How big was the original G.I. Joe?
The original “action figure,” G.I. Joe, was introduced in 1964 by Hassenfeld Bros. (later Hasbro) of Newport, Rhode Island.
G.I. Joe was 12 inches tall.
By 1982, G.I. Joe had shrunk down to three inches.
The first African-American to play in the major leagues, Jackie Robinson had no hits in three at-bats in his first game on April 15, 1947. Playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers at Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field, Robinson fielded 11 balls in the 5-3 win against the Boston Braves. That season, Robinson maintained a .297 average and was…
According to folklore, John Henry was an ex-slave who worked as a steel driver. Helping to blast the Big Bend Tunnel through the Allegheny Mountains for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad in West Virginia in the 1870s. His job was to hammer steel into rock to make holes for explosive charges. In the folk song…
The revealing 1929 study by Robert and Helen Lynd, Middletown: A Study in Contemporary American Culture, examined family life in Muncie, Indiana. It was followed by Middletown in Transition in 1937.
The comic book industry began to regulate itself with the Comics Code Authority in 1954. Among other rules, it required that “Policemen, judges, government officials and respected institutions shall never be presented in such a way as to create disrespect for established authority,” and “In every instance good shall triumph over evil and the criminal…
The letters D or P on American coins are mint marks, indicating the city in which the coin is pressed. The letter D indicates that the coin was made in Denver; P denotes Philadelphia. Pennies no longer carry mint marks.
The speech known as the Gettysburg Address, given by Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863, runs 271 words, if you count “resting place” as two words.