1911 History, Trivia and Fun Facts

1911 Fun Facts, Trivia and History

Firsts, Inventions, and Wonders: 
The Morton Salt Company began adding magnesium carbonate to its product, which stopped the salt from caking during damp or humid temperatures. Hence their tag line, “When it rains, it pours”.

The first use of a rear-view mirror was at the first Indy 500 in Ray Harroun’s car. #hewon

George Seldon, a patent lawyer, and possibly the first patent troll, was granted the patent (#549,160) to cars in 1895. He got a % of every sale in the US until 1911, when it was overturned, mainly through the efforts of Henry Ford. He never built a functioning automobile.

Crisco Shortening was introduced by Procter & Gamble.

The world’s first official airmail flight was piloted by Henri Pequet, who flew with 6,500 letters a distance of 13 km (8.1 mi) from Allahabad to Naini – the nearest station on the Bombay-Calcutta line, in British India, on February 18, 1911

The Carnegie Corporation of New York was founded.

The first airplane to ever land on a ship occurred on January 18, 1911. Eugene Ely landed on the USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco Bay.

Samuel J. Battle became the first black police officer in the city of New York City.

“It is a safe rule to apply that when a mathematical or philosophical author writes with a misty profundity, he is talking nonsense.”
– Albert Whitehead, An Introduction to Mathematics

Pop Culture News: 
Vincenzo Peruggia, wanting to bring the Mona Lisa back to Italy after “It was stolen by Napoleon”, just walked in the Louvre Museum, removed the painting, took it to a service staircase, removed the frame, put it under his smock, and simply walked out with it in plain sight. It sat in his apartment for 2 years. The theft helped make the Mona Lisa famous.

Richard III is a 1911 film adaptation of the Shakespeare play became the oldest surviving American feature-length film when in 1996 a former projectionist found and donated an intact copy to the AFI. The film was thought lost since the 1920s

Women in China with small feet were deemed beautiful. China’s Foot Binding custom lasted for more than 1,000 years but was banned in 1911.

Pittsburgh was officially changed to “Pittsburg” from 1891-1911.

A series of books were published featuring a fictional boy-inventor by the name of Tom Swift. One of these books was 1911’s Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle. Many years later, this led to the naming of the TASER that police now carry – “Tom A. Swift Electric Rifle”

Parks Canada was established on May 19, 1911, as the Dominion Parks Branch under the Department of the Interior, becoming the world’s first national park service.

The US House of Representatives has had 435 seats since 1911 when the population of the United States was 94 million. Today the population is over 325 million.

A patent (#1000000) was filed by Francis H. Holton for a tubeless vehicle tire.

In 1911/1912 the United States endured one of the coldest winters on record. Niagra Falls was frozen solid enough for people to cross.

California was originally called The Grizzly Bear State. The bear on the California flag is modeled after “Monarch,” a Grizzly Bear that was held in captivity in California until his death in 1911.

The fastest temperature drop in recorded history occurred in South Dakota in 1911. The temperature fell by 49°F in 15 minutes.

Hugo Gernsback’s novel Ralph 124C 41+ successfully predicted the invention of television, videophones, airlines, solar energy in practical use, sound films, synthetic foods, artificial cloth, tape recorders, spaceflight and contained the first accurate description of radar.

On March 25, 1911 – Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City burned in and 145 (mostly young girls) died. Doors were locked to prevent theft.

The Odd News:
A colony of Adélie penguins was discovered to have homosexual and necrophilic behaviors by explorer George Murray Levick. It was at the time considered too indecent for publication. The findings were finally published in 2012.

Paul Geidel served the longest prison sentence in history: 68 years, 245 days, from 1911-1980, for the second-degree murder of a 73 old man when he was 17. He was granted parole after 63 years but voluntarily chose to serve the remainder of his sentence.

The first movie to show an actor’s penis on screen was the 1911 Italian film Dante’s Inferno.

In 1976, the mummified body of Elmer Mccurdy was found in a funhouse in California. Mccurdy had died in a shootout in 1911 and his body had been used ever since as a sideshow attraction. His discoverers only realized it was a human body when his arm broke off, revealing bone and muscle.

United States v. Forty Barrels and Twenty Kegs of Coca-Cola was a 1911 federal court case in which religious fundamentalists argued that the caffeine was causing sexual transgression.

Popular and Notable Books From 1911: