. And it still floats.

Great Headlines Speak For Themselves… Salk’s Vaccine!

May 16, 2014 by · Leave a Comment 

The best headlines need no commentary. Such is the case with the Journal American, April 12, 1955: “Salk’s Vaccine Works!”Vaccine for Polio Joseph Salk

A marvelous development in engineering (?)…

August 8, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 

Sometimes the simple reports we find in newspapers lead to a much more fascinating back story than was anticipated. Such was the case with an interesting report in The Cleveland Leader” of May 17, 1875, which contained a very lengthy & detailed article headed: “A Wonderful Discovery!” “A New Motor!” “The Days of Steam Probably Numbered”. Not knowing of any new motor created in the 1870’s I did some exploring and learned much about Mr. John Keely and the great hoax he perpetrated on the public.

See the hyperlink on Mr. Keely for the full story along with the following: