Ida May Fuller was born on a farm near Ludlow, Vermont back in 1874. She attended school in Ludlow then in 1905 she worked as a school teacher before becoming a legal secretary. She spent most of her life in the Ludlow area. She filed a claim for her retirement in 1939 dropping it by the Rutland Social Security Office. Her claim was taken the Claims Clerk, Elizabeth Corcoran Burke and transmitted to the Claims Division in Washington, D.C. for adjudication. What you may not know about Ida is that she was the first person to receive a Social Security check. While she only paid $24.75 into the system she received a check for $22.54 for the remainder of her lifetime for a total of $22,888.92. Of course, living to be 100 helped her.She died in Brattleboro, Vermont in 1975.Your day is worthwh... 02/07/2020

Joseph Friedman was born in Cleveland, Ohio back in 1900. At just fourteen years old he invented the lighted pencil. Over the course of his career he held at least nine US Patents also holding patents in Great Britain, Australia and Canada. His first patent was on improvement to the fountain pen, which he sold to the Shaffer Pen Company in mid 1930’s.During the times when he wasn’t inventing anything he worked as a real estate agent. He died in 1982, he was 81.What you may not know about Joseph B. Friedman is that what he is most noted for was for the Flexible Straw. On June 1969, he sold his patent to the Maryland Cup Corporation for an undisclosed amount of money. Just FYI, I have some in my kitchen, what a great invention.Your day is worthwhile when you make someone smile, so give th... 01/29/2020

Samuel Fraunces was born circa 1722/23 in the West Indies however, his true place of birth is unknown. The first documentation of Samuel was in New York City in 1755 where he was registered as a British subject and Inn Holder. In 1776, he was issued a tavern license. From 1758-62 he operated the Free Mason’s Arms Tavern.He purchased the tavern renaming it the Queen’s Head Tavern. In addition to beverages he offered fixed-price dinners, catering and sold preserved items like bottled soups, ketchup, nuts and pickled fruits and vegetables. he left for a brief time moving to Philadelphia but returned to New York City. He continued operations throughout the Revolutionary War, claiming he was a spy for the American side, however that has never been proven. From 1776-83 he proved for prisoners... 01/24/2020

Robert Francis Flemming Jr. was born in Baltimore, Maryland back in 1839 to Robert Sr. and Mary Jane. In 1850, the family moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts. He worked as a marble cutter when he enlisted in the United States Navy in 1863. His first posting was aboard the USS Wyoming where he saw action at the Naval battle of Shimonoseki.He was aboard the USS Housatonic with the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. He was standing watch when he noticed something, he notified the officer of the guard who dismissed it as a “Queer-looking lot,” he told the officer to look again as it was headed their way at a high rate of speed, by then it was too late. The Confederate States Navy’s secret weapon the submarine H.L. Hunley. The USS Housatonic was the first naval ship to be sunk by a submarine.... 01/05/2020

Charles Fenerty was born circa 1821, although his true date of birth is unknown in Upper Sackville, Nova Scotia. During the winter months, he would help his father, a lumberman and farmer. He would help clear-cut the local forests for lumber, transporting those to the family’s lumber mill at Springfield Lake.   The lumber was then shipped to the Halifax dockyards where it was exported.At 17 he wrote his first known poem “The Prince’s Lodge” published in 1888. While he helped transport the lumber to Halifax he would often stop and watch the paper mills make paper from pulped rags, cotton and other plant fibers, that technique was used for nearly 2000 years.He was a well-known poet of his time, publishing more than 35 known poems. He died in 1892 at his home in Lower Sackville, Nova Scoti... 12/12/2019

James Leonard Farmer Sr. was born in Kingstree, South Carolina back in 1886 to Carolina and Lorena. He had limited schooling in Georgia and Florida. Even at that he was granted a scholarship to Boston University earning his bachelor, masters of theology and doctoral degrees.After graduation, he had a dual career as a minister and an academic. He was an ordained minister with the Methodist Episcopal Church. He taught at the Huston-Tillotson and Wiley colleges in Texas; Rust College in Mississippi and Howard University in Washington, D.C. from 1939-1946. He returned to Texas as the dean of Huston until his retirement in 1956. He died in 1961.What you may not know about James is that he was the first African-American Texan to earn a doctorate.Your day is worthwhile when you make someone sm... 12/02/2019

Robert Brown Elliott was born in Liverpool, England back in 1842. He graduated from High Holborn Academy in London, then graduating from Eton College in 1859 with a law degree. After graduation, he joined the British Royal Navy before deciding to settle in South Carolina in 1867. He was admitted to the South Carolina bar in 1868. He helped organize the local Republican Party and served in the state constitutional convention as a delegate from the Edgefield district. He was appointed assistant adjutant-general then the commanding general of the South Carolina National Guard. He helped form a state militia to fight the Ku Klux Klan. In 1871, he was elected to the Forty-Third United States Congress. He delivered a notable speech on the Bill to Enforce the Provisions of the Fourteenth Amend... 11/08/2019

Johanna Gabrielle Edinger was born in Frankfort, Germany back in 1897. After graduating from Schiller-Schule she continued her education at the University of Heidelberg and the University of Munich receiving her degree in zoology. In 1921, she received her doctorate in zoology. She worked at the Geological-Paleontological Institute in Frankfort.From 1927-1938, she worked as the curator at the Senckenberg Museum. In 1939, she moved to London to avoid the Holocaust. In 1940, she again moved to the United States settling in Massachusetts where she worked at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology. Due to her hearing loss, she had to resign. She died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, she was 69.What you may not know about Johanna “Tilly” Edinger is that she was the founder of paleoneurology. P... 10/30/2019

John Van Nostrand was born in Newark, New Jersey back in 1872. Sorry, but I don’t have any information about him until he started working for Thomas Edison. He attended Rutgers University obtaining a B.S. in chemistry in 1894.One of his major contributions was the development of the “classifier”. It’s a machine which is used for the separation and chemical treatment of fine solids suspended in liquid. You can find his invention which is used for the treatment of sewage and water purification. While his invention has been improved the basic concept is still in use to this day.Another idea came to him in the early 1950’s. He postulated that at night when it was raining, snowing or fog impaired one’s vision it was due to the people using the white lines painted in the middle of the highway... 10/07/2019

Bryan Donkin was born in Northumberland, England back in 1768. His father was a surveyor, he started out in the same business, but in 1789 to 1791, he worked as a bailiff at Knole House. His dream was to be an engineer, so he apprenticed under John Hall, completing is apprenticeship in 1785. By 1820, he was the director of the Thames Tunnel Company, he supplied pumps for removing water from the tunnel. He regularly supplied machinery for civil engineering projects. There is so much more I can write about him, but this post would be the largest one written, so I’ll cut right to the chase.What you may not know about Bryan is that he developed the first paper making machine, before then all paper was made by hand, and created the world’s first commercial canning factory. He died in 1855, h... 10/04/2019

Charles-Louis Didelot was born in Stockholm, Sweden back in 1767.   His father Charles was the dance master to the King of Sweden. He studied in Paris with Jean Dauberval before moving to London to study with Jean-Georges Noverre in 1788.In 1801, at the invitation of the Russian Imperial ballet he arrived in Saint Petersburg to be the director of the Imperial Theatres and a dancer.   His dancing career ended in 1806 following an accident. He died in Kiev in 1837 he was 70.What you may not know about Charles is that he was the creator/inventor of the ballet shoes. In his time at Kiev he delivered 40 full ballets raising the Russian ballet to unprecedented heights. Your day is worthwhile when you make someone smile, so give the free gift of a smile today 09/23/2019

George Dawson was born in Marshall, Texas back in 1898, the first of five children of a farmer’s son and grandson and great-grandson to African-American slaves. He worked at a saw mill to help support his large family. When he turned 21 he traveled throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico.After 9 years he returned home to find his family had moved, no one knew where they had moved and he never saw them again. He married Elzenia and moved to Dallas, Texas where he worked for the city road department. In 1938, he began working on a dairy farm where he stayed until his retirement at 65. He died in 2001, at 103.What you may not know about George is that he is called “America’s favorite poster child for literacy”. He could not read until he was 98 years young. After learning to read he studied... 09/08/2019

Arthur Llewelyn was born in Kirkby, Lonsdale, England back in 1863 to John and Mary. He attended Marlborough College before going to Trinity College, Cambridge. After graduation, he taught at Eton College but left to practice law. In 1889, he met Sylvia and they were engaged shortly after. They were married in 1892, the union produced five children all of them boys. During his preschool two of his sons George and Jack met James. The three became close friends where James would stay at their home and go on outings. James and his wife were childless so they enjoyed the boys that much more. In 1906, Arthur noticed a growth on his cheek which turned out to me a malignant sarcoma. He had two operations which removed much of his upper jaw and cheekbone. He died a year later, he was 44.What yo... 09/03/2019

John Bacon was born in Hampden, Maine back in 1827. Sorry but I don’t have any information as to who his parents were, so like always I do have the rest of the story. In 1848, he moved to Bangor, Maine. Later that same year on top of a Franklin stove me mixed some ingredients up and made his first batch. He traveled to Portland and after three days had made only one sale. Not deterred in 1850, he became a traveling salesman. In his first year, he made $6,000.00. The next year he expanded travelling westward to Ohio, Minnesota and Missouri. He is considered to the one of the first if not the very first commercial sales broker. Apparently, his determination paid off as he had a factory built that was three stories high, employing 200 people. Having built a successful business, he went int... 08/22/2019

James Johan Cummings was born in Youngstown, Ohio back in 1952. The family moved to New Orleans, Louisiana where he attended the Immaculate Conception and St. Columba grade schools graduating in 1970. You could find him designing and painting Mardi Gras floats. He also worked as a deck hand on a river boat and played drums in the rock band, Fusion.He married and moved to Anaheim, California where he managed a video store in the early 1980’s. Don’t know how it happened but he started his voice actor career in 1988. As they say the rest is history. While you may not recognize the name of James Johan Cummings you’re surely recognize the voices that he is still to this day using. So, let’s name a few shall we. Winnie the Poo, Tigger, the Tasmanian Devil, Darkwing Duck. So, if you recognize ... 08/18/2019

Lucien Stephen Crandall was born in Broome County, New York back in 1844. He enlisted in the American Civil War where he served as a private for three years. He survived twelve major battles without injury. After the war, he was a salesman for James Densmore and George W. Yost.Soon after going to work for them he received a patent (more on that in a moment), he assigned half of his patent to Densmore and Yost. He was granted another patent in 1879 and another one in 1881. Of course, those are still utilized today, except they are on computers. He died in 1889, he was 44-45, just imagine what he could have done had he lived longer.What you may not know about Lucien is that he invented the first practical typewriter. He also invented the first typist shifted use of the “CAPS” key. He adde... 08/10/2019

R. Adams Cowley was born in Layton, Utah back in 1917. Sorry but I don’t have any information on him until 1940. Graduating from the University of Utah in 1940, he continued his education at the University of Maryland School of Medicine graduating in 1944. After his year’s internship and another year of surgical residency he was sent to Europe as a military surgeon.Upon being discharged he returned to the University of Maryland as a Professor of Thoracic Surgery. Again, I could not find out much until he did something in 1959. He died in 1991, he was 74.What you may not know about Dr. Cowley is that he is called the “Father of Trauma Medicine.” He was the founder of the United States’ first trauma center at the University of Maryland in 1958. He was the creator of the term the “Golden H... 08/06/2019

Catherine Marie Cortez was born in Las Vegas, Nevada back in 1964 to Joanna and Manny. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Nevada, Reno in 1986. She continued her education earning a J.D. from Gonzaga University School of Law in 1990.She married Paul who was a former Special Agent with the United States Secret Service. She was a civil attorney in Las Vegas and served two years as a criminal prosecutor in Washington, D.C. What you may not know about Catherine Marie Cortez Masto is that she is a United States Senator from Nevada. Prior to her winning the election she served as the 32nd Attorney General of Nevada. She is the first Latina and the first woman elected to serve in the United States Senate from Nevada. With the retirement of Dean... 08/03/2019

Donald Cortez was born in Chicago, Illinois back in 1936. He graduated from DuSable High School in 1954. After graduation, he joined the United States Marine Corps where he served 18 months in Korea. After being discharged he worked as a tire salesman, a car salesman and insurance sales.For a short time, he served with the Chicago Police Department. In 1966, with just $400.00 to his name a wife and two kids he quit to take a three-month broadcasting course. After graduating he started as a disc jockey with Chicago’s radio station WVON. A year later you could find him working for WCIU-TV. In 1982, he underwent a 21-hour brain surgery causing him a lot of pain. He ended his life on February 1, 2012.What you may not know about Donald Cortez Cornelius is that he was the creator of the natio... 07/31/2019

John Stewart Coleman was born in Alpine, Texas back in 1934 to Claude and Hazel. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in journalism in 1957. After graduation, he was the weatherman at WMBD-TV Peoria, Illinois. He became the original weatherman on the brand-new ABC program, Good Morning America where he stayed 7 years.He moved around as a weather forecaster to New York, Chicago and San Diego. He once called climate change as the “greatest scam in history”. In 2016, he moved to Sun City, he died in 2018 at Summerlin Hospital Medical Center in Las Vegas.What you may not know about Mr. Coleman is in 1981, he co-founded “The Weather Channel”, serving as CEO and President during the start-up. Don’t know about you, but I watch it almost on a daily basis.Your day is ... 07/15/2019