History Magazine
Wednesday, March 7th, 2007
I told you I would have something a little different today! I just looked over the issue of History Magazine that I picked up over the weekend. I didn’t have as much time to spend with it as I would have liked, but I did learn a couple of things I wanted to share with you.
Remember when I said history was about the people and not the dates? Today I read the story of the pay telephone. It was invented by William Gray. William Gray’s wife was sick, and he needed to call a doctor for her. He went to a local factory and asked to use their phone to summon a doctor, but was repeatedly refused. The office workers told him the phone was not for public use, and it was only after speaking to a manager that Gray was allowed to call a doctor for his ill wife. The year was 1887, and William was granted a patent in 1888 for a booth enclosing a coin-operated phone.
Raise your hand if you think Lizzie Borden was guilty of killing her father and step-mother. An hour ago I would have raised mine, but the fact is that Ms. Borden was found not guilty both at her original trial in the 1890s, and again at a mock trial held at Stanford law School in 1997. And the poem we all know? Hogwash! Mrs. Borden was whacked just 18 times, and Mr. Borden only 11.
I hope you enjoyed today’s tidbits. I’ll see you one Friday with a discussion of the last few chapters of Adam and His Kin.
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