Frank Beacham's Journal

Benjamin Franklin was born 316 years ago today

In this painting by Jason Heuser, Franklin battles Zeus for lightning

Benjamin Franklin was born 316 years ago today.

One of the founding fathers of the United States and in many ways was "the First American," Franklin was a renowned polymath. He was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman and diplomat.

As a scientist, he was a major figure in the American Enlightenment and the history of physics for his discoveries and theories regarding electricity.

As an inventor, he is known for the lightning rod, bifocals and the Franklin stove, among other inventions.

Franklin facilitated many civic organizations, including Philadelphia's fire department and a university. He earned the title of "The First American" for his early and indefatigable campaigning for colonial unity. He was an author and spokesman in London for several colonies and the first United States Ambassador to France.

Franklin was foundational in defining the American ethos as a marriage of the practical values of thrift, hard work, education, community spirit, self-governing institutions and opposition to authoritarianism both political and religious, with the scientific and tolerant values of the Enlightenment.

In the words of historian Henry Steele Commager, "In Franklin could be merged the virtues of Puritanism without its defects, the illumination of the Enlightenment without its heat."

To Walter Isaacson, this makes Franklin "the most accomplished American of his age and the most influential in inventing the type of society America would become."

Franklin, always proud of his working class roots, became a successful newspaper editor and printer in Philadelphia, the leading city in the colonies. With two partners, he published the Pennsylvania Chronicle, a newspaper that was known for its revolutionary sentiments and criticisms of the British policies.

He became wealthy publishing Poor Richard's Almanack and The Pennsylvania Gazette. Franklin was also the printer of books for the Moravians of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (1742 on).

Franklin's printed Moravian books (printed in German) are preserved, and can be viewed, at the Moravian Archives located in Bethlehem. Franklin visited Bethlehem many times and stayed at the Moravian Sun Inn. He played a major role in establishing the University of Pennsylvania and was elected the first president of the American Philosophical Society.

Franklin became a national hero in America when as agent for several colonies he spearheaded the effort to have Parliament in London repeal the unpopular Stamp Act.

An accomplished diplomat, he was widely admired among the French as American minister to Paris and was a major figure in the development of positive Franco-American relations. His efforts to secure support for the American Revolution by shipments of crucial munitions proved vital for the American war effort.

For many years, he was the British postmaster for the colonies, which enabled him to set up the first national communications network. From 1785 to 1788, he served as governor of Pennsylvania. Toward the end of his life, he freed his own slaves and became one of the most prominent abolitionists.

His colorful life and legacy of scientific and political achievement, and status as one of America's most influential founding fathers, have seen Franklin honored on coinage and the $100 bill; warships; the names of many towns; counties; educational institutions; corporations and countless cultural references.

Rob Glaser, the father of streaming media, is 60 years old today

Rob Glaser, the father of streaming media, is 60 years old today.

In 1995, Glaser introduced a new technology called RealAudio, the first streaming audio over the Internet. Two years later, he introduced RealVideo, the first streaming video over the Internet.

At first it hiccuped and sputtered, but it was clear from the beginning that video had a future over the Internet. Before founding RealNetworks, his streaming media company, Glaser he had become a millionaire by working for Microsoft for ten years.

I was the first person to interview Glaser about his new technology. The idea of delivering audio programming over the internet was so new to me at the time that it took a lot to wrap my head around this totally new concept.

Interestingly, in later years, Glaser called on me first at press conferences because he felt I brought him good luck due that first interview he did with me in the beginning days of his company.

At the time, his PR person was Katie Cotton, who would go on to head Apple PR. His head of marketing was Maria Cantwell, now the U.S. Senator from Washington.

Later, Glaser became a major contributor to pro-Democratic organizations. He was the leading creditor to Air America Radio, loaning at least $9.8 million according to its bankruptcy filing.

Photo by Frank Beacham

Laurens Hammond, inventor of the Hammond Organ, was born 127 years ago today

Laurens Hammond, inventor of the Hammond Organ, was born 127 years ago today.

An engineer and inventor, Hammond’s inventions include not only the Hammond organ, but the Hammond clock and the world's first polyphonic musical synthesizer, the Novachord.

Born in Evanston, Illinois, to William Andrew and Idea Louise Strong Hammond, Hammond showed great technical prowess from an early age. His father, William, took his own life in 1898, ostensibly due to the pressures of running the First National Bank, which he had founded.

Upon her husband's death, Idea, who was an artist, relocated to France with Laurens to further her studies. It was during their stay in France that Laurens began developing many of his early inventions. When the family returned to Evanston, Laurens, then 14, was as fluent in French and German as he was in his native tongue.

By this time, he had already designed a system for automatic transmission for automobiles. At his mother's suggestion, he submitted his designs to engineers at French automaker, Renault, only to be rejected. Hammond studied mechanical engineering at Cornell University, and was a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity. He graduated with honors in 1916.

After World War I, Hammond moved to Detroit, where he was chief engineer for the Gray Motor Company, a manufacturer of marine engines. A partner in the company, Col. John H. Poole, with whom Hammond had served in the war in France, knew of his engineering skills, and paid him an extra $300 a week under the table to stay with Gray Motor.

In 1919, Hammond invented a silent spring-driven clock. This invention brought him enough money to leave Gray Motor Company and rent his own space in New York City. In 1922, Hammond invented the Teleview system of shutter glasses in association with 3D films. One feature was made for the system, a film called Radio-Mania.

Hammond premiered his show at the Selwyn Theatre in New York in December, 1922 to critical acclaim, but the cost of installing the expensive machinery in the theater killed the project. In 1928, Hammond founded the Hammond Clock Company, after designing a synchronous clock motor that was inspired by Henry Warren's Telechrons, but was not self-starting. These clocks were still popular in Britain in the 1960s, because they would not display a false time.

Hammond's clock business ran into difficulties in the early 1930s, and he struggled to save it with a number of other inventions, such as an electric bridge table and, slightly later, his famous organ.

In 1933, he bought a used piano, and proceeded to discard everything apart from the keyboard action. Using the keyboard as a controller, he was able to experiment with various sound-generating methods until he found the best one — the tonewheel generator.

The company's assistant treasurer, W. L. Lahey, was the organist at the nearby St. Christopher's Episcopal Church, and Hammond consulted him concerning the quality of the new instrument's sound. Thanks to Hammond's prior manufacturing and engineering experience, the tonewheel generator was extremely well-engineered by the time the organ finally went into production.

The number of tonewheel organs still in regular use in the 21st century is a testament to the quality of the design and execution of the product. Hammond filed his patent application on January 19, 1934. At that time, unemployment was a major problem due to the Great Depression, and with this in mind, the Patent Office rushed to grant Hammond's application, with the hope of creating jobs in the area.

In 1954, the famous B-3 organ was introduced with the addition of a harmonic percussion feature. Many players preferred to play the B-3 through a rotating speaker cabinet known, after several name changes, as a Leslie speaker, after its inventor Donald J. Leslie. The Leslie system is an integrated speaker/amplifier combination in which sound is emitted by a rotating horn over a stationary treble compression driver, and a rotating baffle beneath a stationary bass woofer.

This creates a characteristic sound because of the constantly changing pitch shifts that result from the Doppler effect created by the moving sound sources. Leslie initially tried to sell his invention to Laurens Hammond, but Hammond was unimpressed and declined to purchase it.

Hammond modified his interface connectors to be "Leslie-proof," but Leslie quickly engineered a workaround. The Leslie company was sold to CBS in 1965 and was finally bought by Hammond in 1980. Hammond-Suzuki acquired the rights to Leslie in 1992, which continues to make the original 122 speakers and a variety of other products.

Laurens Hammond was awarded the Franklin Institute's John Price Wetherill Medal in 1940 for the invention of the Hammond electric organ. Hammond left his position as president of his company in 1955, to allow himself more time to concentrate on researching and developing new ideas. On February 12, 1960, at the age of sixty-five, he retired.

At the time of his retirement in 1960, he held ninety patents. He would be granted another twenty before his death at age 78 in 1973.

Albert Hofmann, father of LSD, was born 116 years ago

Albert Hofmann, father of LSD, was born 116 years ago.

Hofmann was a Swiss scientist known best for being the first person to synthesize, ingest and learn of the psychedelic effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD).

Hofmann also was the first to isolate, synthesize and name the principal psychedelic mushroom compounds: psilocybin and psilocin. He authored more than 100 scientific articles and a number of books, including LSD: My Problem Child.

In 2007, he was ranked a shared first place, alongside Tim Berners-Lee, in The Telegraph's list of 100 greatest living geniuses.

He died in 2008.

Above, illustration by Alex Grey

On this day — 254 years ago — Englishman Philip Astley staged the first modern circus in London

On this day — 254 years ago — Englishman Philip Astley staged the first modern circus in London.

Trick riders, acrobats, clowns, trained animals and other familiar components of the circus have existed throughout recorded history, but it was not until the late 18th century that the modern spectacle of the circus was born.

Astley, a former cavalry sergeant major, found that if he galloped in a tight circle, centrifugal force allowed him to perform seemingly impossible feats on a horse's back. He drew up a ring and on January 9, 1768, invited the public to see him wave his sword in the air while he rode with one foot on the saddle and one on the horse's head.

Astley's trick riding received such a favorable response that he soon hired other equestrians, a clown and musicians and in 1770 built a roof over his ring and called the structure Astley's Amphitheatre.

In 1772, Astley went to Versailles to perform his "daring feats of horsemanship" before King Louis XV, and he found France ripe for a permanent show of its own, which he founded in 1782.

Also in 1782, a competitor in London set up shop just down the road from Astley's Amphitheatre, calling his show the "Royal Circus," after the Roman name for the circular theaters where chariot races were held.

In the 19th century, the term "circus" was adopted as a generic name for this new form of entertainment. Astley, who lived until 1814, eventually established 18 other circuses in cities across Europe.

In 1792, English equestrian John Bill Ricketts opened the first American circus in Philadelphia and later opened others in New York City and Boston. President George Washington reportedly attended a Ricketts circus and sold the company a horse.

Smaller traveling circuses arose in Europe in the early 19th century, visiting towns and cities that lacked elaborate permanent shows. Larger traveling tent shows evolved in the 1820s.

In 1859, the Cirque Napoleon in Paris offered the first "flying trapeze" act, which remains a popular component of the modern circus.

In 1871, William Cameron Coup and showman, P.T. Barnum, opened an enormous circus in Brooklyn that they dubbed "The Greatest Show on Earth." Ten years later, Barnum went into business with James Anthony Bailey. The "Barnum and Bailey" circuses were so large they required simultaneous performances in three rings.

In 1884, the five Ringling brothers staged their first circus, and they soon were buying out other circus companies, including Barnum and Bailey, which they purchased in 1907. During the next three decades, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows grew into the largest touring organization in the world, with hundreds of tents and an army of workers and performers.

The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey downsized after World War II, but continued until 2017. With weakening attendance and high operating costs, the circus closed on May 21, 2017 after 146 years.

Canada's Cirque du Soleil, which gave an artistic sensibility to its acrobatic acts while shunning the use of animals, was an innovative circus development of the late 20th century.

Thanks History.com

In the above illustration, Astley’s Amphitheatre

In 1958 — 64 years ago — Gibson launched the “Flying V” electric guitar

In 1958 — 64 years ago — Gibson launched the “Flying V” electric guitar.

The Flying V was part of a line of modernist guitars designed by Gibson's then-president, Ted McCarty. The design was meant to add a more futuristic aspect to Gibson's image, but the guitar did not sell well. The line was discontinued within a year.

However, blues rock guitarist Lonnie Mack and blues guitarist Albert King started using the guitar almost immediately. The latter used his original 1958 instrument into the mid-70s and later replaced it with various custom Flying Vs.

Later, in the mid-late 1960s, such guitarists as Dave Davies, in search of a distinctive looking guitar with a powerful sound, also started using Flying Vs. The renewed interest created a demand for Gibson to reissue the model.

Others guitarists who played a Flying V include Jimi Hendrix, Marc Bolan and Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top.

As of 2016, the only available Flying V models are a limited edition reissue of the 1970s-era Flying V and the Flying V Pro.

On this day in 1838 — 184 years ago — Samuel Morse's telegraph system was demonstrated for the first time at the Speedwell Iron Works in Morristown, New Jersey

On this day in 1838 — 184 years ago — Samuel Morse's telegraph system was demonstrated for the first time at the Speedwell Iron Works in Morristown, New Jersey.

The telegraph, a device which used electric impulses to transmit encoded messages over a wire, would eventually revolutionize long-distance communication, reaching the height of its popularity in the 1920s and 1930s.

In 1843, Morse convinced a skeptical Congress to fund the construction of the first telegraph line in the United States, from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore. In May, 1844, Morse sent the first official telegram over the line, with the message: "What hath God wrought!"

However, Henry David Thoreau had a longer range view of the telegraph, as well as the telecommunications technology that came after it. In 1854, Thoreau wrote these immortal words:

“Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end… We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate.”

Amen!

Above, in a sketch, Samuel Morse telegraphs his signature at the Academy of Music in New York City.

On January 5, 1933 — 89 years ago — construction began on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, as workers began excavating 3.25 million cubic feet of dirt for the structure’s huge anchorages

On January 5, 1933 — 89 years ago — construction began on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, as workers began excavating 3.25 million cubic feet of dirt for the structure’s huge anchorages.

Following the Gold Rush boom that began in 1849, speculators realized the land north of San Francisco Bay would increase in value in direct proportion to its accessibility to the city.

Soon, a plan was hatched to build a bridge that would span the Golden Gate, a narrow, 400-foot deep strait that serves as the mouth of the San Francisco Bay, connecting the San Francisco Peninsula with the southern end of Marin County.

Although the idea went back as far as 1869, the proposal took root in 1916.

A former engineering student, James Wilkins, working as a journalist with the San Francisco Bulletin, called for a suspension bridge with a center span of 3,000 feet, nearly twice the length of any in existence.

Wilkins’ idea was estimated to cost an astounding $100 million. So, San Francisco's city engineer, Michael M. O'Shaughnessy (he’s also credited with coming up with the name Golden Gate Bridge), began asking bridge engineers whether they could do it for less.

Engineer and poet Joseph Strauss, a five-foot tall Cincinnati-born Chicagoan, said he could. Eventually, O'Shaughnessy and Strauss concluded they could build a pure suspension bridge within a practical range of $25-30 million with a main span at least 4,000 feet. The construction plan still faced opposition, including litigation, from many sources.

By the time most of the obstacles were cleared, the Great Depression of 1929 had begun, limiting financing options, so officials convinced voters to support $35 million in bonded indebtedness, citing the jobs that would be created for the project.

However, the bonds couldn’t be sold until 1932, when San-Francisco based Bank of America agreed to buy the entire project in order to help the local economy.

The Golden Gate Bridge officially opened on May 27, 1937, the longest bridge span in the world at the time. The first public crossing had taken place the day before, when 200,000 people walked, ran and even roller skated over the new bridge.

With its tall towers and famous red paint job, the bridge quickly became a famous American landmark and a symbol of San Francisco.

Thanks History.com

Above photo from San Francisco Chronicle

Reginald Fessenden, an electrical engineer, broadcast the first audio over radio 115 years ago tonight

Until 1906, listening to the radio was a very dull experience. The medium was used only as a way to transmit Morse code through the air — with the dots and dashes spoken as “di,” dit” and “dah.”

A scientist who saw bigger possibilities was Reginald Fessenden, an electrical engineer who was working for the United States Weather Bureau at the turn of the century. The bureau’s goal was to send forecasts using signals, like Morse code, over the airwaves. That proved to be frustrating for Fessenden.

Fessenden aimed for more, such as transmitting sound waves to carry human voices. He was able to turn those sound waves into electric waves and lay them upon existing radio waves. These were the first radio waves to carry signals for a range of sound.

After years of experimenting, a transmitter at Brant Rock, on the Massachusetts coast, sent out the first clearly heard broadcast 115 years ago tonight.

The hourlong radio program, heard by ships at sea, began at 9 p.m. Eastern time. The broadcast included seasonal Bible readings, Fessenden’s own violin rendition of “O Holy Night” and a recording of Handel’s “Largo.”

Fessenden wrapped up the night by wishing his listeners a Merry Christmas.

Thanks New York Times!

Fessenden’s Radio Broadcast Tower

The story of the Jukebox...

Myron Holbert, a Seeburg engineer, operates his company’s Select-O-Matic jukebox in 1948. This Seeburg model held 200 records.

“It stores and automatically plays 200 selections which are accomplished by merely setting a lever to play either side or both sides of any record in the whole library and the whole library can be played without anyone touching the records,” the Associated Press said in 1948.

“A revolutionary development is the playing of both sides of the record without turning it over.”

Earlier, in 1933, there were 20,000 to 25,000 jukes in America. The spectacular rise began the next year with approximately 300,000 jukeboxes by the end of the 1930s, wrote Kerry Segrave in his book, Jukeboxes: An American Social History.

After World War II, innovations allowed more music to be stored in a single machine. What made the Seeburg jukeboxes so revolutionary was the vast selection of music they held.

Today, of course, the jukebox has gone digital and any song ever recorded is delivered via the internet.

Photo by Associated Press