1911 Fun Facts, Trivia and History |
Top Ten Baby Names of 1911: Mary, Helen, Margaret, Dorothy, Ruth, John, William, James, George, Robert |
US Life Expectancy: (1911) Males: 50.9 years, Females: 54.4 years |
Firsts, Inventions, and Wonders: 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. |
The Most Popular Singers and Artists of 1911 include: The American Quartet, Henry Burr, Albert Campbell, Enrico Caruso, Arthur Clough, Arthur Collins, Byron G. Harlan, Victor Herbert, and His Orchestra, Ada Jones, Fritz Kreisler, The Lyric Quartet, Harry Macdonough, Lucy Isabelle Marsh, John McCormack, Reed Miller, Eddie Morton, Billy Murray, Will Oakland, The Peerless Quartet, Prince’s Orchestra, Blanche Ring, Bob Roberts, Frank Stanley, That Girl Quartet, Sophie Tucker, Walter Van Brunt, Victor Light Opera Company, Reinald Werrenrath, Elizabeth Wheeler |
1911 Quotes: “It is a safe rule to apply that when a mathematical or philosophical author writes with a misty profundity, he is talking nonsense.” |
Pop Culture News: 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: 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. |
Nobel Prize Winners: Physics – Wilhelm Wien Chemistry – Marie Sklodowska-Curie Medicine – Allvar Gullstrand Literature – Count Maurice Polidore Marie Bernhard Maeterlinck Peace – Tobias Asser Alfred Hermann Fried |
Popular and Notable Books From 1911: |
Fiction Bestsellers: 1. The Broad Highway, by Jeffrey Farnol 2. The Prodigal Judge by Vaughan Kester 3. The Winning of Barbara Worth by Harold Bell Wright 4. Queed by Henry Sydnor Harrison 5. The Harvester by Gene Stratton Porter 6. The Iron Woman by Margaret Deland 7. The Long Roll by Mary Johnston 8. Molly Make-Believe by Eleanor Abbott 9. The Rosary by Florence Barclay 10. The Common Law by Robert W. Chambers |
Other Books of Note: Principles of Scientific Management by F.W. Taylor The Mind of Primitive Man by Franz Boas Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm |
Sports: World Series Champions: Philadelphia Athletics Challenge Cup Champs: Ottawa Hockey Club U.S. Open Golf: John McDermott U.S. Tennis (Men/Ladies): William Larned/Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman Wimbledon (Men/Women): Laurence Doherty/Dorothea Lambert Chambers NCAA Football Champions: Princeton & Penn State Kentucky Derby Winner: Meridian Boston Marathon Winner: Clarence DeMar Time: 2:21:39 |