Category Archives: History

How Prices Hit Home, Part II

Posted on by The Old Wolf

I previously posted about prices in 1978, and whilst cleaning out files I came across an article I had saved from my father’s archives. I present it here for comparison’s sake, and just because it’s interesting.

This was published in the Daily Compass on August 15, 1951, which itself cost 5¢ for each daily edition.

Prices Then and Now - 1939 and 1951

 

1939’s prices were, of course, depression-era; for your gratuitous enjoyment, a song from 1927 which was looking for any bright spots in an otherwise dismal economic climate:

The Old Wolf has spoken.

The Hotline

Posted on by The Old Wolf

der-fernschreiber-der-hotline

Shortly after the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Kennedy White House installed a teletype hotline to be used as a direct link between the heads of Washington and Moscow. It was created on 20 June 1963, and announced to the public on 30 August of that same year.

This device was used for the first time during the 6 Day War of 1967, when Lyndon B. Johnson communicated with Soviet Premier Alexsei Kosygin. Leaders would type their messages in their native languages, and the received communications were then translated.

450px-Jimmy_Carter_Library_and_Museum_99

No, one of these was never used as part of the Kremlin hotline. This one was from the Carter era, probably part of the Defense Red Switch Network.

The teletype system was which was replaced by facsimile units in 1988. Since 2008 the Moscow–Washington hotline has been a secure computer link over which messages are exchanged by email.

The Old Wolf has spoken, and the NSA is listening.

Really Old Stuff

Posted on by The Old Wolf

image_1217-Jerusalem

 

This is a picture of a pottery fragment bearing what is believed to be the earliest alphabetical written text ever found in Jerusalem. See more at Sci News.com.

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Even older, the image above represents an artist’s conception of Warren Field in Scotland about 10,000 years ago, with material burning in one of several pits which comprise the world’s oldest calendar.

The world is so full of a number of things…

The Old Wolf has spoken.