Riding in an elevator used to be dangerous business — until Elisha Otis, of Otis Elevator Company fame, invented a device that could prevent a passenger elevator from falling if its rope broke. It debuted precisely 160 years ago at the E.V. Haughwout and Company store in Manhattan on March 23, 1857. (time.com)
James Brendan Patterson is an American author and philanthropist. Among his works are the Alex Cross, Michael Bennett, Women's Murder Club, Maximum Ride, Daniel X, NYPD Red, Witch and Wizard, and Private series, as well as many stand-alone thrillers, non-fiction, and romance novels.
Charles Ponzi was an Italian swindler and con artist who operated in the U.S. and Canada. His aliases include Charles Ponci, Carlo, and Charles P. Bianchi. Born and raised in Italy, he became known in the early 1920s as a swindler in North America for his money-making scheme.
The famously arty neighborhood of the ’70s and ’80s has evolved into one of New York City’s prime shopping districts. SoHo (an acronym for South of Houston Street) still features galleries, though these days the work within them tends toward the more high-end commercial—matching the luxury boutiques and independent-designer outposts that characterize the area.
The United States Three Cents is an unusual denomination that first appeared in 1851. The original purpose of the Three Cents coins to provide an intermediate denomination between the Cent and Half Dime, making it easier to change some of the odd foreign coins that were legal tender in America at that time.
Neil Postman was an American author, educator, media theorist and cultural critic, who eschewed technology, including personal computers in school and cruise control in cars,[1] and is best known for twenty books regarding technology and education, including Amusing Ourselves to Death (1985), Conscientious Objections (1988), Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology (1992), The Disappearance of Childhood (1982) and The End of Education: Redefining the Value of School (1995).
Bryan Lee Cranston is an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for portraying Hal in the Fox sitcom Malcolm in the Middle, Walter White in the AMC crime drama series Breaking Bad, and Dr. Tim Whatley in the NBC sitcom Seinfeld.
Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the east, and the Hudson River to the west.
Porky Pig is an animated character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. The character was introduced in the short I Haven't Got a Hat (first released on March 2, 1935), directed by Friz Freleng.
Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality, and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during the Big Band era.