Tag: entertainment

October 25th – Breaking News in 1955

by annemariedemyen, posted in News & Views - October 2021

Being at a loss for anything newsworthy today, I flashed back to the news headlines of 1955. See here.

1955 was a very prolific year, news wise. According to The People’s History website, these were some of the top headlines.

  • The St. Laurence Seaway opens
  • Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat for a white passenger
  • The first McDonald’s was erected
  • TV dinners, featuring fish sticks, went to market
  • James Dean killed in auto accident in California
  • Coca Cola, previously available in bottles only, was now sold in cans
  • The average minimum wage in the USA reached $1.00 per hour
  • 7 out of 10 US families owned a car
  • USS Nautilus, the first nuclear powered submarine, was launched
  • The original Salk polio vaccine was introduced
  • The Mickey Mouse Club debuted
  • California Disneyland opened
  • The Baghdad Pact was formed to unite the Middle East
  • The Warsaw Pact was formed to unite eight Communist countries
  • USA begins involvement in the Vietnam conflict
  • Great Britain declared a State of Emergency due to National Rail Strike
  • Great Britain also affected by winter storms causing road and rail problems for food and medical supplies deliveries
  • Inventions of 1955: Pocket transistor radios, atomically generated power, Hovercraft, Lego, Velcro, polyurethane

1955 saw Rock and Roll hit a frenetic pace with the likes of Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, and the Platters. Families gathered around their television sets to watch the debut of shows like Gunsmoke, Lassie, and The Lone Ranger. Theatres were packed for the showing of hits such as Oklahoma, Rebel Without a Cause, To Catch a Thief, and The Seven Year Itch.

1955 celebrated the arrival of Whoopi Goldberg, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Bruce Willis, Kris Jenner and Yours Truly. That is right, my mother gave birth to me in July 1955 as the parish priest filled the hospital with his live and apparently very loud rendition of Bill Haley’s ‘Rock Around The Clock’ – the Number One hit in the USA at the time.

Me & my Mom

That’s it for today, folks!

Take care and have a great evening! 💞

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Day 26 – Electronic Innovation

by annemariedemyen, posted in Accentuate the Positive - June 2021

This is Day 26 of my ‘Accentuate the Positive’ challenge.   Today I am going to put the accent on the electronic tools and toys in our lives.

Back in the days when my boss traded in our adding machine for a calculator, when another boss added a fax machine to our office equipment, and even when my (then) two year old grandson swiped my new iPod Touch to watch You Tube cartoons under his blanket, I knew I was on a steep learning curve.  I had no idea how steep the curve could get – or how much our lives would be altered by electronic innovations.

Electronic tools that keep us feeling well – and confident that we are indeed so!
And some to take care of us from fingers to toes.
There is nothing manual on our Jeep.  We didn’t even know we had a key for it until Jen showed me there was one hidden in the keyfob. 
Electronics to keep us in touch and informed.
This is one of the older examples of electronic equipment in our kitchen but it has a special place in my heart.  Everytime I use it, I am reminded of the morning that I taught my Dad how to make easy peasy real oatmeal.  
What’s a home without television, satellite, and an electronic fire (which gets surprisingly warm).
Nothing escapes electronic innovation, not even our garden.  From tools to turtle riding gnomes, they are there for us to use and enjoy.

Today, electronics in business have advanced even further than those in our homes. What started off with a calculator for me, morphed into computers, scanners, accounting packages, electronic planrooms, and the rest – not to mention all of the electronic tools that have made there way into the production department.

Our lives in business and at home have been irrevocably changed by electronic innovations. Sometime the challenges they present can be a little daunting or frustrating, but all in all, the good outweighs the bad. When it comes to electronics, we have a lot to appreciate and enjoy. 😉

That is it for today! Twenty-six days down and only four more to go!

I hope you enjoy your electronically enhanced day today! See you tomorrow.