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This Day in History (Wall Street News of the Past) - This Day in History (Wall Street News of the Past)
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Liadan  
#141 Posted : Friday, September 12, 2008 4:09:54 PM(UTC)
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September 12, 1966

NYSE head steps down

In 1966, Keith Fenston announced that he was stepping down from his post as President of the New York Stock Exchange. Fenston began his tenure in 1951.

September 12, 1996

Another strong day for the Dow

September 12th, 1996 was just another day in the Bull Market. Encouraged by promising inflation reports, the Dow flirted with, and briefly broke, record levels throughout the day. After inching over the record of 5,778 points, blue-chip stocks closed at a still healthy 5,771.94.

September 12, 1997

Credit card losses rise

Americans' fondness for their credit cards often results in the accumulation of considerable debt. A report released on September 12, 1997 announced that the country's annualized losses on bank credit cards had ballooned to its highest level in 14 years. According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), which issued the findings, the losses accounted for 5.22% of every $100 charged to the nation's credit cards. Perhaps more illustrative of the problem than statistics was the attendant news that Americans were declaring bankruptcy in record numbers. According to the FDIC's chairman, Andrew Hove Jr., bankruptcy amounted to roughly half of "bank credit card charge-offs." Karen Shaw Petrou, a senior consultant at ISD/Shaw Inc., interpreted the news in more alarming terms, noting that it painted "a picture of highly leveraged consumers less able to handle their debts--and more willing than ever to walk away from them."
September 12, 2002

Tyco execs indicted

Three former executives from Tyco International, including the CEO and CFO, are indicted in New York on charges that they stole hundreds of millions of dollars from the company. Two of the men, CEO Dennis Kozlowski and CFO Mark Swartz, were later convicted and given lengthy prison sentences. The case became symbolic of the era’s corporate corruption and greed.

Kozlowski and Swartz were charged with using Tyco, a manufacturer of industrial products, as their private bank and looting $150 million while pulling in another $430 million by secretly selling large shares of company stock after its value had been artificially inflated. Among other things, the men took unauthorized loans from the company’s coffers and gave themselves enormous, unauthorized bonuses. In June 2002, three months before the indictments, Kozlowski resigned as Tyco’s chief just before he was charged with evading sales taxes on expensive paintings he’d purchased. At his Tyco trial in 2004, the former CEO’s lavish lifestyle was put on public display and the media had a field day with revelations of his conspicuous consumption. He once spent $6,000 on a shower curtain and $2 million--some of it Tyco money--on an extravagant birthday party for his wife. In April 2004, the case ended in a mistrial after a jury member holding out for an acquittal received a coercive letter from a stranger.

At a second trial in June 2005, the jury deliberated for 11 days before convicting Kozlowski and Swartz on multiple counts of grand larceny, securities fraud, conspiracy and falsifying business records. Each man was later sentenced to 8 1/3 years to 25 years in prison, while Kozlowski, 58, was ordered to pay $170 million in fines and restitution and Swartz, 45, was ordered to pay $72 million.

The summer of 2005 also saw other corporate executives pay a steep price for their white-collar crimes: Former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers was sentenced to 25 years in prison for spearheading an $11 billion fraud that brought down the telecommunications giant, while Adelphia Communications chief John Rigas received a 15-year sentence for stealing hundreds of millions from the cable company. Among the companies that came to represent the corporate scandal and excess of the 1990s--Enron, Adelphia, Tyco and WorldCom--only Tyco survived. It was reorganized under new management and today has 250,000 employees around the world.
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Liadan  
#142 Posted: : Monday, September 15, 2008 1:30:52 PM(UTC)
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September 15, 1909

Ford sues Selden

George Selden is rarely mentioned in accounts of automobile history, often lost among names like Ford, Daimler, and Cugnot. However, Selden reigned as the "Father of the Automobile" for almost 20 years, his name engraved on every car from 1895 until 1911. He held the patent on the "Road Engine," which was effectively a patent on the automobile - a claim that went unchallenged for years, despite the many other inventors who had contributed to the development of the automobile and the internal combustion engine. Almost all of the early car manufacturers, unwilling to face the threat of a lawsuit, were forced to buy licenses from Selden, so almost every car on the road sported a small brass plaque reading "Manufactured under Selden Patent." Henry Ford was the only manufacturer willing to challenge Selden in court, and on this day a New York judge ruled that Ford had indeed infringed on Selden's patent. This decision was later overturned when it became plain that Selden had never intended to actually manufacture his "road engine." Selden's own "road engine" prototype, built in the hope of strengthening his case, only managed to stagger along for a few hours before breaking down.

September 15, 1946

Oliver Stone is born

While he's usually associated with film flash and controversy, today's birthday boy, Oliver Stone, is also no stranger to the world of high finance. Born on September 15, 1946, Stone is in fact deeply tied to Wall Street--his father was a stockbroker, as well as a publisher of a noted investment newsletter. Following a brief stint at Yale University, Stone began to wander; he moved abroad, served time in Vietnam, and wrote a novel that would sit unpublished until the mid-1990's. By the beginning of the '70's, he had returned to the U.S. and embarked on his career as a writer-director-provocateur. After cleaning up at the Oscars in 1986 for "Platoon," Stone turned his camera and pen towards his father's realm--the stock market. Never one for subtlety, "Wall Street" was pure-Stone: a loud morality play set against the ooze of the '80's investment world. Though the film revolved around the temptation of a young stockbroker played by Charlie Sheen, co-star Michael Douglas easily stole the show with his sleazy portrayal of a corrupt, Boesky-esque financier.

September 15, 1966

NYSE relaxes rules

On September 15, 1966 the Big Board loosened its tie and decreed that members were allowed to make trades on listed stocks with non-member firms.

September 15, 1997

Sara Lee trims the fat

On September 15, 1997, Sara Lee Corp. opted to get lean and mean for the downsized '90s, as company officials announced a plan to outsource and outright sell some of its operations. Sara Lee estimated that the move would help rake in $3 billion in cash, as well as allow the company to become more competitive.
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Liadan  
#143 Posted : Tuesday, September 16, 2008 11:40:04 AM(UTC)
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September 16, 1903

Royce tests first gas engine

Frederick Henry Royce, of Rolls-Royce Ltd., successfully tested his first gasoline engine on this day. The two-cylinder, 10hp engine was one of three experimental cars designed by Royce during the automobile's early years, when gasoline-powered engines competed on equal footing with electric and steam engines. In fact, Royce's first company, Royce Ltd., built electric motors.
September 16, 1908

Durant founds GM

William C. Durant founded the General Motors Corporation (GM) on this day, consolidating several motor car companies, including Buick, Oldsmobile, and Cadillac, to form this Goliath of the automotive industry. GM's success was assured in 1912 when Cadillac introduced the electric self-starter, quickly making the hand crank obsolete and propelling sales. Throughout the next few years, the company continued to grow, buying out Chevrolet, Delco, the Fisher Body Company, and Frigidaire. In 1929, GM surpassed Ford to become the leading American passenger-car manufacturer, and by 1941, the company was the largest automotive manufacturer in the world. But the 1970s and 1980s brought darker times, and the company suffered under severe competition from imports. GM responded with attempts at modernization, but its efforts have yielded mixed results thus far; the company was forced to close a large number of plants in the U.S. during the early 1990s after several years of heavy losses.

September 16, 1920

Wall Street explodes

As lunchtime approached on September 16, 1920, New York's financial district was grinding through its regular motions--people were gathering outside to eat, and brokers were holed up inside, busily trading away the day. But before the clock hit noon, routine gave way to panic, as a horse-drawn wagon filled with explosives suddenly detonated near the subtreasury. Flames flooded Wall Street, shooting up nearly six-stories-high. The blast shattered windows around the area and sent a pipe crashing against the neck of a man strolling some six blocks away from the subtreasury. All told, approximately 30 people were killed and at least a hundred more were wounded. The only famous financial figure to be injured was Junius Spencer, J.P. Morgan's grandson, who suffered a slight gash on one hand. Since radical bashing was in vogue at the time, Communists, Anarchists, and anyone else leaning too far to the left were accused of having staged a violent protest against capitalism. More pragmatic souls argued that the wagon belonged to an explosives operation and had simply strayed from its prescribed route. Whatever merits these theories have, the ensuing investigation failed to uncover the culprit or cause of the blast, and the case remains a mystery.
September 16, 1940

Franklin Roosevelt approves military draft

On this day in 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Selective Service and Training Act, which requires all male citizens between the ages of 26 and 35 to register for the military draft, beginning on October 16. The act had been passed by Congress 10 days earlier.

America was not yet involved in the Second World War, but Roosevelt considered it a prudent step to train American men for military service in case the U.S. would have to defend itself against the growing threat of fascist and militarist regimes in Europe and Japan. At the time, Poland, Holland, Belgium, France and Norway had been invaded by Germany and word had begun to spread of Hitler’s persecution of Jews and other minorities in concentration camps. It appeared that Great Britain would be next on the list of [censored] casualties. From July 1940, Hitler’s Air Force bombarded England and the German navy blockaded the island nation in preparation for a planned invasion.

Roosevelt responded to British distress by selling the country more military equipment and providing increased humanitarian aid. After signing the Selective Service Act, Roosevelt warned, "America stands at the crossroads of its destiny. Time and distance have been shortened. A few weeks have seen great nations fall. We cannot remain indifferent to the philosophy of force now rampant in the world. We must and will marshal our great potential strength to fend off war from our shores. We must and will prevent our land from becoming a victim of aggression."

Although many Americans preferred to stay out of another conflict in Europe--World War I was still fresh in many minds--there was little resistance to the draft and, in the end, the measure might have been unnecessary. After the Japanese bombed Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, American men flocked to recruitment centers to enlist in the military.

September 16, 1976

Tax Reform Act finalized

On September 16, 1976, Congress put the finishing touches on what was to become the Tax Reform Act of '76. In theory, the legislation aimed to place a chunk of the nation's tax burden on the wealthy, with an increase in the minimum mandatory payments, as well as a reduction in the rolls of citizens who claimed special tax shelters. The Tax Reform Act passed into the law books by the end of the year.

September 16, 1997

Steve Jobs returns

September 16, 1997, brought about the Information Age's version of the return of the prodigal son: Apple Computers enlisted founder and former CEO Steve Jobs to temporarily run the company during a search for a permanent leader. It was a strange and melodramatic twist for Jobs, who, a decade earlier, had parted ways with Apple under bitter circumstances.
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Liadan  
#144 Posted : Wednesday, September 17, 2008 11:58:22 AM(UTC)
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September 17, 1868

Mint gets a name

The nation's six-year-old currency agency was officially christened as the Bureau of Engraving and Printing on this day.

September 17, 1968

LBJ goes after Chrysler

On September 17, 1968, an irate President Lyndon Johnson took Chrysler to task for its sky-high prices.

September 17, 1996

UAW fights Ford downsizing

The trend toward corporate downsizing that has been a hallmark of the '90s hasn't been propitious for the labor movement. However, on September 17, 1996, executives for the Ford Motor Company and the United Auto Workers (UAW) signed a three-year contract that promised to retain 95 percent of Ford's hourly wage jobs for union workers, regardless of retirements or departures. UAW made some concessions to management, including a "two-tier" wage scale for parts and assembly-line workers, but the resulting contract, which also increased workers' pension pay, was a victory for the union, especially in an era when competition-conscious corporations were either cutting jobs or shipping them overseas. The deal was so friendly to labor that it elicited quiet grumbles from Ford's fellow Big Three automakers. The Ford-UAW agreement hindered the rest of the industry's ability to push through planned job cuts. General Motors, for one, was gearing up to shrink its work force by 50,000 to 70,000 jobs. Not surprisingly, trouble came a few years later, as union workers at the GM plant in Flint, Michigan, hit the picket line to protest the company's plans to downsize.
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Liadan  
#145 Posted : Thursday, September 18, 2008 10:25:53 AM(UTC)
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September 18, 1789

U.S takes first loan

It was bound to happen sometime, and on September 18, 1789, with the nation's finances in something of a mess, the government took out its first loan. Under the supervision of newly appointed Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton, the government took a little under a year to pay back the loan of $191, 608.81.

September 18, 1873

Robber barons cause panic

The Panic of 1873 was one of the worst financial crises in the nation's history. It stretched on for five years, closing banks and deflating the markets, as well as damaging people's faith in the future of the nation. The depression began on September 18 with the surprise collapse of Jay Cooke and Co., one of the country's most reputable brokerage houses. Jay Cooke's downfall, due mainly to an ill-fated decision to fund a second transcontinental railroad line, was less a smoking gun than a highly visible symptom of America's fiscal instability. After twelve years of unchecked expansion, the economy was bloated from inflation and excess speculation and when the Panic hit, it had devastating results. Along with Jay Cooke, thirty-seven banks and two brokerage houses closed their doors on this day. In the ensuing days, the losses increased and the NYSE was forced to shut down for over a week. With the situation growing dire, the secretary of the Treasury decided to infuse the economy with $26 million in paper money. Despite the government's efforts, the Panic did not subside, and the economy continued its slump through the end of the decade.

September 18, 1925

NYSE honors one of its own

At 2:30 p.m. on September 18, 1925, the New York Stock Exchange shut down to honor the funeral of a former president, Seymour L. Cromwell.

September 18, 1997

Turner's gift stuns U.N.

When Ted Turner stepped up to the podium to speak at the United Nations Association dinner on September 19, 1997, no one knew quite what to expect. Sure, the audience probably counted on a few typically audacious remarks from the brazen billionaire, but most didn't expect him to unveil a plan to hand over $1 billion to the U.N. The donation, one of the largest single charitable gifts in history, was intended to fuel programs benefiting children and refugees. Even Turner didn't anticipate the announcement. Following the speech, he explained that the donation was a spontaneous gesture, triggered by a fondness for the U.N. and its "one for all, all for one" ideal. The move also caught the U.N. off-guard. Secretary General Kofi Annan was given little time to react, let alone prepare a plan for utilizing the money, though he noted that Turner's gift, which nearly equaled the U.N.'s annual budget, was "noble and extraordinary." True to form, Turner peppered the speech with some feisty remarks, as well as his trademark braggadocio. He noted that the rationale behind the amount of the donation was simple, it matched his earnings since the beginning of 1997. Turner also got in a shot at the United States Government, chiding officials for the country's $1.5 billion in unpaid dues, in addition to criticizing Bill Gates, another famous, but more parsimonious multibillionaire. "There's a lot of people who are awash in money they don't know what to do with," Turner noted while taking Gates to task by name. "It doesn't do you any good if you don't know what to do with it."
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Liadan  
#146 Posted : Friday, September 19, 2008 3:33:33 PM(UTC)
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September 19, 1778

Young nation gets a budget

The Committee on Finance of the Continental Congress made history by presenting the nation's first budget on this day.

September 19, 1901

NYSE pays tribute to McKinley

The New York Stock Exchange closed to honor the funeral of President William McKinley. McKinley, who had been shot on September 6 in Buffalo, New York, by a Polish anarchist, died on September 14.

September 19, 1996

Traders fear inflation

On the surface, an increase in the number of new houses being built sounds like good news, but it can be an indication of inflation, a word no one on Wall Street wants to hear. On September 19, 1996, the Commerce Department reported that the number of housing starts for the month of August increased to its highest level since March 1994, growing 4.5 percent to reach an unexpected 1.53 million units. Fearing that the Federal Reserve would respond by raising interest rates, a traditional anti-inflationary measure, traders promptly started a small sell-off. By lunchtime, the Dow had dropped 25.15 points, leaving it at 5,852.21. Fortunately, these worries died down by the early afternoon and the markets posted a mild rebound. The Dow eventually ended the day with a modest loss of 7.03 points.
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Liadan  
#147 Posted : Monday, September 22, 2008 9:26:09 AM(UTC)
Liadan

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September 22, 1995

Turner sells out

In between bankrolling sports franchises and unveiling new cable channels, media mogul Ted Turner found time to sell his broadcasting company to Time Warner Inc. The deal, initially inked on September 22, 1995, called for Time Warner to hand over $7.5 billion to create one of the world's largest media concerns, flush with roughly $20 billion in assets. While the merger promised to further pad Turner's coffers, it didn't sit so well with some of his shareholders. Cable heavyweights Comcast Corp. and Continental Cablevision ultimately limited their reactions to some well-publicized grousing, but US West, which held a $2.55 billion ownership stake in Time Warner Enterprises, wheeled into action with a lawsuit designed to halt the deal. To further complicate matters, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) began a lengthy investigation centered on the anti-trust implications of the merger. It took Time and Turner a full year of negotiating to silence their critics and shape the acquisition to the FTC's liking. Finally, after sifting through over a million pages of documents and holding months of deliberations, the FTC approved the deal in September of 1996. While they didn't prevent the merger, the various delays put enough of a crimp on Time Warner's stock to cause the value of the deal to shrink to $6.5 billion.

September 22, 1997

IBM makes shareholders happy

September 22, 1997, was a banner day for Big Blue. The computer giant announced that it had revolutionized computer chips by using copper instead of aluminum in the production of semiconductors. The innovation, which promised to make chips smaller, faster, and less expensive to produce, sent IBM's shares up 5-7/16 to 104-11/16.
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Heidi B  
#148 Posted : Tuesday, September 23, 2008 2:15:13 PM(UTC)
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September 23, 1883

Treasury gets new leader

Robert B. Taney began his term as the nation's twelfth secretary of the Treasury on this day.

September 23, 1930

"Greenbacks" singer is born

Break out the birthday blues for R&B pioneer Ray Charles. Born in 1930, Ray Charles (Robinson) broke ground by fusing gospel with blues and other secular musical styles. He went on to score a number of successes, including his 1950s hit song "Greenbacks," in which he rhapsodized about "those little pieces of paper coated with chlorophyll."

September 23, 1976

Carter wins points on fiscal issues

Presidential candidates have long concluded that the nation's fiscal health is crucial to winning--or losing--elections. That issue took center stage on September 23, 1976, as President Gerald Ford and Democratic challenger Jimmy Carter engaged in a debate that revolved mainly around economic issues. Ford and Carter wrangled over the relative merits of tax cuts and whether or not the country was headed toward increased inflation. While the debate was certainly more civil than some of the political debates of the eighties and nineties, it did feature a few edgy exchanges. In his gentle Southern manner, Carter chided Ford for neglecting the economy, which had continued to wallow in the funk that had begun in the late sixties. The president, meanwhile, dismissed Carter as a soft-headed liberal whose tight-fisted proposals revealed his naivete about managing America's money. The Georgia governor, however, turned his inexperience into a virtue, eventually winning the election by positioning himself as an outsider, untainted by Watergate and the ineffectiveness of the current administration.
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Heidi B  
#149 Posted : Wednesday, September 24, 2008 9:27:51 AM(UTC)
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September 24, 1789

The First Supreme Court

The Judiciary Act of 1789 is passed by Congress and signed by President George Washington, establishing the Supreme Court of the United States as a tribunal made up of six justices who were to serve on the court until death or retirement. That day, President Washington nominated John Jay to preside as chief justice, and John Rutledge, William Cushing, John Blair, Robert Harrison, and James Wilson to be associate justices. On September 26, all six appointments were confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

The U.S. Supreme Court was established by Article 3 of the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution granted the Supreme Court ultimate jurisdiction over all laws, especially those in which their constitutionality was at issue. The high court was also designated to oversee cases concerning treaties of the United States, foreign diplomats, admiralty practice, and maritime jurisdiction. On February 1, 1790, the first session of the U.S. Supreme Court was held in New York City's Royal Exchange Building.

The U.S. Supreme Court grew into the most important judicial body in the world in terms of its central place in the American political order. According to the Constitution, the size of the court is set by Congress, and the number of justices varied during the 19th century before stabilizing in 1869 at nine. In times of constitutional crisis, the nation's highest court has always played a definitive role in resolving, for better or worse, the great issues of the time.

September 24, 1869

Gold prices plummet

On this day, more colorfully known as "Black Friday," gold prices plummeted, sending the markets into chaos. At the root of the wreckage was an old-fashioned swindle, engineered by flamboyant financier Jay Gould and his robber baron partner, James Fisk. Gould and Fisk conspired to inflate and then corner the gold market, primarily by spreading a rumor that President Grant was about to stop the sale of government gold. Grant, who was better suited to the battlefield than office, initially bought into their logic, due, in part, to his belief that the sale of government gold would hurt farmers and small-time entrepreneurs. The president eventually saw through the scheme and, in response, put $4 million worth of gold on the market. The price of gold in specie, which had previously swelled to $163.50, promptly shrank to $133. Investors were ruined and the economy went into a tailspin. The swindle ultimately took a toll on two of its main players. It blemished Grant's record, raising suspicions about the war hero's competency. And Gould surreptitiously dumped his share of the gold before the drop in specie prices, leaving Fisk with a hefty loss on the deal.

September 24, 1996

Avis hits the street

After years of success as a private company, Avis Rent-A-Car went public on this day. HFS (formerly Hospitality Franchise Systems), a hospitality franchiser, as well as the owner of Avis, put 75 percent of the rental car company's shares on the block. The result was a steady day of trading, as the stock, which opened at $17 a share, climbed to $22 by midday.

September 24, 1997

U.S. blamed for Asian Flu

In 1997, with much of Southeast Asia experiencing serious financial trouble, the region's leaders took time at the IMF and World Bank's annual meeting in Hong Kong to chastise foreign investors for precipitating the crisis. Some fingers were pointed at the use of aggressive "Wall Street-style" trading practices, while Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad railed against the "great powers"--namely the United States--who, in his view, "manipulated" Asian economies as a means to destroy their competitive power in the global marketplace.
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Heidi B  
#150 Posted : Monday, September 29, 2008 2:52:13 PM(UTC)
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September 29, 1804

Hillegas serves as first treasurer

Michael Hillegas, the United States' first treasurer, died on this day. In 1775, the Continental Congress appointed Hillegas and George Clymer as joint treasurers. In 1777, Hillegas assumed the role on his own. Hillegas served a somewhat tumultuous tenure until 1789, when Congress officially established the Treasury Department, which was led by Alexander Hamilton.
September 29, 1913

The sad death of an inventor

Rudolf Diesel is best known for the engine that bears his name, but few know that he was also a respected engineer, a linguist, a social theorist, and a connoisseur of the arts. But it was his diesel engine that changed the world, proving more efficient than steam and used on everything from locomotives to boats, eventually revolutionizing the automobile later in the century. The world lost this bright star today, when Diesel jumped overboard while crossing the English Channel on a cruiser--committing suicide at age 55.

September 29, 1952

Working for the weekend

In 1952, the New York Stock Exchange shortened its work-week by doing away with half-day Saturday shifts. To make up for the lost day, the NYSE tacked an extra half-hour on to the Wednesday workday, bumping closing time back to 3:30 p.m.

September 29, 1986

Rare cooperation for tax reform

The Democrats and Republicans set aside their political differences to introduce sweeping tax reform legislation on this day. Alas, mere moments after the Senate approved the bill, the spirit of bipartisan unity evaporated. Members of both parties scrambled to take credit for the legislation, bombarding the press with shameless displays of self-congratulation. The bill, which promised to reduce rates by slashing preferences for people in top tax brackets, held the type of populist appeal that seemed ready-made to win voters. Republicans viewed it as a promising opportunity to make their party more appealing to the working class, and Democrats, protective of their traditional blue-collar allies, reminded w[censored]ver would listen that key GOP officials had, in fact, tried to derail the legislation. Credit ultimately belonged to President Reagan, who was hailed for guiding the bill safely through Congress. While Reagan was enjoying the praise, Democrats tried in vain to tie the policy back to Senators Bill Bradley and Richard Gephardt, who co-authored the original tax overhaul bill in 1982.
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Heidi B  
#151 Posted : Tuesday, September 30, 2008 9:01:52 AM(UTC)
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September 30, 1976

Congress stands up to Ford

In the waning days of his administration, President Ford stepped up for one final battle with Congress. Though the president shot down a $56 billion appropriations bill for various social service projects, Congress fired back on this day, successfully overriding the veto.

September 30, 1986

Dow takes a tumble

In 1986, September proved to be a hard month for investors. In the span of three short weeks, the Dow lost just under two hundred points, tumbling from 1919.71 points on September 4 to 1767.58 on September 30.

September 30, 1990

Read my lips?

After years of deriding Democrats as "tax and spend liberals," President George Bush proposed his own tax hike, to the tune of $134 billion over five years. The package of increases, which was announced on this day after considerable bipartisan wrangling, affected a number of items, including gas, cigarettes, alcohol, and luxury goods. Bush did his best to sell the plan, pitching it as a necessary step for ensuring the nation's economic health. Specifically, the taxes were meant as an antidote to the ever-swelling federal deficit; the president and his staff estimated that the taxes would trim the debt by $40 billion in the coming fiscal year and $500 billion over five years. In the wake of the proposal, Bush's campaign pledge not to raise taxes came back to haunt him. Some outraged Republicans refused to support their leader. A few party bigwigs, including Congressman Newt Gingrich, were conspicuously missing from that day's official announcement in the Rose Garden. Nor was the public particularly fond of the plan. The president's once record-level approval rating plummeted as many former supporters branded him a liar and betrayer. Two years later, he was voted out of office.
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Heidi B  
#152 Posted : Wednesday, October 1, 2008 9:34:33 AM(UTC)
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October 1, 1879

New home for NYSE

By 1879, the New York Stock Exchange had grown so large that it was bursting at the seams of its original offices. To alleviate the situation, NYSE officials bought a neighboring building and drew up blueprints for a new space. The roomier exchange was open for trading on October 1, 1881

October 1, 1890

McKinley Tariff cracks foreign markets

History sometimes takes a protectionist view of the McKinley Tariff Act. True, the legislation, passed by Congress on October 1, 1890, seemed to support American manufacturers by hiking tariffs on imported products to unprecedented levels. But William McKinley, the architect of the bill, wasn't just trying to boost sales of American-made goods. He was also looking to pry open foreign markets and push for reciprocal trade relations by wielding the Tariff Act as a bargaining tool. McKinley's tariff established sources of cheap raw materials for American manufacturers and helped alter the nation's approach to foreign trade.

October 1, 1907

Morgan lends a hand

The United States boom, busted its way through the 1800s and the growing pains continued into the new century. On October 1, the nation was plunged into the Panic of 1907. The previous spring, a currency drain, caused mainly by the overzealous funding of new businesses, sent the markets tumbling and strongly hinted of a coming depression. By the fall, the public felt the fiscal pinch and made a mad grab to pull their money out of banks. A run on the Knickerbocker Trust in New York, which lacked the resources to pay out to the demanding public, ultimately toppled the economy. Sensing that the nation needed an infusion of cash, President Roosevelt enlisted the aid of his one-time enemy, financier J.P. Morgan. Morgan capitalized on his considerable reputation to borrow $1 million in gold from European countries. Even with Morgan's help, the depression lasted until the fall of 1908.
October 1, 1908

An American legend goes on sale

Beginning in 1903, Henry Ford and his engineers struggled for five difficult years to produce a reliable, inexpensive car for the mass market. It wasn't until their 20th attempt, christened the Model T after the 20th letter in the alphabet, that the fledgling Ford Motor Company hit pay dirt. On this day, the Ford Model T was introduced to the American public, and Ford's affordable revolution had begun. Affectionately known as the "Tin Lizzie," the Model T revolutionized the automotive industry by providing an affordable, reliable car for the average American. Ford was able to keep the price down by retaining control of all raw materials, and by employing revolutionary mass production methods. When it was first introduced, the "Tin Lizzie" cost only $850 and seated two people, and by the time it was discontinued in 1927, nearly 15,000,000 Model Ts had been sold.

October 1, 1915

Court rules against Patents Company

A federal court rules that the Motion Pictures Patents Co. is violating antitrust rules and stifling fair competition in the fledgling film industry. Film studios Edison and Biograph had joined forces with other filmmakers in 1909 to create the Motion Pictures Patents Co., an organization devoted to protecting patents and keeping other players from entering the film industry. The Supreme Court dissolved the trust in 1917.

October 1, 1949

Steelworkers win increased security

After years of scandal and corruption, as well as the passage of anti-union legislation, the years following World War II were frustrating for organized labor. The movement scored a victory on this day, when 500,000 disgruntled steelworkers called a strike that would eventually win them improved retirement benefits.
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Heidi B  
#153 Posted : Thursday, October 2, 2008 9:02:40 AM(UTC)
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October 2, 1922

NYSE's new home

In 1922, the New York Stock Exchange opened the doors to its new offices. Like its predecessor, the eleven-story building was located in downtown New York City, at 11 Wall Street.
October 2, 1967

Thurgood Marshall sworn in

Chief Justice Earl Warren swears in Thurgood Marshall, the first black justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. As chief counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in the 1940s and '50s, Marshall was the architect and executor of the legal strategy that ended the era of official racial segregation.

The great-grandson of a slave, Marshall was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1908. After being rejected from the University of Maryland Law School on account of his race, he was accepted at all-black Howard University in Washington, D.C. At Howard, he studied under the tutelage of civil liberties lawyer Charles H. Houston and in 1933 graduated first in his class. In 1936, he joined the legal division of the NAACP, of which Houston was director, and two years later succeeded his mentor in the organization's top legal post.

As the NAACP's chief counsel from 1938 to 1961, he argued more than a dozen cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, successfully challenging racial segregation, most notably in public education. He won nearly all of these cases, including a groundbreaking victory in 1954's Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, in which the Supreme Court ruled that segregation violated the equal rights clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution and was thus illegal. The decision served as a great impetus for the civil rights movement and ultimately led to the abolishment of segregation in all public facilities and accommodations.

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Marshall to the U.S. Court of Appeals, but his nomination was opposed by many Southern senators, and he was not confirmed until the following year. In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson appointed Marshall to be solicitor general of the United States. In this position, he again successfully argued cases before the Supreme Court, this time on behalf of the U.S. government.

On June 13, 1967, Johnson nominated Marshall to fill the seat of retiring Supreme Court Justice Tom Clark. Of his decision to appoint Marshall, Johnson said it was "the right thing to do, the right time to do it, the right man, and the right place." After a heated debate, the Senate confirmed Marshall's nomination by a vote of 69 to 11 on August 30. Marshall was officially sworn in to the nation's highest court at the opening ceremony of the Supreme Court term on October 2.

During his 24 years on the high court, Associate Justice Marshall consistently challenged discrimination based on race or sex, opposed the death penalty, and vehemently defended affirmative action. He supported the rights of criminal defendants and defended the right to privacy. As appointments by a largely Republican White House changed the ideology of the Supreme Court, Marshall found his liberal views increasingly in the minority. He retired in 1991 because of declining health and died in 1993.

October 2, 1975

Retail giant goes belly-up

After a year of desperately trying to revive its flagging fortunes, the once-mighty retailer W.T. Grant filed for bankruptcy on this day. Seeds of the company's collapse were planted in the mid-1960s, when management embarked on an ambitious growth program. The company decided to open a fleet of new stores and, after five years of rapid expansion, 410 super-sized Grant outlets had been built around the country. At the same time, Grant, which had traditionally stocked mainly inexpensive products, began to offer more of the pricier items usually sold at department stores. Unfortunately, the retail makeover only served to alienate Grant's clientele, who had relied on the stores for cheap goods. When a recession hit in 1974, the company was left with little in the way of customers or earnings. At the time it went belly-up, W.T. Grant was saddled with over $1 billion in debt, making it the nation's single biggest retailing failure.
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Heidi B  
#154 Posted : Friday, October 3, 2008 8:36:55 AM(UTC)
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October 3, 1776

A costly revolution

In need of money to fuel the American Revolution, Congress gave its seal of approval to the nation's very first loan on this day. Even back in the eighteenth century, fighting a war wasn't cheap. The government borrowed $5 million at a 4 percent interest rate and gave colonial officials stationed in Paris the go-ahead to take out loans worth up to 2 million pounds.

October 3, 1913

Wilson fights for lower tariff

President Woodrow Wilson convened a special session of Congress on this day to make a pitch for revising the nation's tariff laws. Wilson's speech to the assembly blended his liberal-minded moral code with political, as well as economic, expediency. The president argued for slashing tariff duties, reasoning that the nation "must abolish everything that bears even the semblance of privilege" while also doing everything to make "our business men...masters of competitive supremacy." Wilson's words galvanized Congress and the Underwood-Simmons Tariff Act passed quickly through both houses. The Act fulfilled Wilson's dictate--it lowered duties on 958 items--but the revisions weren't popular with the business community, which disliked the president's decision to put principles over the need to sell American goods abroad. However, big business had little reason to worry, as Wilson was a staunch proponent of increasing American exports. He also intended the Underwood-Simmons Act to serve as a tool to open foreign markets. In Wilson's view, the new tariff laws would propel the nation to global leadership by compelling Americans to become "better workers and merchants than any in the world."

October 3, 1917

War Revenue Act passed in U.S.

On October 3, 1917, six months after the United States declared war on Germany and began its participation in the First World War, the U.S. Congress passes the War Revenue Act, increasing income taxes to unprecedented levels in order to raise more money for the war effort.

The 13th Amendment, which gave Congress the power to levy an income tax, became part of the Constitution in 1913; in October of that year, a new income tax law introduced a graduated tax system, with rates starting at 1 percent and rising to 7 percent for taxpayers with income above $500,000. Though less than 1 percent of the population paid income tax at the time, the amendment marked an important shift, as before most citizens had carried on their economic affairs without government knowledge. In an attempt to assuage fears of excessive government intervention into private financial affairs, Congress added a clause in 1916 requiring that all information from tax returns be kept confidential.

By then, however, preparation for and entry into World War I had greatly increased the government’s need for revenue. Congress responded to this need by passing an initial Revenue Act in 1916, raising the lowest tax rate from 1 percent to 2 percent; those with incomes above $1.5 million were taxed at 15 percent. The act also imposed new taxes on estates and excess business profits.

By 1917, largely due to the new income tax rate, the annual federal budget was almost equal to the total budget for all the years between 1791 and 1916. Still more was required, however, and in October 1917 Congress passed the War Revenue Act, lowering the number of exemptions and greatly increasing tax rates. Under the 1917 act, a taxpayer with an income of only $40,000 was subject to a 16 percent tax rate, while one who earned $1.5 million faced a rate of 67 percent. While only five percent of the U.S. population was required to pay taxes, U.S. tax revenue increased from $809 million in 1917 to a whopping $3.6 billion the following year. By the time World War I ended in 1918, income tax revenue had funded a full one-third of the cost of the war effort.

October 3, 1961

Ford workers strike again

The United Auto Workers (UAW) called the first company-wide strike against Ford Motor Company since the Ford's first union contract was signed in 1941. During the late 1930s, Ford was the last of the Big Three auto firms still holding out against unionization, and it employed strong-arm tactics to suppress any union activity. In 1937, tension between Ford and its workers came to a head at the "Battle of the Overpass," an infamous event where Ford's dreaded security force beat union organizers attempting to pass out UAW leaflets along the Miller Road Overpass in Dearborn, Michigan. Several people were brutally beaten while many other union supporters, including 11 women, were injured in the melee that followed. It took four more years of struggle and a 10-day strike before Ford agreed to sign its first closed-shop contract with the UAW, covering 123,000 employees. The ascension of Henry Ford II, Henry Ford's grandson, to the Ford leadership position in 1945 brought a period of stability in Ford-UAW relations, especially after Henry Ford II fired the powerful Personnel Chief Harry Bennett, whose anti-union stance had made Ford notorious for its bad labor relations. But in 1961, negotiations between the Ford Motor Company and the UAW fell apart again, and it took 17 days of striking before a tenuous three-year agreement was signed.

October 3, 1997

Slow job growth jolts market

On October 3, 1997, an announcement that job growth had slowed during the month of September soothed Wall Street's inflation anxieties and kicked off a day of brisk action. The Dow surged up 116 points before fears of climbing oil prices sent the markets back down to earth.
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Heidi B  
#155 Posted : Monday, October 6, 2008 11:43:42 AM(UTC)
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October 6, 1814

Dallas takes office

Alexander J. Dallas took the oath to become the United States' sixth Secretary of the Treasury on this day. Dallas' tenure came to a close in 1816.
October 6, 1926

Cord's dream of grandeur

Automobile manufacturer E. L. Cord had a vision: his company was going to produce the finest and most luxurious automobile the world had ever seen. Already a financial success with his prestigious Auburn and Cord lines, Cord wanted to go one step further. In the early 1920's, two German-American engineers from Iowa, Frederick and August Duesenberg, had begun to command the automotive world's attention with their exquisitely constructed racing cars. In 1921, a Duesenberg car won the 24-Hour race in Le Mans, France, and in 1924 and 1925 their cars won the Indy 500. In 1926, E. L. Cord offered to purchase the Duesenberg company, with the sole purpose of obtaining the design expertise of Fred Duesenberg--the one man he believed could construct the grand automobile he envisioned. On this day in 1926, Duesenberg was incorporated into the Auburn-Cord company, and the Duesenberg brothers began working toward Cord's dream. Two years later, Cord introduced the Duesenberg Model J to the American public. It was of typical Duesenberg design, but on a grander scale. No other automobile of the time could approach the sheer power of the Model J. The engine displaced 420 cubic inches and sported twin overhead camshafts that operated four valves per cylinders, all adding up to an impressive 165hp. And in elegance it was incomparable--the chassis was huge and the bodies were custom-built by the leading coach builders of the day. At a price tag beginning around $17,000, the Model J was a true luxury car, and movie stars and millionaires soon vied for ownership of "Duesies." But Cord's Duesenberg line could not survive the difficulties of the Depression, and it folded along with the rest of Auburn-Cord in 1937. Yet, for a short time, Cord had accomplished his dream of grandeur, and the Duesenberg Model J is still widely regarded as one of the finest automobiles ever manufactured.

October 6, 1995

Boeing machinists strike

Thirty-two thousand Boeing machinists hit the picket lines in three states on this day to call for a pay raise and job guarantees. After years of frustration and failed walkouts, labor had little reason to be hopeful about the strike's outcome, but workers successfully halted production on planes and forced airlines to roll back their schedules. As a result, sixty-nine days after the beginning of the strike, union officials agreed to a new contract that met the machinists' demands. The deal came complete with a pay increase that averaged an estimated $19,200 in wages and benefits over four years, sa[censored]uards against job cutbacks, and a full extension of health premiums through the end of 1998. Following the agreement, giddy union officials rushed to declare victory. Spokesman Matt Bates called the agreement a "slam dunk" for the machinists and chief negotiator Bob Gregory hailed the e[censored]ode as proof that the labor movement was "alive and well."
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Heidi B  
#156 Posted : Tuesday, October 7, 2008 11:52:53 AM(UTC)
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October 7, 1913

Moving Assembly Line at Ford

For the first time, Henry Ford's entire Highland Park, Michigan automobile factory is run on a continuously moving assembly line when the chassis--the automobile's frame--is assembled using the revolutionary industrial technique. A motor and rope pulled the chassis past workers and parts on the factory floor, cutting the man-hours required to complete one "Model T" from 12-1/2 hours to six. Within a year, further assembly line improvements reduced the time required to 93 man-minutes. The staggering increase in productivity effected by Ford's use of the moving assembly line allowed him to drastically reduce the cost of the Model T, thereby accomplishing his dream of making the car affordable to ordinary consumers.

In introducing the Model T in October 1908, Henry Ford proclaimed, "I will build a motor car for the great multitude." Before then, the decade-old automobile industry generally marketed its vehicles to only the richest Americans, because of the high cost of producing the machines. Ford's Model T was the first automobile designed to serve the needs of middle-class citizens: It was durable, economical, and easy to operate and maintain. Still, with a debut price of $850, the Model T was out of the reach of most Americans. The Ford Motor Company understood that to lower unit cost it had to increase productivity. The method by which this was accomplished transformed industry forever.

Prototypes of the assembly line can be traced back to ancient times, but the immediate precursor of Ford's industrial technique was 19th-century meat-packing plants in Chicago and Cincinnati, where cows and hogs were slaughtered, dressed, and packed using overhead trolleys that took the meat from worker to worker. Inspired by the meat packers, the Ford Motor Company innovated new assembly line techniques and in early 1913 installed its first moving assembly line at Highland Park for the manufacture of flywheel magnetos. Instead of each worker assembling his own magneto, the assembly was divided into 29 operations performed by 29 men spaced along a moving belt. Average assembly time dropped from 20 minutes to 13 minutes and soon was down to five minutes.

With the success of the magneto experiment, Ford engineers put the Model T motor and then the transmission on moving assembly lines. On October 7, 1913, the chassis also went on the moving assembly line, so that all the major components of the Model T were being assembled using this technique. Ford rapidly improved its assembly lines, and by 1916 the price of the Model T had fallen to $360 and sales were more than triple their 1912 level. Eventually, the company produced one Model T every 24 seconds, and the price fell below $300. More than 15 million Model T's were built before it was discontinued in 1927, accounting for nearly half of all automobiles sold in the world to that date. The affordable Model T changed the landscape of America, hastening the move from rural to city life, and the moving assembly line spurred a new industrial revolution in factories around the world.

October 7, 1982

Traders go on buying spree

When the NYSE opening bell sounded on October 7, 1982, traders went on a buying spree, snapping up stocks and bonds at a furious pace. At the end of the day, a record 147 million shares had changed hands on the exchange, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged to its highest mark in fifteen months. What was the source of Wall Street's euphoria? Traders were enthused by reports that the Federal Reserve was taking a hands-off approach to the nation's fast-growing money supply. Many on Wall Street had feared that the Fed would introduce austerity measures to help reign in the money supply. However, with the country struggling through a protracted fiscal slump, the Fed was apparently less concerned with meeting its money-growth targets. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Fed was going to "concentrate its efforts on healing the economy's deep wounds." If Wall Street's reaction was any indication, the healing had already begun.

October 7, 1984

One more for the Gipper

When President Ronald Reagan and Democratic challenger Walter Mondale squared off in a presidential debate on this day, Mondale was poised to criticize the president's economic record, specifically the government's astronomical debt and the growing chasm between the "haves" and "have-nots" in American society. Unfortunately for Mondale, an old-fashioned liberal who worshiped at the altar of government programs and federal spending, he was little match for the so-called "Teflon President." With the nation in a patriotic mood after a summer filled with jingoistic fare like the Rambo sequel and the U.S.-dominated (and Los Angles-based) Olympics, there was little support for Mondale's talk of tax hikes and austerity. Reagan successfully convinced Americans that Mondale's economic policies would bring back the damaging inflation of the 70s and he returned to the White House after winning by a landslide.

October 7, 1997

Bull Run continues on Wall Street

October 7 was just another record-breaking day in the mighty Bull Run of the mid-1990s. On this day in 1997, both the Nasdaq industrial composite and the S&P shot to new heights. Nasdaq climbed to an unprecedented 1,736.10 points, while the S&P 500 zoomed past its old record, posting a new mark of 983.12.
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Heidi B  
#157 Posted : Wednesday, October 8, 2008 11:18:00 AM(UTC)
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October 8, 1990

Congress avoids a shutdown

After weeks of partisan wrangling, Democrats and Republicans finally passed a deficit reduction package through both legislative chambers on October 8, 1990. Far from a peaceful compromise, the budget plan was passed as a last-ditch move to avert a costly government shutdown.

October 8, 1997

Recall costs Chrysler millions

A Federal jury ordered Chrysler to hand over $260 million to the Jiminez family, whose son, Sergei, was killed after being jettisoned from the third seat of a Chrysler minivan. The accident happened in 1987 when the Jiminez's Dodge Caravan was hit by another vehicle travelling along at just five miles per hour. During the impact, the minivan's rear liftgate malfunctioned, and the back door flew open, allowing the boy to be ejected on to the pavement. Sadly, this was not an isolated incident. The Federal government reported that between 1984 and 1994, thirty-seven deaths could be traced to faulty liftgate latches on Chrysler's minivans. The automaker was hit with 100 lawsuits related to the faulty liftgate, but the government still held off on mandating a recall of the latches. A day before the ruling, however, Chrysler recalled 1.1 million minivans, a decision estimated to have cost the car giant roughly $30 million. Surprisingly, this move, coupled with anticipation of the Federal jury's decision against Chrysler, caused just a small decline in Chrysler's stock, which closed on October 7 at 34 15/16, following a 3/16 drop.
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Heidi B  
#158 Posted : Thursday, October 9, 2008 9:05:53 AM(UTC)
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October 9, 1936

Hoover Dam begins transmitting electricity to Los Angeles

On this day in 1936, harnessing the power of the mighty Colorado River, Hoover Dam begins sending electricity over transmission lines spanning 266 miles of mountains and deserts to run the lights, radios, and stoves of Los Angeles.

Initially named Boulder Dam, work on the dam was begun under President Herbert Hoover's administration but completed as a public works project during the Roosevelt administration (which renamed it for Hoover). When it was finished in 1935, the towering concrete and steel plug was the tallest dam in the world and a powerful symbol of the new federal dedication to large-scale reclamation projects designed to water the arid West. In fact, the electricity generated deep in the bowels of Hoover Dam was only a secondary benefit. The central reason for the dam was the collection, preservation, and rational distribution of that most precious of all western commodities, water.

Under the guidance of the Federal Reclamation Bureau, Hoover Dam became one part of a much larger multipurpose water development project that tamed the wild Colorado River for the use of the growing number of western farmers, ranchers, and city dwellers. Water that had once flowed freely to the ocean now was impounded in the 115-mile-long Lake Mead. Massive aqueducts channeled millions of gallons of Colorado River water to California where it continues to this day to flow from Los Angeles faucets and irrigate vast stretches of fertile cropland.

With Hoover Dam, the federal government set out to demonstrate that the aridity of a region once called the Great American Desert need be no serious obstacle to its full settlement and development. However, as rapidly growing western cities like Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and P[censored]nix today face increasing difficulties in obtaining the water they need, it remains to be seen if the Great American Desert might still dictate its own limits to western growth.

October 9, 1996

Americans turn to mutual funds

As the Bull Run of the mid-90s broke record after record, more and more Americans were deciding to try their luck in the stock market and mutual funds were becoming an increasingly popular investment choice. According to an official fund estimate released on this day, investors had sunk $16 billion into stock funds during the previous month. The report eased Wall Street's perpetual fears of a downturn by indicating that investors were still bullish despite occasional signs of economic decline.

October 9, 1997

Sexual harassment on the Street

Wall Street's reputation as a boy's club is not unearned. Women account for only 15 percent of the financial industry's brokers, and critics have long charged that brokerage firms are rife with "insensitive behavior." A sexual harassment and job discrimination suit brought against Smith Barney by a group of female employees in the spring of 1996 seemingly gave credence to such claims. According to the suit, branch managers asked female workers to remove their tops in exchange for money. The plaintiffs also claimed that one Smith Barney office featured a "boom boom room," where women workers were encouraged to go and "entertain clients." Along with these charges, the suit also accused Smith Barney of paying female employees less than their male counterparts and denying them promotions. After a few rounds of heated negotiations, the plaintiffs and Smith Barney reached a tentative settlement on this day. The accord was never finalized, because in the summer of 1998, a U.S. District Court Judge refused to approve the deal on the grounds that it failed to adequately redress the plaintiff's grievances.
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Heidi B  
#159 Posted : Friday, October 10, 2008 12:49:00 PM(UTC)
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October 10, 1795

Mint hires first women

The United States Mint hired its first two female employees on this day in 1795. They were put to work as adjusters.

October 10, 1973

Agnew pleads guilty

Months before the Watergate scandal began, President Richard Nixon's vice president, Spiro Agnew, was forced to resign from his post. Charged with accepting kickbacks, Agnew ultimately pled guilty to a federal tax evasion charge. U.S. District Court Judge Walter E. Hoffman slapped Agnew with a $10,000 fine and three years of "unsupervised" probation. After handing down his sentence, Hoffman called the ordeal "a tragic event in history."
October 10, 1973

Vice President Agnew resigns

Less than a year before Richard M. Nixon's resignation as president of the United States, Spiro Agnew becomes the first U.S. vice president to resign in disgrace. The same day, he pleaded no contest to a charge of federal income tax evasion in exchange for the dropping of charges of political corruption. He was subsequently fined $10,000, sentenced to three years probation, and disbarred by the Maryland court of appeals.

Agnew, a Republican, was elected chief executive of Baltimore County in 1961. In 1967, he became governor of Maryland, an office he held until his nomination as the Republican vice presidential candidate in 1968. During Nixon's successful campaign, Agnew ran on a tough law-and-order platform, and as vice president he frequently attacked opponents of the Vietnam War and liberals as being disloyal and un-American. Reelected with Nixon in 1972, Agnew resigned on October 10, 1973, after the U.S. Justice Department uncovered widespread evidence of his political corruption, including allegations that his practice of accepting bribes had continued into his tenure as U.S. vice president. He died at the age of 77 on September 17, 1996.

Under the process decreed by the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, President Nixon was instructed to the fill vacant office of vice president by nominating a candidate who then had to be approved by both houses of Congress. Nixon's appointment of Representative Gerald Ford of Michigan was approved by Congress and, on December 6, Ford was sworn in. He became the 38th president of the United States on August 9, 1974, after the escalating Watergate affair caused Nixon to resign.

October 10, 1995

U. of Chicago wins another Nobel Prize

University of Chicago professor Robert E. Lucas, Jr., won the Nobel Prize for Economic Science for his exploration of the relationship between human tendencies and macroeconomics. Incredibly, he became the sixth University of Chicago professor to be honored with the award in as many years. Lucas's work challenged the once sacrosanct assumptions of Keynesian economics. Where Keynes looked past the link between the public and macroeconomics, Lucas studied how people react to shifts in economic policy. The result was the "rational expectations" hypothesis: Lucas argued that people brace themselves for policy changes, which ultimately nullifies the government's efforts to boost the economy. While the academic community heaped praise on Lucas, he remained modest, reminding his peers and reporters that the search was still on for ways to better regulate the economy.
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Heidi B  
#160 Posted : Tuesday, October 14, 2008 10:55:23 AM(UTC)
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October 14, 1857

Birth of an inventor

Automotive pioneer Elwood Haynes was born on this day in Portland, Indiana. After training as an engineer and a chemist at John Hopkins University, Haynes returned to his native Indiana and began experimenting on a carriage powered by an internal engine. In 1894, he completed construction on one of America's earliest automobiles, a one-horsepower, one-cylinder vehicle, and on Independence Day of that year drove it through the streets of Kokomo, Indiana, on its trial run. Today, this automobile is preserved in the Smithsonian Institution as the oldest U.S. automobile in existence. For the next few decades, Haynes continued to make improvements to the new science of automobile manufacturing, including a successful carburetor, the first use of aluminum in automobile engines, and the first muffler.

October 14, 1899

A miscalculated prophecy

In the early days of the automobile, many doubted that owning a "horseless carriage" would ever be within the reach of an average citizen. Indeed, some critics of the noisy and expensive invention went so far as to prophesize its eventual demise once the wealthy got over the novelty of owning one. On this day the Literary Digest declared that "the ordinary horseless carriage is at present a luxury for the wealthy; and although its price will probably fall in the future, it will never, of course, come into common use as a bicycle." But what critics of the automobile failed to foresee were the types of revolutionary manufacturing techniques that would be developed by Henry Ford and others. Less than a decade after the Literary Digest predicted that the automobile would remain a luxury of the wealthy, Ford revolutionized the automotive industry with his affordable Model T built for the average American. Ford was able to keep the price down by retaining control of all raw materials, and by employing revolutionary mass production methods. When it was first introduced, the "Tin Lizzie" cost only $850 and seated two people, and by the time it was discontinued in 1927, nearly 15,000,000 Model Ts had been sold.

October 14, 1939

Ralph Lauren, designer of popular western-style clothing, is born in New York

Ralph Lauren, the designer and purveyor of a line of popular clothes that sought to capture the "spirit of the West," is born on this day in 1939, in New York.

The quintessential self-made man, Lauren was instrumental in creating a new national clothing style during the mid-1970s and 1980s with his self-consciously western "Chaps" brand. Although the Chaps line has since expanded to encompass a wide variety of casual clothes, it initially focused on products like stonewashed denim jeans and faded work shirts that Lauren deliberately designed to appear as if they were from the well-worn wardrobe of a hardworking western rancher. In 1983, Lauren expanded his western-oriented products with a complete line of home decorating items, including rugs, drapes, and linens, many of which had coordinating southwestern patterns. He even marketed a Chaps cologne for men which, in the words of one 1979 advertisement, evoked "an image of men who are real and proud" and gave the wearer a little piece of "the West you would like to feel inside of yourself."

October 14, 1943

Another Noble enterprise

In the 1940s, long before the days of "must-see TV," NBC was a radio network and its big star was Jack Benny. NBC was made up of two separate units, the Red Network and the Blue Network, which were created in 1928 to better manage the company's increasing number of radio affiliates. By 1938, the Red Network was producing roughly 75 percent of NBC's commercial shows. A few years later, the Federal Trade Commission, wary of monopolies taking over the industry, mandated that companies would no longer be allowed to control more than one network. NBC was forced to sell one of its divisions and, of course, chose the weaker Blue Network to put on the auction block. On October 14, 1943, Edward J. Noble, who had already earned millions from sales of his popular "Lifesavers" candy, bought the network, promptly renaming it American Broadcasting Systems. A year later, Noble changed the name again, this time to what has become a more familiar title, the American Broadcasting Company, Inc.(ABC).

October 14, 1996

A banner day for Chrysler

Chrysler Corporation officials had reason to toot their own horns on October 14, 1996. The auto giant announced that it had racked up record net earnings of $680 million for the third quarter. Not only were 1996 sales of RAM pickup trucks way up, but company officials managed to keep the factory lines rolling by inking a labor deal with the United Auto Workers. Wall Street applauded the announcement and Chrysler's stock posted a $1.00 gain, to close the day at $32.75.
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