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The Sony Walkman was sold in Japan in 1979, revolutionizing the music industry. The Ford Thunderbird was discontinued in 2005 after being produced since 1955. The first international telephone call was made between Canada and the US in 1881. The US Department of Justice was created in 1870. The “pay-as-you-go” tax program was instituted in the US in 1943. ZIP codes were established in 1963. SOS became the danger signal in 1908. England and Australia banned smoking in public places in 2007. The PG-13 rating was established in 1984. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation established coast-to-coast broadcasting in 1958. Princess Diana was born in 1961 and died in 1997.
The first Sony Walkman has been sold. (1979) The Walkman revolutionized the music industry: it was the first portable personal music player, allowing people to take music with them anywhere. The first sale was made in Japan. In the US, it was first marketed in the US as the Soundabout.
Ford Motor Company has made its last Thunderbird. (2005) The Thunderbird was first produced in 1955 and was marketed as the first personal luxury car. Ford sold more than 14,000 T-Birds in its first year, far more than the 700 Corvettes sold in that car’s first year of production.
The world’s first international telephone call took place. (1881) The telephone call was made between the city of St. Stephen in New Brunswick, Canada, and Calais, Maine in the United States. The two cities, just across the U.S.-Canadian border, share one of the busiest border crossings between the U.S. and Canada today.
The US Department of Justice has opened its doors. (1870) President Ulysses S. Grant signed the bill creating the department on June 22. It was headed by the Attorney General, a position that began as a part-time job in 1789 and slowly expanded.
Taxes started coming out of American’s paychecks. (1943) The “pay-as-you-go” program was instituted to replace the previous requirement to pay lump sum income taxes once a year. Similar systems are used in Ireland, the UK and Australia.
5-digit ZIP codes were first established in the United States. (1963) Neighborhood Improvement Plan (ZIP) codes were initially marketed as a faster way to deliver letters. Codes became more detailed in the 1980s with the creation of ZIP+4 codes.
SOS has become the danger signal. (1908) The German government first used the radio signal in 1905. The International Radiotelegraph Convention made it a world standard in 1906, taking effect in 1908. SOS was also the standard maritime distress signal until 1999 – it was replaced by the Global Maritime Distress Safety System, which standardized not only the distress signal, but also the means of distress communication and equipment requirements, among other things.
England and Australia ban smoking. (2007) The two countries have joined Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland in a nationwide ban on smoking in public places.
The films get their first PG-13 rating. (1984) The Motion Picture Association of America established the new rating in response to the controversy surrounding “bloody and violent” films such as Gremlins and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, which audiences deemed unsuitable for children. Red Dawn was the first film to be given the new rating.
Television broadcasts were linked across Canada with microwaves. (1958) Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada’s oldest network, established coast-to-coast broadcasting. The company was also the first to offer FM radio in Canada in 1946 and broadcast Canada’s first color television program the same day in 1966.
Princess Diana is born. (1961) Born Diana Spencer, she married the Prince of Wales, Charles, in 1981 as more than 750 million people watched. She died in a car accident in 1997 when she was only 36 years old. Her televised funeral garnered 2.5 billion viewers.
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