History is an old chest, which you open to revive the old memories and unravel the past. They are moments enclosed in this chest of history that need to be cherished, memories that need to be relived, and a little dust of nostalgia and grief. Let us now read the historical milestones of August 12 and unravel the past.
1877 – Thomas Edison completes 1st model of the phonograph, a device that recorded sound onto tinfoil cylinders
The phonograph is an instrument that reproduces sounds through the vibration of a stylus or needle following a spiral groove on a revolving disc or cylinder. In 1877, Edison was working on a machine that would transcribe telegraphic messages through indentations on paper tape, which could later be sent over the telegraph repeatedly. This development led Edison to speculate that a telephone message could also be recorded similarly on tinfoil cylinders. Later it was known as a gramophone. Phonograph offered future possibilities like Letter writing and all kinds of dictation without the aid of a stenographer, phonographic books for blind people, educational purposes, reproduction of sound/music, etc.
source:businessinsider.com
1908 – Henry Ford’s company builds the first Model T car
The Ford Model T also called ‘Tin Lizzie’, is famous as the first affordable automobile. Henry Ford’s first Model T was rolled off on the assembly line. The Model T had revolutionized transportation in America by making cars that were easy to operate and drive, inexpensive to repair, and could achieve a speed of 40–45 mph with a front-mounted, inline four-cylinder engine.
1922 – The home of Frederick Douglass in Washington, D.C. is dedicated as a memorial.
Frederick Douglass was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He was a national leader of the abolitionist movement in America, gaining note for his oratory and incisive antislavery writings. Douglass was a firm believer in the equality of all peoples irrespective of their race and was a victim of slavery. The Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, administered by the National Park Service was once a home and estate of Frederick Douglass which was converted into his memorial and later a historic site.
source:kzcheese.deviantart.com
1991 – Metallica released fifth album “Metallica”, debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 chart
Metallica released their fifth album Metallica or also known as the black album on this day in 1991. It took 8 months for the band to record this album. It marked a change in the band’s sound from the thrash metal style to a slower and heavier one rooted heavy metal. It debuted at number one in ten countries and spent four consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard 200, making it Metallica’s first album to top the album charts. Metallica is one of the best-selling albums worldwide. The album was certified 16× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2012 and has sold over sixteen million copies in the United States.
2018 – NASA launches the Parker Space Probe, its first mission to the Sun and its outermost atmosphere
Parker is a scientific mission to unlock the mysteries of the Sun’s corona (outermost atmosphere of the sun) and solar wind. Parker uses breakthrough technology and autonomy to endure heat and radiation like no other mission. It will orbit within 4 million miles of our star’s surface to study the formation of the solar wind. This is the first mission named after a living scientist: Dr. Eugene Parker, who theorized the existence of the solar wind. The observations made could help solve the coronal-heating and particle-acceleration puzzles. It will also give a better idea of how stars tick in general. Till now Parker has been successful in finding five new studies regarding sun like the dust-free zone around the sun, switchbacks given off by the sun’s magnetic field, turbulence in solar winds, and small particles release.
