Johanna Mansfield Sullivan was born in Feeding Hills, Agawarm, Massachusetts back in 1866 to Thomas and Alice.  When she was five years old she contracted a bacterial eye disease known as trachoma which left her nearly blind.  When she was eight her mother died from tuberculosis and her father abandoned her two years later.  She was sent to almshouse in Tewksbury, Massachusetts.  due to reports of cruelty to inmates, including sexually perverted practices and cannibalism an investigation was launched.  In 1877, she was sent to the Soeurs de la Charite hospital in Lowell, Massachusetts.  She graduated from the Perkins School in 1886, as the valedictorian of her class, she was twenty.  The summer after she graduated she went to work with Arthur to her with his seven-year-old daughter.  Sh... 09/10/2021

Eugene F. McDonald was born in Syracuse, New York back in 1886 to Frazier and Betty.  Earning his money while a schoolboy reading electric meters.  He quit school at the end of his sophomore year taking a factory job with the Franklin Automobile Company.  He moved to Chicago in 1904 where he worked as an automobile salesman.In 1911, he was in partnership in Detroit selling used cars, by the end of 1912 he began a credit finance company for the purchase of new and used card.  He was the first to offer working people a payment plan for the purchase of an automobile.When the United States entered World War I he enlisted in Naval Intelligence rising through the ranks becoming a lieutenant commander. In 1919, he served in the Naval Reserves unit 1939.  He died in 1958, he was 72.What you may... 08/29/2021

William Macewen was born in Port Bannatyne, Isle of Bute, Scotland back in 1848.  He studied medicine at the University of Glasgow, graduating with a medical degree in 1872.  He helped revolutionize surgery by developing antisepsis, thus decreasing drastically the enormous mortality of surgical patients due to infections.He became one of the most innovative surgeons of his time.  In 1880, he began training nurses at the infirmary focusing upon sterilization under the charge of Mrs. Rebecca Strong.  He was knighted in the 1902 Coronation Honors for his service to medicine.  In 1916, he helped to found the Princess Louise Scottish Hospital for Limbless Sailor and Soldiers in Erskine.  He was the hospitals first chief surgeon, he also designed the Erskine artificial limb.  He died in Glasg... 08/25/2021

Annette Cronise Lutes was born in Tiffin, Ohio back in 1843 to Jacob and Katherine.  Her birth name was Annette Staub, however her parents divorced while she was still young.  Annette and her sister and mother moved to her grandparents and changed their last name to Cronise.  He attended Heidelberg College and the State Normal School in Bloomington, Indiana.She began studying law at the office of Warren P. Noble.  Annette married Nelson while studying law in 1874.  She joined her husband who was losing his hearing and needed her assistance.  She died in 1923, she was 79.What you may not know about Annette “Nettie” Cronise Lutes is that she was the first woman admitted to the bar in the state of Ohio.  After her husband died in 1900, she was joined by her daughter Evlyn Latta Lutes, who ... 08/07/2021

Joseph Barrow was born in Chambers County, Alabama back in 1914 to Munroe and Lillie.  At birth he weighed a whopping 11 pounds.  He suffered from a speech impediment and spoke very little as a child until the age of six.  His father was committed to a mental institution in 1916.  His mother married Pat Brooks in 1920.In 1926, he moved to Detroit, Michigan, he worked part time at the River Rough Plant.  When the Great Depression hit he spent a lot of time at a local youth recreation center at 637 Brewster Street in Detroit.  At the age of 17 in 1932, he made his debut boxing fight.  In 1933, he won the Detroit-area Golden Gloves Novice Division.  In 1934, he won the light heavyweight United States Amateur Champion National AAU tournament in St. Louis, Missouri.  During his boxing career... 07/25/2021

Bernard Loomis was born in the Bronx, New York under poor conditions.  During World War II, he served in the Army Air Forces in the Philippines.  After being discharged he attended New York University.  After being discharged he became a salesman where he represented several manufactures to retailers such as Toys R Us and Sears.In 1960, he became a part of the Mattel Toys sales department.  By 1968, he started promoting the new Hot Wheels car line for the company.  For his marketing he was dubbed as “The Man Who Invented Saturday Morning”.  In 1981, he founded the Manufacturing and Design (MAD) group at General Mills.  Later he began working at Hasbro in charge of the development helping transition that company into becoming the world’s largest toy company.  He was inducted into the Toy... 07/17/2021

Colin Hamilton Livingstone was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada back in 1863.  He attended McGill University in Montreal.  After graduation, he served as a private secretary to Senator Stephen Benton Elkins of West Virginia and as a clerk for the Interstate Commerce Committee of the United States Senate.  Livingstone was the namesake of a 90-acre Arlington County, Virginia, subdivision, Livingstone Heights.  He worked as an American banker and president of the Washington and Old Dominion Railway.  He was associated with the Virginia Shipbuilding Corporation in Alexandra, and the Washington and Virginia Real Estate Company.  He served as a vice-president of the American National Bank.   He died in 1943, he was 79.What you may not know about Colin was that he was also the first n... 07/03/2021

John Archer was born in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana back in 1867.  He attended the preparatory program at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge from 1881 to 1884.  He studied for the entrance exam for the U.S. Naval Academy.  He was accepted graduating in 1888 as a midshipman.  He ranked second in the class.After the completion of a two-year cruise he wanted to join the Marine Corps.  He tried going to his senator eventually the Secretary of the Navy arranged his transfer to the Marines.  He saw action in WWII against the Axis powers of Nazi German and Japan.  By 1900, he was a captain and in 1903 was a major.  In 1918 he was promoted to major general, he saw action on the Western Front.  For his actions he received the Legion of Honor and the Croix de guerre from the French gov... 05/24/2021

Daniel Myron Lefever was born in Hopewell, New York back in 1835.  In the early 1850’s he began a gun making career as an apprentice in Canandaigua, New York.  He opened his own gun-shop in Canandaigua in 1857.  His principal business was making muzzle-loading rifles.  In 1862, he joined with James Ellis to form Lefever & Ellis, they built long-range rifles used in the American Civil War.  The partnership ended in 1867.He joined several partnerships between 1867 to 1880.  In 1902 he formed the D.M. Lefever, Sons Company with sons Charles, Frank and George.  In 1906, while moving to Syracuse, New York he died from a stomach ulcer, he was 71.What you may not know about Daniel is that he was also an inventor, in 1878 he invented the first hammerless shotgun.  He wasn’t finished in 1883, he... 05/12/2021

William Falconer King was born in Hunter’s Quay, Scotland back in 1929.  He attended Glasgow University, after graduation he was employed by Sir William Thomson. He worked at the Wester and Brazilian Telegraph Company. For his services in Brazil Emperor Dom Pedro II awarded him a Knight of the Border of the Rose.He returned to Scotland in 1884, where he and Andrew Brown started King & Co. electrical engineers who built the Leith Electrical Works.  He installed one of Britain’s first system of electric street lights in 1895. Also, in 1895, he was involved in Scotland’s first electric tram system.  During the First World War his firm won the contract from the Admiralty for the installation and repair of all electrical equipment in the Naval Dockyards at both Rosyth and Leith.  He retired ... 02/13/2021

Young-Oak Kim was born in Los Angeles County, California back in 1919 to Soon and Nora.  He graduated from Belmont High School, before attending Los Angeles City College for a year.  He was drafted into the United States Army in 1941.  He was first assigned as an engineer before being selected for the Infantry Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia.After graduation, he was assigned to the U.S. 100th Infantry Battalion from Hawaii.  He was sent to Italy, where he was wounded and awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart.  Being promoted to first lieutenant he participated in the Battle of Monte Cassion.  He and Private First Class Irving Akahoshi captured some German soldiers, their information led him to receive the U.S. Distinguished Service Cross and the Italian Bronze Medal... 02/04/2021

Esek Hopkins was born in Scituate, Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations back in 1718.  The only information I could find out about him was when he was twenty, he went to sea.  During the French and Indian War, he was a privateer.  When he wasn’t at sea he was engaged in Rhode Island politics serving as deputy to the Rhode Island General Assembly.In 1775, he was appointed brigadier general, commanding all military forces for Rhode Island. In 1776, he took command of eight small merchant ships and converted them into Men-0f-War vessels.  That same year he conducted the Raid of Nassau where he captured munitions and a six-gun schooner. After the war, he continued to serve in the Rhode Island General Assembly retiring in 1786.  He returned to his farm where he died in 1802, he ... 09/07/2020

Dorothy Hoffman was born in New York City, New York back in 1915.  She was trained as a concert pianist where she performed at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  She studied at City University of New York before receiving her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1947.After graduation, she worked for the International Resistance Company in Philadelphia as an engineer.  She moved up to being a research project leader.  When she retired in 1990 she was the Head of Thin Film Laboratory at David Samoff Research Center in Penns Neck, New Jersey, where she worked for 28 years.  She died in 1996, she was 81.What you may not know about Dorothy is that she was the first woman to be elected President of the American Vacuum Society and the firs... 08/29/2020

John Henry Holmes was born in Shieldfield, Newcastle upon Tyne back in 1857.  I could not find anything about his childhood or schooling.  In 1880, he attended a public demonstration involving an incandescent light bulb by Joseph Swan.  He tried several times to become his apprentice, but those requests proved uneventful.In 1883, he and his brother Theodore founded J.H. Holmes & Company, specializing in dynamos, switches and lighting.  In 1884, he invented something that basically hasn’t changed since it hit the market and is still being used by everyone in the world who has electricity.He died in 1935, a very wealthy man.  Now, you may be asking yourself what did he invent?  Well here is the rest of the story, he invented the quick break sight switch, but we know it as simply the wall ... 08/26/2020

Lucy Beaman Hobbs was born in Constable, New York back in 1833.  When she was twelve she took a job as a seamstress to help support the family.  She attended the Franklin Academy in New York.  After graduation, she taught school in Michigan for ten years.  In 1859, she moved to Cincinnati, Ohio where she applied for medical school at Eclectic Medical College.  She was denied access due to her gender.Not to be deterred she applied to the Ohio College of Dental Surgery again being denied acceptance due to her gender.  So, she studied under professor, Dr. Jonathan Taft and opened up her practice to be a dentist without having to obtain a diploma, she practiced in Cincinnati in 1861.  In 1865, she finally gained all professional recognition, being allowed to join the Iowa State Dental Socie... 08/16/2020

Edwin Hill was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England back in 1793.  After he finished his schooling he worked at the Assay Office in Birmingham, later working at a brass-rolling mill where he became the manager.  In 1827, he moved to Tottenham, London where you could find him managing a branch of the family’s school business. In 1840, he became the first British Controller of Stamps where he remained until 1872.  He died in 1876, he was 82.What you may not know about Edwin is that he was also an inventor.  He is most noted for inventing a mechanical system to make envelopes.  His invention was shown at the Great Exhibition of 1851.Your day is worthwhile when you make someone smile, so give the free gift of a smile today 08/07/2020

William Redington was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan back in 1913.  He attended Lowell High School before continuing his education as Stanford University.  He received his Bachelor’s degree from Stanford, before transferring to MIT, where he received his Master of Science degree in 1936.It was while he was attending MIT, he became friends with David, they started discussing forming a company which they did in 1939.  It was a toss of the coin that decided which of their last names would go first (more on that in a moment).  They incorporated in 1947 and tendered an initial public offering in 1957.A young Steve Jobs (age12) called William requesting parts for a frequency counter he was building.  William was impressed and offered him a summer job assembling frequency counters. Now for the re... 08/03/2020

Donald Herbert Kemske was born in Waconia, Minnesota back in 1917.  He studied at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse majoring in English.  He wanted to be an actor but that was interrupted by World War II.  He enlisted in the United States Army as a Private, later transferring to the United States Army Air Force. He became a B-24 bomber pilot flying 56 combat mission from Italy with the 767th Bomb Squadron, 461st Bomb Group.  By the time he was discharged in 1945 he had attained the rank of Captain, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters.Afterwards he worked at a radio station in Chicago.  He had an idea for a children’s program which premiered in 1951.  That program lasted until 1965 with 547 live episodes.  His program won a Peabody Aw... 07/26/2020

Heller László was born in Nagyvárad, Hungary back in 1907.  He received his mechanical engineering degree in 1931 from the Elgenössische Technische Hochschule in Zrichū.  He organized the Department of Energetics at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, where he worked as a professor.In 1962, he became a full member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.  He died in 1980.What you may not know about Heller is that he was also an inventor.  In the 1940’s the first high-pressure industrial power station was built according to his plans.  He invented the Indirect Dry Cooling System, which condense the vacuum steam using an injection of cool water.  Using that invention allowed the water to go through a fine-grilled heat exchanger, which cools down the water allowing is to be r... 07/17/2020

Horace Henry Hayden was born in Windsor, Connecticut back in 1769.  He worked as a cabin boy, architect and schoolteacher.  During the War of 1812, he served as a private in the 39th Regiment, Maryland Militia and later as an assistant surgeon, (sort of Jack of all trades).  Anyway, he died in 1844, he was 74.What you may not know about Horace is that in 1795 he consulted with someone I’ve written about John Greenwood, the personal dentist to George Washington.  He began to study for the dentistry shortly afterwards.  In 1810, he was issued a license by the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland making him the first ever person to be licensed as a dentist.  He also founded the first school for dentistry the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery in 1828.Your day is worthwhile when you... 07/07/2020