1912 History, Trivia and Fun Facts

Firsts, Inventions, and Wonders: 
Paramount Pictures (the Famous Players Film Company) was founded in 1912, 23 days after the sinking of the Titanic. The first film was about the Titanic.

Sunshine made Hydrox Cookies in 1908 and Oreo copied them in 1912.

Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA) was founded by Juliette Gordon Low.

Camp Fire Girls organization officially founded by Mrs. Luther Halsey Gulick. It was informally started in 1910.

Arthur Rose Eldred, a 17-year-old member of Troop 1 of Rockville Centre, Long Island, became the first Eagle Scout.

Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs was published.

Fenway Park opened in Boston.

The Beverly Hills Hotel opened.

Wilbur Scoville created the Scoville Organoleptic Test that has become standardized today as the Scoville Scale, which we use to measure the spiciness in chili peppers.

Roald Amundsen announced his discovery of the South Pole.

Memphis Blues, by W.C. Handy was published. It is usually recognized as one of the first blues songs.

The Helen Hayes Theater opened at 240 West 44th Street, New York, NY.

Frederick Rodman Law was paid to Jump off the Brooklyn Bridge for A Leap of Love, starring Ethel Wright, becoming the first movie stuntman in 1912.

The 1912 Olympics was the last time that gold medals were solid gold. Since then, they’ve been silver with gold plating.

‘Discovered’ by Charles Dawson in 1912, The Piltdown Man become the most famous paleoanthropological hoax ever.

Pop Culture News: 
J.P. Morgan of JPMorgan and Chase Co. Banking and Milton Hershey of Hershey’s Chocolate were both in Europe and planned to travel back to the US on Titanic’s Maiden Voyage but made other plans.

The empire with the longest longevity in history was the Chinese Empire. It began in 221 BC and ended in 1912 AD, 2133 years of existence over nine major family dynasties.

The Musketeers of Pig Alley is credited as the first gangster film.

Violet Jessop (October 2, 1887 – May 5, 1971) was a stewardess/nurse who was aboard the oceanliner Olympic when it collided with a warship in 1911. She was also aboard Titanic (1912) and the Britannic (1916) when they sank. She survived all three events.

The North Korean calendar is based on Kim Il-Sung’s birth year, 1912.

Alaska (also known as Seward’s Folly) was bought from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million. It became the organizes Territory of Alaska in 1912. Prior to that, it was the District of Alaska. It became the 49th state in 1959.

In 1912’s Broadway play, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, they were Blick, Flick, Glick, Plick, Quee, Snick, and Whick

The empire with the longest longevity in history was the Chinese Empire, beginning in 221 BC and ended in 1912 AD, 2133 years of existence. #9dynasties

Created in 1894, the Michelin Man’s real name is Bibendum, and the reason he’s white is that he was created before carbon was added as a preservative and a strengthener to the basic rubber material. Before 1912, tires were a gray-white or light and translucent-beige color.

The US Postal Service regularly delivered mail on Sundays until 1912.

A criminologist named Arthur MacDonald suggested making it a misdemeanor to name assassins publicly, stating that “This would lessen the hope for glory, renown or notoriety, which is a great incentive to such crimes.”

A 400+ pound meteor exploded over Holbrook, Arizona.

Under the provisions of the 1912 Scottish Protection of Animals Act, the Loch Ness monster is a protected species.

Franz Reichelt tried to demonstrate his parachute design by jumping off the first level (about 187 feet) of the Eiffel Tower. Police and friends tried to convince him to use a dummy instead, but he insisted on testing it himself. His prototype failed and he fell to his death.

How would you do with an Eighth-Grade 1912 Kentucky School test?

The Pink Cherry Blossoms in Washington DC were a gift from Japan. In 1912, Japan sent more than 3,000 seeds to be planted near the Potomac River as a symbol of friendship between the two nations.

In the US Election of 1912, there were four candidates for President: William Taft (Republican) , Theodore Roosevelt (Bull Moose Party), Eugene V. Debs (Socialist), and Woodrow Wilson (Democrat). Wilson won with 41.8% of the vote.

The first dramatic film of the Titanic sinking was released just 29 days after the event in 1912. It was written by and stars Dorothy Gibson, an actual survivor.

1912 Olympics News:
Today’s Olympic Gold Medals are actually made of Silver. The last time the Olympic medals were made of solid gold was the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden. Today’s gold medals are 92.5% silver.

Shizo Kanaguri, an Olympic marathon runner, quit and went home to Japan without telling officials and was considered a missing person in Sweden for 50 years. In 1966, he was invited to complete the marathon. His net time: 54 years, 8 months, 6 days, 5 hours, 32 minutes, and 20.379 seconds.

The oldest Olympic gold medallist, Oscar Swahn, was 64 years and 258 days old when he won gold for Shooting in 1912.

When Native American athlete Jim Thorpe was awarded his two Olympic Gold Medals in 1912, the King of Sweden said “You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world”, to which Thorpe replied, “Thanks, King”. Jim was stripped of the medals won in the 1912 Olympics for receiving money playing semi-pro baseball two years earlier. They were reinstated in 1983, 30 years after his death.